Does Trimming/Dusting Really Stimulate Your Hair Growth?

Isis

Isis

New Member
Or is it a myth? Here is a long but very interesting article called, Hair Power I and it's all about why it's important to grow our hair long, without trimming and what happens when we do cut or trim our hair. In a way, it supports both sides of the issue.

I found this link in a discussion about this on another hair board and although there is always discussion here on trimming vs not trimming, this has a different slant on things. What do you ladies think about this hair growth study? Can the scalp and hair roots really know what is going on with the hair ends? What has been your experience?
http://www.sikh.net/SIKHISM/W/Hair1.htm
Here are a couple of quotes:
The significant research has also revealed that longer the hair the more will be the production of Vitamin D through the interaction of Sun heat with the oil in the hair. Thus all this shows that keeping hair is very important for one's physical as well as mental well-being. It has also been proved on the basis of experiments that the hair tied in the form of a knot on the top of the head are capable of attracting the maximum heat energy of Sun just as the television antenna has the capacity to hold photo waves from the atmosphere.
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Harms of Trimming Hair

If the hair are not trimmed, their length, growth stops automatically after reaching a certain length. In this situation, hardly 0.5% of the protein that we take in with our daily diet, is spent on their upkeep. On the other hand, the trimmed hair consumes much more protein because this has to be spent on the re-growth of the hair. Had the hair stopped re-growing after having been trimmed once, there would have been no extra expense of protein. However, keeping in view the multidimensional usefulness of the hair for human body, Nature has created within the human body an interesting mechanism to help continuous growth of the hair. This mechanism continues being operational till one breaths one's last. Thus, this mechanism goes on spending more protein on the re-growth of the hair after a person shaves them off or trims them.
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Isis said:
Or is it a myth? Here is a long but very interesting article called, Hair Power I and it's all about why it's important to grow our hair long, without trimming and what happens when we do cut or trim our hair. In a way, it supports both sides of the issue.

I found this link in a discussion about this on another hair board and although there is always discussion here on trimming vs not trimming, this has a different slant on things. What do you ladies think about this hair growth study? Can the scalp and hair roots really know what is going on with the hair ends? What has been your experience?
http://www.sikh.net/SIKHISM/W/Hair1.htm
Here are a couple of quotes:
Harms of Trimming Hair
Click to expand...

Don't know about this but I do know from personal experience that if you trim your hair regularly, it eliminates split ends. Which in turn stops further damage from split ends, creating a healthier environment for retaining length.

MeechUK
 
That was very interesting. I have been thinking about this a lot because I was always very anti trim.

I don't know if I'm totally convinced that it promotes growth (just from a logical standpoint) but it does APPEAR that way. If that makes sense.

I think if anything it definitely aides in retaining length. I got a trim a few months ago, after not having one for a little over a year, and my hair is like a new person. No snagging, tangles or shedding. So its definitely keeping hair on my head.

One trend I have noticed is that the ladies who seem to have the most length get regular trims or dustings(on and off the board).
 
That was an interesting read, but no, I don't believe that trimming stimulates hair growth. We all know that trimming helps with split ends which of course can help you retain what you already have. But I'll never believe that trimming your hair affects the hair growing out of your scalp or its growth rate.
 
That sounded like the biggest piece of crock I have ever heard. Now I've always advocated trimming to keep the hair healthy, but to grow the hair?? I don't think so. The logic made no sense to me whatsoever. I even went to the website and there's no reference to scientific articles supporting this.

How can the root of the hair or the body in general sense when hair is being trimmed off & then re-allocate protein for increased or decreased growth???

Now I've trimmed my hair PLENTY of times and I've never noticed a change in growth rate as compared to the rate before the trim.

And this:
Another harm that trimming of hair causes is, that the hair have been the means of receiving energy for brain from the sun, but by trimming then we destroy to great extent that system and there by render the mechanism almost inert.
Click to expand...

