DANG!!!MY HAIR IS NOT GROWING FAST ENOUGH

[SherryLove]

Hey, Ladies. I am posting this only with the intention to help, not to antagonize or insult.

It seems as if some of you are stressing because your hair will not grow fast enough or long enough for your taste. Ladies, Please stop stressing about hair length and focus more on the overall general health of your hair and body. If you eat for optimal health, if your haircare regimen is tight, and if you use haircare products geared towards the optimal health of your hair, just be patient. Under these ideal circumstances, your hair will more than likely grow to its terminal length -- whatever that may be.

Back in 2001, when my hair was maybe shoulder length....LOL for Real.... I stressed everyday about the length of my hair...I would go out and buy an excessive amount of hair products to increase my hair growth to no avail...I would look in the mirror every week (yes, every week) to see if my hair had grown any longer, only to discover that it was the same exact length it was in the previous week. I would be a little resentful of the African American women I had seen with longer hair than mine. I would swear up and down that it was just a good weave....

I grew tired of stressing over the length of my hair. It was not making it grow any faster... When I finally made an agreement with myself to stop stressing over my hair and to keep myself more occupied with other things, it seemed as if my hair began to grow faster. It was some time in 2002 that my mom made the comment, "I see you are really letting that hair grow." Now my mom is not big on pointing out things, so I knew there had to be a lot of growth going on there.

I have also arrived at the conclusion that not everyone is going to have the same length of hair. We all have different hair growth rates, just as we have different skin complexions and different heights. I would love to see my hair reach tailbone length as my maternal grandma's does...But guess what??? If it doesn't,,,,I will be just fine with my almost-waist length healthy hair.......

 

[Falon]

You are right...it is hard to not obsess. When you first join the board you are so happy to find some solutions to your problems that you run out and try to try everything at once. When the miracle doesn't happen immediately it gets frustrating. I had to go through it too. The first couple of weeks I spent a ton of dough buying all these new products and a bonnet dryer.

Now I'm down to 3 or 4 that work for me. I know it is going to take time but it's hard to be patient. I just focus on the improving health of my hair and take pride in comments from people I know who say "wow your hair is looking really healthy these days"

 

[HairFanatic01]

Thanx so much for your words of encouragement. I really needed that to boost up my spirits with this long hair business.

 

[JenJen2721]

Thanks for saying that SherryLove...I was getting depressed recently because I've been on the board for over a year now and I'm still not to shoulder length. I experienced a ton of breakage due to Surge (to get faster growth...totally defeated the purpose.), I learned to just go back to with what worked for me before, leave the fads alone and that being content with the fact that I even have hair on my head is the best regimen I could be on.

 

[inkysphinx]

I agree with this. I decided that I need to stop obsessing about it, and just find other things to think about. Does that mean that I won't take care of it? No. I will just try to be patient. I'm getting braids next week to helpme not check it for growth every 2 minutes!

 

[DigitalRain]

[ QUOTE ]
JenJen2721 said:
Thanks for saying that SherryLove...I was getting depressed recently because I've been on the board for over a year now and I'm still not to shoulder length. I experienced a ton of breakage due to Surge (to get faster growth...totally defeated the purpose.), I learned to just go back to with what worked for me before, leave the fads alone and that being content with the fact that I even have hair on my head is the best regimen I could be on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jen, how did surge damage your hair?

 

[Isis]

This is all true. At different points in my life, I grew my hair long without trying to. I wasn't concerned about length (or healthy hair)at all. It would really surprise me when a family member or coworker would exclaim how long my hair was getting. Then I would pay more attention to it and fry it off with my heating utensils.

So I know that obsessing about the growth rate does nothing but create anxiety. It's like planting a seed and digging it up every few minutes to see if it grew roots yet. Turning our attention towards other things, like our health and projects outside of ourselves, while having the intention of growing our hair longer really seems to work. Our hair seems to grow faster this way.

 

[SherryLove]

Yay for JenJen, Falcon, inkysphinx and hairfanatic....

I kinda like the sound of thehealthyhaircareforum.com....

 

[JenJen2721]

[ QUOTE ]
DigitalRain said:
[ QUOTE ]
JenJen2721 said:
Thanks for saying that SherryLove...I was getting depressed recently because I've been on the board for over a year now and I'm still not to shoulder length. I experienced a ton of breakage due to Surge (to get faster growth...totally defeated the purpose.), I learned to just go back to with what worked for me before, leave the fads alone and that being content with the fact that I even have hair on my head is the best regimen I could be on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jen, how did surge damage your hair?

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe the protein in the Surge made my new growth too stiff and strong...my relaxed hair is very thin and fragile...so I experienced breakage at the demarcation line due to the relaxed hair breaking off from the new growth.

 

[Supergirl]

Well, I'll always be a PJ no matter how long my hair gets.

