My hair has only grown 4cm in 7 months

[Chioniso]

I am really upset

 

[itismehmmkay]

Are you natural? Are you sure it's not shrinkage.

And more than likely it grew, but maybe there was some breakage??

 

[Chioniso]

Yes, I'm natural but it's not shrinkage (I got a ruler and stretched it out, lol)

I have tried to follow a routine, I bought a soft water filter for my shower. I have had so much great advice from people here but nothing.

 

[melissa-bee]

Do you do anything internally that might help with hair growth?
Like eating a well balanced diet? taking a daily multi vitamin? Regular exercise, especially cardio?

Sent from my GT-S5830 using LHCF

 

[Chioniso]

Do you do anything internally that might help with hair growth?
Like eating a well balanced diet? taking a daily multi vitamin? Regular exercise, especially cardio?

Sent from my GT-S5830 using LHCF

I must admit my diet is not great and I have been under quite a bit of stress... Buuut
My skin is quite good and I am not overweight (probably underweight though) so I am kinda like meh, my diet's OK. I don't drink loads of water but I don't really like it that much.

Is my breakage level abnormal maybe? If I rub my head when I am over the sink it will sprinkle down like black snow...

OK, I've probably answered my own question with the poor diet and not enough water but I know people with MUCH worse diets than me who have great hair AND re the breakage, I do moisturise & condition and DC but it does not seem to have helped.

 

[melissa-bee]

If the the breakage is the problem then.
You have a problem with retention.
You need to work on getting your protein/moisture balanced in your hair strands which you can do from conditioning with quality or homemade conditioners and having a good moisturiser.
What's your reggie? What products do you use?

 

[melissa-bee]

I understand with the diet thing though. My hair grows slower than average and I try to be healthy. My friend on the other hand eats, chicken wings, those 3 minute noodles and coke for the times she actually does eat and her hair actually grows fast.

 

[CrueltyFree]

So your skin and nails are fine. No problem growing or maintaining those? It's just your hair on your head. That's interesting. Do you have any scalp issues?

 

[FlawedBeauty]

Is my breakage level abnormal maybe? If I rub my head when I am over the sink it will sprinkle down like black snow...

OK, I've probably answered my own question with the poor diet and not enough water but I know people with MUCH worse diets than me who have great hair AND re the breakage, I do moisturise & condition and DC but it does not seem to have helped.

There's your answer! Ur not retaining. How do you wear your hair on a daily basis and at night. I see someone already asked abt ur products.

 

[manter26]

I must admit my diet is not great and I have been under quite a bit of stress... Buuut
My skin is quite good and I am not overweight (probably underweight though) so I am kinda like meh, my diet's OK. I don't drink loads of water but I don't really like it that much.

Is my breakage level abnormal maybe? If I rub my head when I am over the sink it will sprinkle down like black snow...

OK, I've probably answered my own question with the poor diet and not enough water but I know people with MUCH worse diets than me who have great hair AND re the breakage, I do moisturise & condition and DC but it does not seem to have helped.

That is an abnormal amount of breakage. My relaxed hair was like that, broken all over my shirt and they sink. I think I had a lot of midshaft splits at the time.

My hair is still prone to breakage because it's very fine and highly porous. I cut out combing and brushing altogether because I was loosing hair while detangling in the shower. I now finger detangle to remove shed hairs. I trim regularly.

I'm a slow grower as well but I get about a cm a month at minimum.

 

[lushcoils]

Is my breakage level abnormal maybe? If I rub my head when I am over the sink it will sprinkle down like black snow...

My hair is similar.
I don't think there's much we can do but be as healthy was we can, protective style, dust ends, and "moisturize"and call it a day. Hopefullly, I'll wake up bsl one day despite the breakage. But for now, I have to wait and see.

 

[NappyNelle]

It sounds to me like your hair is dry, dry, dry! How often are you deep conditioning? With what?

 

[greenandchic]

How often do you use a leave in conditioner(water based) and seal you hair (oil)? What do you use?

I have to use a water based leave-in and seal my ends daily with very little exceptions or my hair will be breaking off like crazy too.

 

[whiteoleander91]

4cm is like...an inch and a half? That is really slow for 7 months. I think it really could be your diet, like some others have said. Or maybe even hormones. Maybe get some blood work done?


If not that, then yeah, your hair must be super dry. Have you ever tried cowashing?

 

[My Friend]

It sounds to me like your hair is dry, dry, dry! How often are you deep conditioning? With what?

I agree. When I first started my journey, I too had round curly hairs raining down on me. It took about 9 months before my hair starting turning around. I thi k the hair that was beyond repair anyway is breaking off.

