How do U know????

[shetara20]

How do you know when you have reached terminal length?????

 

[Solitude]

I'm just a newbie, but I think it's when you are taking good care of your hair & following the same regimen that you used to grow it, but you can't attain anymore length.

Some people don't believe in terminal length, but others clearly point to the fact that women, especially some black women, seem unable to grow their hair "long" despite diligent efforts.

 

[discodumpling]

When you have absolutely no growth for 2-3 yrs you may have reached your terminal length.
At that time I would re-examine my regi and hair care practices and try to jumpstart my growth before coming to that conclusion.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

If you believe you're at terminal length and bun it up/protective style for 6 months and there is still no change, then you've probably hit it.

I think most folks who think they've hit terminal length anywhere above bra-strap need to tweak their regimens.

 

[aribell]

There isn't terminal "length" so much as terminal "time." A hair follicle will keep pushing out hair for a predetermined amount of time, at a certain rate. While that speed is mostly genetic, you can do things to speed it up (moisture, vits., growth aids, etc). or slow it down (dryness, dirt, chemicals, etc.). The faster you get it to grow, the longer your hair is before the time "terminates."

I think most folks who think they've hit terminal length anywhere above bra-strap need to tweak their regimens.

ITA. So much can be done to improve growth speed that I think it is very rare for someone to be completely genetically unable to reach BSL.

 

[HoneyDew]

There isn't terminal "length" so much as terminal "time." A hair follicle will keep pushing out hair for a predetermined amount of time, at a certain rate. While that speed is mostly genetic, you can do things to speed it up (moisture, vits., growth aids, etc). or slow it down (dryness, dirt, chemicals, etc.). The faster you get it to grow, the longer your hair is before the time "terminates."

So you don't think that making it grow faster will only help you reach terminal faster?

I know for a fact that some growth aids help hair grow faster. But it still seems unlikely that they can help you go past a certain genetic length – only help you reach it in a shorter amount of time.

Not that I can see anyone using growth aids that long. (I hope)

 

[Chrissmiss]

I really don't understand this terminal length thing. How does hair cutting come into play??? If your "treminal length" is 24in (1/2 per month 4 years) what happens if you cut half of that during the four years will your hair appear to stop at the 2 year mark instead. I really don't get it.

 

[abordeaux]

I don't believe in terminal length.

 

[Jas123]

I don't believe in terminal length.

me neither, my positive-glass 1/2 full attitude will not allow me to believe in terminal length... it just won't

 

[JustKiya]

Believe in it or not, it's a fact of life. There are so. many. threads on this, but here's the short version, again.

Each follicle has a preset amount of time that it grows hair. Each follicle also has a preset rate of how fast hair grows.

Lifespan * Growth Rate = Terminal Length.

And after that hair is shed from that follicle, another hair will pop out behind it, and grow to that same length, as determined by the lifespan*growth rate calculation. If you cut the hair, it's still going to grow for the same amount of time, but you've artificially reduced the length.

Hair also goes through stalls, where it grows at a much slower rate, or even stops growing altogether - but without shedding - and then starts back up growing again.

Personally, I wouldn't consider myself terminal until I had gone strictly protective and heat-free for at least a year with no growth.

Even if you get the short end of the genetic stick - 1/4 inch of growth a month, and a 3 year growth phase - that's nine inches of hair - from your NAPE - which is at least between shoulder & BSL - assuming you aren't chasing a blunt cut. And, based on how averages work, most people don't get the short end of the stick, nor do most people get the long end of the stick - it's a bell curve, with the average person falling somewhere in between.

Take stock of your hair habits - are you doing anything that you know you shouldn't be doing for maximum hair health? Are you seeing breakage? If the answer to either of those questions is YES, you need to address that before fretting about terminal length.

 

[JustKiya]

www.loreal.com states that Asian hair grows at a rate of 1.3 cm per month... Caucasian hair grows at a rate of 1.2 cm a month... and African hair grows at a rate of 0.9 cm a month.

yes, you read that right... on average, we have a slower growth rate.

let's assume that 3 "average" subjects from each of the 3 races shaved their heads and retained every inch of growth in a year. the Asian would have 15.6 cm, the Caucasian 14.4 cm and the African 10.8 cm. in inches, that is 6.1 inches, 5.7 inches and 4.3 inches respectively.

if all 3 of them had the "average" anagen phase of 3 years, the Asian would be able to achieve 18.3 inches, the Caucasian 17.1 inches and the African 12.9 inches.

now obviously there are people who fall outside of "average." very few people will be at an extreme of very short hair or very long hair. most of us will fall in the middle. just to give you a visual example...

my hair is 13 inches here (layers):

(keep in mind that i am 5' 9" so for women who are the "average" height of 5' 5", 13 inches will probably look longer on them.)

as long as you are doing things to prevent your ends from breaking off or needing to be cut off (which is what we mean by rentention), i believe most of us should be able to grow at least 12.9 inches of hair within 3-year span.

it says AVERAGE ladies. not "definitive for everyone in the African diaspora." there are Africans who have faster growth rates than this, just like there are people of non-African descent who have slower growth rates.

i posted that because there are many women i've met on these hair boards who only get 4 inches a year. i don't want them to be discouraged, it isn't abnormal and if this is indeed your growth rate AND you only have a 3-year anagen you can still achieve a decent length of hair... you are not stuck at chin or barely brushing the shoulders as many women feel they are.

Heres the deal..........

Genetics play a part in everything. We, humans, have a little over 23,000 genes and they deal you your cards in everything concerning your body.

The thing is that Genetics load the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger.
Our genes give us various advantages or disadvantages to every illness, condition, physical attribute etc..... BUT how we treat ourselves and what we do afters "pulls the trigger". While your hair might come out of your scalp super strong and thick due to your genetics, you can still do but only so much abuse to it before it looks dry and damaged. Everyones hair is different but everyone has an allowance of what they can take. If you go over your personal allowance, you will still have jacked up hair. Don't eat right....it will show, don't get enough sleep....it will show, stressed out.....it will show. All of those things are critcal for a healthy hair growing environment.

Also, I believe many of us don't have a clue to what we can really do genetically because bad hair care habits have been passed down throughout the generations. You don't know what you can do until you do things the right way and give yourself time. When I say time, I mean atleast 3 years. This hair thing is a process and a journey. It isn't instant success with you going to get an instant weave But seriously though, you got to keep a positive attitude and you have to be consistent. You can't do the right things once a week and think you are going anywhere. You can't hold on to visbly damaged hair and think you are going anywhere. Learn the basics, understand what they do, why it is important, how it applies to you and what your hair likes and then do it. Wait.....wait......wait some more and Voila!!!

You also need to remember that a majority of brown skinned people are of very mixed ancestry including some Asian, White, Native American, et cetera, so I don't trust sources that overlook the fact that dark skinned people are rarely purebred Africans. Especially brown people in America, doesn't matter how dark your skin is, pigment doesn't determine hair length, fullness, or texture, DNA and ancestry do and very few of us are completely African.

I had to go and jack some posts from another thread on the same issue.........