WTH??! :nuts:

Maybe I'm being closed-minded, ignorant, and don't have enough knowledge about the subject, but I cannot for the life of me see how this makes sense. Their trimming point of view seems directed more towards religious beliefs than anything else.
 
secretdiamond said:
That sounded like the biggest piece of crock I have ever heard. Now I've always advocated trimming to keep the hair healthy, but to grow the hair?? I don't think so. The logic made no sense to me whatsoever. I even went to the website and there's no reference to scientific articles supporting this.

How can the root of the hair or the body in general sense when hair is being trimmed off & then re-allocate protein for increased or decreased growth???

Now I've trimmed my hair PLENTY of times and I've never noticed a change in growth rate as compared to the rate before the trim.

And this:


WTH??! :nuts:

Maybe I'm being closed-minded, ignorant, and don't have enough knowledge about the subject, but I cannot for the life of me see how this makes sense. Their trimming point of view seems directed more towards religious beliefs than anything else.
Click to expand...
:lol: This article is provocative but this isn't the only source with a similar point of view. This is a pro-trimming article for mainly for health reasons as well as spiritual ones. It is against trimming or cutting the hair, for health and spiritual reasons.

As has been mentioned in the past on this board, George Michael (I don't have the link at the moment) states cutting bangs, for example, causes hair to shed more and keeps the hair from growing as it tries to correct the situation. This is another way of saying the roots "know" when the ends are cut.

Although I haven't said I'll never trim my hair, I don't trim my hair (using Cathy Howse's method) and have experienced average hair growth. Some of the ladies on the other hair board say they have experienced an increase in hair growth after trimming. I guess this is something any of us can try as an experiment and document the results.
 
pink_flower said:
That was very interesting. I have been thinking about this a lot because I was always very anti trim.

I don't know if I'm totally convinced that it promotes growth (just from a logical standpoint) but it does APPEAR that way. If that makes sense.

I think if anything it definitely aides in retaining length. I got a trim a few months ago, after not having one for a little over a year, and my hair is like a new person. No snagging, tangles or shedding. So its definitely keeping hair on my head.

One trend I have noticed is that the ladies who seem to have the most length get regular trims or dustings(on and off the board).
Click to expand...
I've been anti trim also, mainly because I'm doing the Cathy Howse method, at least for now. You're right, it does appear to promote growth and we do know that having healthy ends with no splits means retaining our growth.

I too have noticed that ladies with very long hair do get regular trims and dustings. Some of the ladies on the other hair board were saying when they trim, they get a growth spurt when their hair growth was at a standstill before or just plodding along.
 
Isis said:
Or is it a myth? Here is a long but very interesting article called, Hair Power I and it's all about why it's important to grow our hair long, without trimming and what happens when we do cut or trim our hair. In a way, it supports both sides of the issue.

I found this link in a discussion about this on another hair board and although there is always discussion here on trimming vs not trimming, this has a different slant on things. What do you ladies think about this hair growth study? Can the scalp and hair roots really know what is going on with the hair ends? What has been your experience?
http://www.sikh.net/SIKHISM/W/Hair1.htm
Here are a couple of quotes:
Harms of Trimming Hair
Click to expand...



Wow, very interesting topic. I have heard very srong arguments both for and against trimming to stimulate the growth process. I have found that the two things that affect hair growth are (a) the health and condition of the scalp (consuming proper nutients to slimulate blood flow) and (b) giving proper care to moisturizing and protecting the ends. In some cases the reason for more frequent trimming is because proper care has not been given to the hare and scalp.

If there is a solid connection between cutting the hair to stimulate growth if would certainly like to know more about it. Great post!
 
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Trimming, dusting, cutting does not stimulate growth. It only helps to retain length you already have so that as your hair grows (from the top) it gets longer (at the bottom).

Why is this so hard for people to accept?
 
Personally, I think there is something to it. I don't know exactly how it works, though. I swear when I cut my hair to nape and it's back to shoulders in a couple of months. I think I may do a moderate trim and report my findings in a couple months. Let's see if I can get over the just-below-shoulders hump.