I suggest you add more moisture and leave in's to your regi.

 

[Nonie]

I agree. When I first started my journey, I too had round curly hairs raining down on me. It took about 9 months before my hair starting turning around. I think the hair that was beyond repair anyway is breaking off.

I suggest you add more moisture and leave in's to your regi.

That is exactly it. Damage to the structure of strands happens before breakage occurs. The fact that you're seeing pieces breaking, OP means your ends are damaged. And when they break off on their on instead of you who dusts them before they get a chance to break, they break off in a bad way that starts off a new tear. And the vicious cycle continues robbing you of retention.

I don't think you grew 4 cm. I think you grew much more but retained only 4 cm because the rest broke off little by little. If you aren't dusting your ends, then your hair looks like this:

That is hair that will continue to break. As My Friend said, once you let damage get so bad, it will take a while to get your hair back to normal. Because unless you do a huge cut, your ends continue to look bad and will continue to act that way until all that damage is gone.

I drew those lines to show different trims. A trim at C leaves damage that continues to break off on its on. And a break leaves an ugly tear that continues to rip. A trim at A is better but still some damage is left. And this is why dusting regularly is good because it prevents things from getting to the stage where they are breaking on their own and costing you length.

 

[jessicarabbit]

if only 4cm grew out of your scalp in 7 months, it may be internal, you could try supplements or talk to your doctor.
If you only retained that amount and its breaking like that (sprinkling), you a few dc's, maybe throw a protein treatment in there?
i hope my two cents helped!

 

[Beverly Ann Properties]

At least you have growth and that is something to be thankful and prayful about! Like what all the others have said, diet, moisture/protein balance and maybe get a physical exam. I am also a slow grower, and one thing I say don't do, is compare your growth rate to others.

 

[dyh080]

If you really want to know your actual growth rate, do what I did years ago. Dye a small patch of hair at the root that will be hidden , using a contrasting color such as red or blonde if you have dark hair. The new growth will be easier to see and therefore measure.

I thought my hair wasn't growing at all but discovered I was only growing 4 inches a year.

 

[Chioniso]

Sorry for the late responses, I have been away for a bit.

So your skin and nails are fine. No problem growing or maintaining those? It's just your hair on your head. That's interesting. Do you have any scalp issues?

@CocoT My skin is OK, people compliment me on it, but I do get zits every now and then (still!), my nails tend to flake, but I keep them short anyway for typing. My scalp is fine, I think.

It sounds to me like your hair is dry, dry, dry! How often are you deep conditioning? With what?

@NappyNelle my hair feels like dry autumn leaves. I deep condition every 2 weeks, I use either henna treatment wax or motions treatment conditioner.

How often do you use a leave in conditioner(water based) and seal you hair (oil)? What do you use?

I have to use a water based leave-in and seal my ends daily with very little exceptions or my hair will be breaking off like crazy too.

@greenandchic - everyday I alternate between either the aphogee leave in (spray) conditioner & the moisture balancing conditioner, I then seal with coconut oil.

Other days I will use aloe vera gel mixed with castor oil on my hair.

4cm is like...an inch and a half? That is really slow for 7 months. I think it really could be your diet, like some others have said. Or maybe even hormones. Maybe get some blood work done?

If not that, then yeah, your hair must be super dry. Have you ever tried cowashing?

@whiteoleander91 - yes, could be diet but it's not thaaaat bad. I have got blood work done and I've been told everything is 100% fine.

I co wash every couple of days with aussie mega instant.

@Nonie

The fact that you're seeing pieces breaking, OP means your ends are damaged. And when they break off on their on instead of you who dusts them before they get a chance to break, they break off in a bad way that starts off a new tear. And the vicious cycle continues robbing you of retention.

I don't think you grew 4 cm. I think you grew much more but retained only 4 cm because the rest broke off little by little. If you aren't dusting your ends, then your hair looks like this:

That is hair that will continue to break. As @My Friend said, once you let damage get so bad, it will take a while to get your hair back to normal. Because unless you do a huge cut, your ends continue to look bad and will continue to act that way until all that damage is gone.

I drew those lines to show different trims. A trim at C leaves damage that continues to break off on its on. And a break leaves an ugly tear that continues to rip. A trim at A is better but still some damage is left. And this is why dusting regularly is good because it prevents things from getting to the stage where they are breaking on their own and costing you length.

I don't know how I can dust my hair - it is so tightly coiled - I would have to just cut it all off again, wouldn't I?