 

[sabie19]

Thanks for the support SherryLove. I have been stressing lately. I plan on getting my hair put in braids for the summer. It will keep me from stressing.

 

[deeplyrooted]

[ QUOTE ]
SherryLove said:

I have also arrived at the conclusion that not everyone is going to have the same length of hair. We all have different hair growth rates, just as we have different skin complexions and different heights.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is soooo true. i've been working at focusing more on the health of my hair as opposed to just the length and it's definitely been very helpful regarding my growth process.

now, if i could only conquer this PJism.

 

[SherryLove]

[ QUOTE ]
Supergirl said:

Well, I'll always be a PJ no matter how long my hair gets.

[/ QUOTE ]

you are so bad......

 

[LABETT]

Yes this true Sherrylove I was suprised when my hair went on growth spurt the last couple of months after being stunted for a while I am happy and will let my hair do its thing.

 

[alliyah4eva203]

thanx for the words of encouragement sherry. i'm so fustrated with my hair right now. i think i've become way to obsesive about the lenght. i'll try my hardest to focus on the overall health instead. i think i'm gonna have to get braids as well cause checking my hair in the mirror every two minutes is becoming tiresome

 

[Irresistible]

I agree Sherrylove....

i spent alot of years not even trippin on my hair , just doin what i knew to do and it just thanked me for tryin and grew.....BUT now that it stopped

im back to thinkin and tryin to get some more inches out of this head and im'a do it too, watch

Ive changed some things, amped some things up and we shall see, I aint lookin in the mirror every day though (yes i did that before)

but im ready with the ruler

i refuse to be convince i've reached terminal anything..im fightin it with all the big guns i can think of

stay tuned to this station.....hehehe

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

At first when I saw this thread,I was like

nah-ah,I know Sherrylove is not complaining about her hair not growing fast enough

 

[BMoreFlyy]

I pay more attention to my hair now and sometimes I want it to grow, but then I have to think what will I do with it longer...

When, I see all the pj's in here, I'm like I wish I could try all that stuff, but then I remember I already found something that works good on my hair. It's hard not to get caught up in the hair hype when you have support.

And now I'm more or less trying to get it healthy and keep it healthy.

 

[katie]

I have been stressing since my growth rate has gone down since I stopped using Surge and I won't be able to get more Surge til I go back to school in Sept.But I guess I shouldnt be stressing that much since my growth rate is the average 0.5 inches without Surge.That is what most people get anyway.I just got used to getting double that consistently since this year started.

 

[SherryLove]

[ QUOTE ]
Bublnbrnsuga said:
At first when I saw this thread,I was like

nah-ah,I know Sherrylove is not complaining about her hair not growing fast enough

[/ QUOTE ]

But I was (as my son says) beastin' three years ago......

 

[silvergirl]

i totally agree, i found the less i fight with my hair the more it repays me overtime with great results. its def hard to let go an let it do its thing, but its the best recipe to get ones hair growing.

 

[Ayeshia]

I agree too

Luckily i dont stress too much on hair length. But when I took my album update pics i was like

After not paying attention to my hair I couldnt believe it! Right now Im on a no heat challenge for one year. So since my hair is natural I will not see the actual length of it until April 2005. So as long as I stay on the OT board Im set

 

[Lindy]

[ QUOTE ]
skegeesmb said:
I've been bumming out because I'm itching to get to braclasp. I know I'll make it by the end of the year, so I'm going to stop stressing about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too.

Also, it feels so much better to have a nice HEALTHY head of hair, as opposed to fragile, lifeless strands!! My hair is the longest it has ever been, but MORE important than that, it's also the HEALTHIEST it's ever been!! It's amazing to feel the difference between healthy hair, and hair that is badly damaged. I've been at both ends of the spectrum, and trust me, go for hair HEALTH first, and the length will come!!

 

[EXSQUISIT]

great advice sherrylove, thanks!

 

[Poohbear]

SherryLove, Thanks for your words of encouragement...I really needed that...Im gonna stop stressing right now and be content with what I have

 

[Vanessa22]

Thanks Sherrylove for your inspiring words. You're absolutely right, even though sometimes it hurts to hear the truth.....

 

[bettydavis]

This is so true. I realised that I'm better off going back in to braids cause I 'm constantly fussing with my hair. I might even try doing back to back braids for the rest of the year. I just can't take the stressing over it.

 

[dontspeakdefeat]

Excellent advice!

 

[miss_brown]

Sherry, you are so right. Ironically, I've been stressing lately and for no reason because I'm in cornrows and on a growth spurt, but I'm getting impatient. Girl, I've even resorted to start stocking up on more products even though these braids aren't coming out for another 3 weeks

I've got to stop this madness!

 

[queenofmean68]

Easier said than done.