I posted a thread the other day about how my hair turns gray from the ends first. Maybe the ends do send some kind of signal to the scalp. I don't know.

Thanks for posting, Isis.
 
jwhitley6 said:
Personally, I think there is something to it. I don't know exactly how it works, though. I swear when I cut my hair to nape and it's back to shoulders in a couple of months. I think I may do a moderate trim and report my findings in a couple months. Let's see if I can get over the just-below-shoulders hump.

I posted a thread the other day about how my hair turns gray from the ends first. Maybe the ends do send some kind of signal to the scalp. I don't know.

Thanks for posting, Isis.
Click to expand...

You're welcome Jwhitley6 and your post about your hair turning gray from the ends first rather than from the roots was so interesting and really got me thinking. Some of the other ladies reported the same thing with their greys. Some kind of communication seems to be going on. :scratchch

I read another article about how the body balances things out when it detects an imbalance, such as cutting bangs. This seems to support George Michael's bang theory.

Here is a quote:
http://longhair.org/HCP/bangs.htm

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]How does balance affect my hair growth?[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1] Now keeping in mind the attention your body gives to balance. Lets go a little further. Believe it or not, your body knows everything that goes on with your body. Within less than an hour after you have eaten a meal. Your body knows exactly how many calories, fat grams, and carbohydrates were in the meal. As well as how much nutrition and protein was in the meal. Not only that but it has already begun separating what it wants to keep, and what it wants to depose of. Sending the nutrition where it is needed the most. Your body does all this without any thought on your part. It is just instinctive. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1] Any time a part of the human body becomes unbalanced (as in a cut). The body goes to work immediately to do what it can to balance that unbalanced part. So when you cut bangs or layers, your scalp quickly goes to work to even out your uneven or unbalanced lengths. Your scalp does this by simply reducing the nutrition to your longer lengths, and increasing the nutrition to the shorter lengths. Increasing the growth rate of the shorter lengths of hair, and reducing the growth rate of longer lengths. This condition can also lead to the thinning out of the longer lengths. And this is why bangs and layers will lead to slower hair growth and hair loss. All one-length hair will grow faster and thicker than banged or layered hair for most people.
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[/SIZE][/FONT]
 
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people will argue bout this for years.

i infact DO believe trimming and dusting grows the hair, i dont know why, but on my head it does.

i do a search and destroy on my strands, then all of a sudden i get major growth, even without vits, i used to dust and my hair would grow quick.

plus when my scalp was dirrrty my hair would grow quick too. keeping it thoroughly clean increase my growth aswell.

soooo, every |"man" for themself, as i've seen so many people shoot down folk who say trimming helps their hair to GROW (not retain..GROW)..who is anybody to say it doesn't work? bahhh humbug!
 
Candy_C said:
people will argue bout this for years.

i infact DO believe trimming and dusting grows the hair, i dont know why, but on my head it does.

i do a search and destroy on my strands, then all of a sudden i get major growth, even without vits, i used to dust and my hair would grow quick.

plus when my scalp was dirrrty my hair would grow quick too. keeping it thoroughly clean increase my growth aswell.

soooo, every |"man" for themself, as i've seen so many people shoot down folk who say trimming helps their hair to GROW (not retain..GROW)..who is anybody to say it doesn't work? bahhh humbug!
Click to expand...

Don't know if this was directed at my statement, but I wasn't shooting down Isis or anyone else for talking about this or believing this. Maybe I missed something, but I, myself, have never heard of anyone on this board say that trimming had helped their hair grow, so I don't know how I would be shooting down anyone (if your statement was in reference to mine). In fact, I've always known this board to be generally against trimming (maybe I'm wrong). Moreover, I've always read here that stylists would always tell clients that "trimming will grow you hair" to keep people at shoulder length or whatever, and how much of a myth it has been.