If you really want to know your actual growth rate, do what I did years ago. Dye a small patch of hair at the root that will be hidden , using a contrasting color such as red or blonde if you have dark hair. The new growth will be easier to see and therefore measure.

I thought my hair wasn't growing at all but discovered I was only growing 4 inches a year.

@dyh080 - what a clever Idea! I will try that

If the the breakage is the problem then.
You have a problem with retention.
You need to work on getting your protein/moisture balanced in your hair strands which you can do from conditioning with quality or homemade conditioners and having a good moisturiser.
What's your reggie? What products do you use?

@melissa-bee - you are probably right about the protein/moisture balance, but in 7 months I have not been able to figure it out.

These are the products I have at the moment
Argan oil (used a few times)
Aphogee balancing moisturiser (daily/alternate)
Aphogee Leave-in conditioner (daily/alternate)
Aloe vera gel mixed with castor oil (daily/alternate)
Aussie mega instant (co-wash every couple of days – feels nice)
Herbal essences hello hydration (co-wash – this ran out a few weeks ago and I haven’t replaced it)
Lusters S curl – curl activator.
Aphogee 2 min keratin reconstructor (every month or so)
At one Leave in treatment (every now and then)
Organic
Organic root stimulator creamy aloe shampoo (for clarifying, every 6 weeks or so)
Organic root stimulator moisturising shampoo
Palm oil
Coconut oil (seems to dry out my hair)
Aloe vera juice (mix with some grapeseed oil & seal with coconut oil as a preepoo)

There is a whole other bunch of stuff that I do not actually use.
Deep conditioning, Organic root stimulator protein conditioner, Henna treatment wax. Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor. & I have a treatment cap that I plug in and heats up.

Please help me!
@Nonie please don't tell me I'm going to have to shave it off again :-(

 

[Chioniso]

I also tried a mud mask with bentonite clay but that was just 'meh'

 

[melissa-bee]

I don't know what henna treatment wax is.
IT seems like you uses a lot of Apohgee products and I recommend you cut back on them because they tend to be protein based. If your hair is consistently breaking it's possible you could have protein overload. It's seems like you like Organic Root Stimulator products have you tried their moisturising conditioner, that seems to be very moisturising? You could alternate the conditioners each week.
Are you moisturising your hair with the Aloe vera and Castor oil? Do you just apply it to dry hair or do you wet it first.
When I apply anything to my dry hair I don't call that moisturising. I actually have to spritz it with water first and then put something heavy like a shea butter or castor oil. It seems to lock in moisture a lot better for me.
I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to hair products now so I don't even know what to tell you to do with all those products. I want to throw them out for you, lol.
All I recommend is:
1 shampoo
1 clarifying shampoo
1 protein based deep conditioner
1 moisture based deep conditioner
1 co wash conditioner
1 oil
1 butter
and water

You just need to find the perfect one of each, I don't even bother with a separate leave in. Shea butter is my leave in on damp hair. I personally think shea butter on damp hair will help you alot like it did me.

You don't need to shave your hair off again.

 

[Imani]

I don't see a deep moisturizing conditioner in any of the products you listed.

It looks like you may possibly have too much protein in your reggie and not enough moisture.

 

[Imani]

I don't know what henna treatment wax is.
IT seems like you uses a lot of Apohgee products and I recommend you cut back on them because they tend to be protein based. If your hair is consistently breaking it's possible you could have protein overload. It's seems like you like Organic Root Stimulator products have you tried their moisturising conditioner, that seems to be very moisturising? You could alternate the conditioners each week.
Are you moisturising your hair with the Aloe vera and Castor oil? Do you just apply it to dry hair or do you wet it first.
When I apply anything to my dry hair I don't call that moisturising. I actually have to spritz it with water first and then put something heavy like a shea butter or castor oil. It seems to lock in moisture a lot better for me.
I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to hair products now so I don't even know what to tell you to do with all those products. I want to throw them out for you, lol.
All I recommend is:
1 shampoo
1 clarifying shampoo
1 protein based deep conditioner
1 moisture based deep conditioner
1 co wash conditioner
1 oil
1 butter
and water

You just need to find the perfect one of each, I don't even bother with a separate leave in. Shea butter is my leave in on damp hair. I personally think shea butter on damp hair will help you alot like it did me.

You don't need to shave your hair off again.

I agree about the Apoghee products, especially if you said you are spraying the leave in on your hair everyday, I could see how that could dry the mess out of your hair.

 

[yaya24]

It looks like you may possibly have too much protein in your reggie and not enough moisture.

