Why Does My Hair Grow so Slow?

Hair can stop growing or grow slowly for a variety of reasons including age, genetics, hormones, or stress. You may notice your hair stops growing in one spot or seems to be growing slowly on one side. There are plenty of treatment options for slow-growing hair, including: medication. Most hair strands grow at an average rate of about 0.3 to 0.4 mm a day. So, this means it may grow up to one-tenth of an inch or a little more in a week.

“Getting a trim every six to eight weeks prevents split ends and damage, making ends stronger and leading to faster growth,” she explains. “I recommend trimming 1 to 2 inches at each appointment to avoid fraying ends and keep hair healthy.”

• Aloe vera juice.
• Kiwi juice.
• Onion juice.
• Spinach juice.
• Garlic juice.
• Cucumber juice.
• Coriander juice.
• Carrot juice.

For most women, this occurs sometime between the ages of 44 and 55. When your ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone—two hormones key to menstruating—this is when you go into menopause. Estrogen and progesterone also happen to be linked to your hair’s health, including its growth.

Full disclosure: Rice water creates the appearance of longer, thicker hair, but it doesn’t necessarily boost growth. “The larger proteins in rice water are too big to enter the hair strand and instead create a thick protective coating over each one,” Dr. Longsworth clarifies.

Age: Hair grows fastest between the ages of 15 and 30, before slowing down. Some follicles stop working altogether as people get older. This is why some people get thinner hair or go bald. Nutrition: Good nutrition is essential for the growth and maintenance of healthy hair.

The way that sleep affects your body’s natural hormones is probably the most important part of preventing hair loss. Your body produces a hormone called melatonin. This hormone helps your body regulate your sleep cycle, and it also has been shown to increase hair growth.

One you’ve probably heard growing up, is that cutting your hair shorter will make it grow longer. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Turns out, it won’t make your hair grow faster (knew it). But, it will make your hair grow healthier.

Asian hair grows the fastest at about 411 µm (micrometers, equal to . 001 millimeters) per day. That growth rate results in around 0.48 inches of hair growth per month in Asian hair. African hair has a slower growth rate at about 280 µm per day, or about 0.32 inches per month.

Ignoring these perceptual differences, human hair grows at a fairly consistent rate of about half a millimeter per day, or about half an inch each month (more specifically, the study says hair grows at 0.44 mm per day). Depending on your age, hair may grow faster or slower.

Nearly everyone has some hair loss with aging. The rate of hair growth also slows. Hair strands become smaller and have less pigment. So the thick, coarse hair of a young adult eventually becomes thin, fine, light-colored hair.

Featured Photo by Maxx Miller on Unsplash