When I made my statement, I was referring to the website as Isis asked what our thoughts about it was. So I did just that--- gave my thoughts, the first thing that popped up in my head when I read it. Just as it's been your experience that trimming helps your hair grow, it's been mine that it doesn't--- & that's fine. I'm not knocking you for believing it b/c it's your hair growing out of your head, so who am I to say that you're lying?

And like I've said before, maybe I'm being ignorant and don't know what I'm talking about, but until I can logically understand this, I don't and won't believe it.

It's just the same way that some believe that MTG or MN enhance growth and others believe it's a load of crap. It's all opinion, and we're entitled to it. ;)
 
secretdiamond said:
Don't know if this was directed at my statement, but I wasn't shooting down Isis or anyone else for talking about this or believing this. Maybe I missed something, but I, myself, have never heard of anyone on this board say that trimming had helped their hair grow, so I don't know how I would be shooting down anyone (if your statement was in reference to mine). In fact, I've always known this board to be generally against trimming (maybe I'm wrong). Moreover, I've always read here that stylists would always tell clients that "trimming will grow you hair" to keep people at shoulder length or whatever, and how much of a myth it has been.

When I made my statement, I was referring to the website as Isis asked what our thoughts about it was. So I did just that--- gave my thoughts, the first thing that popped up in my head when I read it. Just as it's been your experience that trimming helps your hair grow, it's been mine that it doesn't--- & that's fine. I'm not knocking you for believing it b/c it's your hair growing out of your head, so who am I to say that you're lying?

And like I've said before, maybe I'm being ignorant and don't know what I'm talking about, but until I can logically understand this, I don't and won't believe it.

It's just the same way that some believe that MTG or MN enhance growth and others believe it's a load of crap. It's all opinion, and we're entitled to it. ;)
Click to expand...

it wasn't aimed at you at all

or anyone. i only read the first post which was isis'...
 
the less i trim my hair the longer it gets..... it's just as simple as that... i know a lot of women who trim their hair on a regular who complain that their hair never seems to get any longer, but it is always healthy looking... so go figure...
 
Yeah, I'm with Secret Diamond and others on this one. It's a crock. Hair is DEAD. The body doesn't "know" when our hair had been cut and therefore races to catch up!

If we appear to have a growth spurt, I imagine it's only because prior to the cut, the ends are damaged and breaking off, therefore not showing any length. After, the ends are healthy and won't break, so the growth from the scalp will show.

We all know that hair grows from the scalp, and we all know hair is dead.

Sherrylove: I bet the reason you see longer hair when you trim is because your ends don't break (either because you take excellent care of them, or because your hair isn't prone to breakage). Clearly, whatever you are doing works!
 
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I don't believe any of this. I'm a regular trimmer and I don't see a difference in growth rate when I trim normally or when I experimented and went 4 months without a trim. My hair still grows at the same rate.
 
If there's any truth to that article then it would explain why the front and the rear part of my hair is longer than the top :scratchch ....everytime I see a split end I cut it off except on the top going towards the rear because I can't see back there and it's shorter than the rest of my hair as you can see by my measurements of my twists in my siggy. :(

It's been my personal experience that my hair grows at an accelarated rate after a dust/trim :yep: Speaking of which I'm going to have to get that top to rear section dusted if I ever want to achieve bsl in that layer. :ohwell:
 
MeechUK said:
Don't know about this but I do know from personal experience that if you trim your hair regularly, it eliminates split ends. Which in turn stops further damage from split ends, creating a healthier environment for retaining length.

MeechUK
Click to expand...

You are right on w/ this answer!
 
I have not read all of the responses yet. But if we were to trust the theory that trimming grows hair faster, then wouldn't hair breaking off promote faster growth also? How does the root realize the difference between a hair cut via scissors or snapped off. It is still shorter, thus the hair should grow faster, correct? (not a believer just putting it out there).