THIS RIGHT HERE

 

[Imani]

I also tried a mud mask with bentonite clay but that was just 'meh'

I have not tried bentonite on my hair but I've used it on my face and it dries it out (which is good for my skin bc I have oily skin, but I'd never put it on my hair). It seems like many of the things you are trying are going the opposite direction from what it sounds like you need- MOISTURE.

 

[NappyNelle]

Sorry for the late responses, I have been away for a bit.

@NappyNelle my hair feels like dry autumn leaves. I deep condition every 2 weeks, I use either henna treatment wax or motions treatment conditioner.



@greenandchic - everyday I alternate between either the aphogee leave in (spray) conditioner & the moisture balancing conditioner, I then seal with coconut oil.

Other days I will use aloe vera gel mixed with castor oil on my hair.

Chioniso You don't have any moisture in your reggie! Those Aphogee products are protein based, AVG and Coconut oil act like proteins, henna and Motions CPR are mild to heavy proteins... WHERE IS YOUR MOISTURE?!

First, clarify your hair of the previous products. Then, ditch the Aphogee products completely, and try Smooth as Silk Deeper moisture conditioner. Deep condition with the SAS, rinse out, and on damp hair, apply S-Curl to your hair in sections. Detangle very gently with a wide-tooth comb, and allow your hair to dry in braids. At the end of your braids, apply a small amount of castor oil to the ends. After the braids are dry, twist or braid as a protective style. It's really time to abby your strands because you have been protein overloaded for far too long! It's time to start deep conditioning weekly to revive your hair. Once you get to a proper balance, your shedding and breakage will stop and your hair will be able to flourish.

 

[Chioniso]

I don't know what henna treatment wax is.
IT seems like you uses a lot of Apohgee products and I recommend you cut back on them because they tend to be protein based. If your hair is consistently breaking it's possible you could have protein overload. It's seems like you like Organic Root Stimulator products have you tried their moisturising conditioner, that seems to be very moisturising? You could alternate the conditioners each week.
Are you moisturising your hair with the Aloe vera and Castor oil? Do you just apply it to dry hair or do you wet it first.
When I apply anything to my dry hair I don't call that moisturising. I actually have to spritz it with water first and then put something heavy like a shea butter or castor oil. It seems to lock in moisture a lot better for me.
I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to hair products now so I don't even know what to tell you to do with all those products. I want to throw them out for you, lol.
All I recommend is:
1 shampoo
1 clarifying shampoo
1 protein based deep conditioner
1 moisture based deep conditioner
1 co wash conditioner
1 oil
1 butter
and water

You just need to find the perfect one of each, I don't even bother with a separate leave in. Shea butter is my leave in on damp hair. I personally think shea butter on damp hair will help you alot like it did me.

You don't need to shave your hair off again.

Thanks for the advice. Yes - I know I have too many products, but I just get frustrated and when someone here says oh, this worked for me, I jump on it, hoping it will help :-(

re the shaving hair off thing, what about what was said about the splits going all down the hair shaft?

 

[Chioniso]

@Chioniso You don't have any moisture in your reggie! Those Aphogee products are protein based, AVG and Coconut oil act like proteins, henna and Motions CPR are mild to heavy proteins... WHERE IS YOUR MOISTURE?!

First, clarify your hair of the previous products. Then, ditch the Aphogee products completely, and try Smooth as Silk Deeper moisture conditioner. Deep condition with the SAS, rinse out, and on damp hair, apply S-Curl to your hair in sections. Detangle very gently with a wide-tooth comb, and allow your hair to dry in braids. At the end of your braids, apply a small amount of castor oil to the ends. After the braids are dry, twist or braid as a protective style. It's really time to abby your strands because you have been protein overloaded for far too long! It's time to start deep conditioning weekly to revive your hair. Once you get to a proper balance, your shedding and breakage will stop and your hair will be able to flourish.

I thought I was using moisture I thought the leave in conditioner would help and also the aloe vera & castor oil would seal it all in. what does 'abby your strands' mean?

edit
I just googled the Smooth as Silk Deeper moisture conditioner and it says it is a protein conditioner too, wouldn't that be bad if it is indeed protein overload as a few of the ladies are suggesting here?

 

[NappyNelle]

Chioniso The SAS conditioner has very little protein, but perhaps you can try the Tresseme Naturals that many women have been raving about.

I meant to type 'baby' your strands. Sorry for the typo!

Aloe Vera JUICE is different from Aloe Vera GEL; AVJ is moisturizing and heavy in glycerin content while AVG is a natural, but protein based gel that like Ecostyler. Coconut oil is great if you are not protein sensitive, however, its molecules penetrate the strand and strengthen the follicle; if one uses it too much, and without a moisturizing base, it will lead to brittle hair.