I am not for or against trimming. I fall in the middle. If you need one, get one (splits, aesthetics, whatever), but some stylist take unnecessary amounts too often.
 
Isis said:
:lol: This article is provocative but this isn't the only source with a similar point of view. This is a pro-trimming article for mainly for health reasons as well as spiritual ones. It is against trimming or cutting the hair, for health and spiritual reasons.

As has been mentioned in the past on this board, George Michael (I don't have the link at the moment) states cutting bangs, for example, causes hair to shed more and keeps the hair from growing as it tries to correct the situation. This is another way of saying the roots "know" when the ends are cut.

Although I haven't said I'll never trim my hair, I don't trim my hair (using Cathy Howse's method) and have experienced average hair growth. Some of the ladies on the other hair board say they have experienced an increase in hair growth after trimming. I guess this is something any of us can try as an experiment and document the results.
Click to expand...
what is cathy howe's method? i have not cut my hair since january. I am getting frustrated because i joined the 2 inches per month challenge when i joined this board in february, and i measured and my hair grew 1.5 inches in 3 weeks the 1st month. Since then, i have not seen 4 more inches of growth. I wonder if my hair is at a plateau, or if i am doing too much or too little. I am open to suggestions...My hair is curly so it draws up and looks 5 inches shorter than it really is, so length is critical for me... i want to see a consistent 1.5-2 inches per month of growth. Ladies, please give me your suggestions. Here is my routine: daily vitamins, 8-12,000mg msm (2 teasp), 2500 mg biotin + biotin in ultranourishair vits, flax seed oil, eve primrose oil, folic acid, garlic, co-wash with nioxin scalp repair, i put nioxin follicle booster on my scalp followed by sulfur/castor oil mix, then i put nioxin leave in conditioner on my hair and seal with castor oil. Is there anything i should add change or remove to get faster growth?? please share :)
 
hmm interesting :scratchch . I have also noticed that my hair grows much quicker if i trim it... but then i stopped b/c i used to think how could trimming the ENDS of my hair make my hair grow more but as i read this article it makes sense now ;)
 
aileenadq said:
I urge all of you who are even thinking of buying into this silly theory to ask your doctor, or even a trichtologist! (This is not to say I don't trim, I do. But only when I need it. Why have long hair if your ends are raggedy or messed up? ) http://www.hairfinder.com/info/hairmyths.htm
Click to expand...

There are many theories we've learned that we automatically accept without question. This thread is only asking what is going on with those whose hair growth really does seem to accelerate when they dust or trim it. I don't believe all those people are delusional. Something is going on. Some ladies are experience great hair growth results by not trimming or just trimming once in a while. I believe it's always good to question, that's how we learn and grow.

Doctors know very little about hair and nutrition and science continues to have many theories to offer, which is what most people buy into until science decides to offer new data. One of the ladies on the board where I got the first link from has a husband (I think he's a scientist) who is testing the "trim faster hair growth" theory on her already long hair. She will document her results.

BTW, I don't trim my hair and my ends are not messed up or raggedy. ;)
 
dynamic1 said:
I have not read all of the responses yet. But if we were to trust the theory that trimming grows hair faster, then wouldn't hair breaking off promote faster growth also? How does the root realize the difference between a hair cut via scissors or snapped off. It is still shorter, thus the hair should grow faster, correct? (not a believer just putting it out there).

I am not for or against trimming. I fall in the middle. If you need one, get one (splits, aesthetics, whatever), but some stylist take unnecessary amounts too often.
Click to expand...
What a great point Dynamic1! If hair is breaking off though, it would have to stop breaking long enough for one to see if any faster hair growth is happening. Hmm... that would be an interesting experiment for someone who is having breakage and then corrected it.
 
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pink_flower said:
Why do people get so heated about this argument? LOL!
Click to expand...
I was wondering also. It seems to be a very personal issue with some. My intention with this thread is not to make anyone wrong, it's just to share our experiences since we are having different results when it comes to trimming and hair growth.
 
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