I think everyone needs to read this!!! Re:Terminal length

L

locabouthair

Well-Known Member
Sistaslick just wrote a new article about terminal length. I peeped it while I was stalking her fotki:look:

The topic of terminal length and genetics has been debated over and over again on here. Sistaslick explains it in a very simple way. I hope everyone's encouraged after reading it. Especially the newbies and the ladies here with shorter hair.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar...l_length_and_the_role_of_genetics.html?cat=69

Shoutouts to sistaslick!
 
locabouthair said:
Sistaslick just wrote a new article about terminal length. I peeped it while I was stalking her fotki:look:

The topic of terminal length and genetics has been debated over and over again on here. Sistaslick explains it in a very simple way. I hope everyone's encouraged after reading it. Especially the newbies and the ladies here with shorter hair.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar...l_length_and_the_role_of_genetics.html?cat=69

Shoutouts to sistaslick!
Click to expand...

very interesting article. i'm aware of terminal length but don't think about it too much. my grandmother and her sister both had waist length hair when they were in their teens. so i don't think maintaining long hair is impossible.

it also makes me wonder about growth aids because if you speed up the growing, does that shorten the time that your strands are on your head? speeding up the cycle would mean that your hair would shed faster right?
 
LivingDol1 said:
very interesting article. i'm aware of terminal length but don't think about it too much. my grandmother and her sister both had waist length hair when they were in their teens. so i don't think maintaining long hair is impossible.

it also makes me wonder about growth aids because if you speed up the growing, does that shorten the time that your strands are on your head? speeding up the cycle would mean that your hair would shed faster right?
Click to expand...

I'm honestly not sure. I dont use growth aids but thats a good question. Hopefully sistaslick can respond.

I never worried about terminal length that much because most of the women in my family didnt take care of their hair properly and I know that I dont want really long hair. Just give me APL and I'm good. :yep:
 
I always enjoy reading SistaSlicks articles; they are so imformative.

I totally thing agree with everything that she wrote in that article ... This is my take which I posted last year.

"IMO the phrase, terminal length is misleading.

I believe that our hair grows for a certain period of time. At the end of the growth period the hair starts to shed. So if your growth period is 5 years, you will grow hair until it reaches the 5 year mark. The hair will then go in to a resting phase, and after that will fall and be replaced with new hair. Now because of this, it may seem as if your hair is growing to a certain length when in truth it is growing for a certain amount of time... and then it starts to shed.

It has already been proven that we have growth and resting phases.

If there was no such thing as terminal length our eye lashes/brows and body hair would be out of this world LOL. It doesn't make sense that we have terminal length on every other inch of our bodies but not our heads.

I believe this theory applies to animals also. Animals with hair and/or fur only grow hair to a certain length.

However I think that for the average person, terminal length is at least MBL. I believe that the vast majority (with a healthy lifestyle and proper hair care) can surpass BSL" :yep:
 
Thanks for posting this link. The article was balanced, scientifically sound and informative. Maybe it can put the terminal length debate to rest!
 
LivingDol1 said:
it also makes me wonder about growth aids because if you speed up the growing, does that shorten the time that your strands are on your head? speeding up the cycle would mean that your hair would shed faster right?
Click to expand...

No, it wouldn't mean that. The time and the growth speed are separate factors. If you can get your hair to grow faster, then (theoretically) you can extend your terminal length.
****

I like how she compares BSL and WL with floor-length. In light of knee-length and floor-length hair, BSL seems like small potatoes.
 
Sistaslick comes through for us once again! :cup:

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about my terminal length being really long... my mother had classic length hair when she was a little girl.

Her grandmother took care of her hair in the old school way they did it in Slovakia. She would wash, comb, and plait my mother's hair, and then pin up the plaits. Her hair was experiencing the perfect low-mani/protective styling reggie, no wonder it grew so long!
 
I don't understand the growth phase thing. How do you know if your hair is in a growth phase? Is all of your hair at different points in the growth phase? can someone further explain?
 
LivingDol1 said:
very interesting article. i'm aware of terminal length but don't think about it too much. my grandmother and her sister both had waist length hair when they were in their teens. so i don't think maintaining long hair is impossible.

it also makes me wonder about growth aids because if you speed up the growing, does that shorten the time that your strands are on your head? speeding up the cycle would mean that your hair would shed faster right?
Click to expand...

I believe Sistaslick answered this. She said terminal length is about time. So if your anagen phase is only 2 years and you take growth aids that extend your rate from 1/2 a month to 3/4 a month then instead of you getting 12 inches of growth you would get 18 inches during those 2 years. Your anagen phase isn't going to shorten because your growth rate increased. Maybe they should change the term from terminal length to terminal time cause I can see how it would get confusing.

Also this brings me to the question. If people are concerned about a short anagen phase why dont people take MSM to lengthen this anagen phase/
 
jcsavestheday said:
I don't understand the growth phase thing. How do you know if your hair is in a growth phase? Is all of your hair at different points in the growth phase? can someone further explain?
Click to expand...

Different fractions of your hair are at different growth phases. The majority are in the growing phase. About 10 percent are in the shedding phase. And because only about 10% shed, then that kinda tells you that even those growing are at different phases since only 10% will be at shedding stage. Maybe the following article will help:


The Hair Growth Cycle

There are basically 3 cycles that each hair follicle has to go through around 20 times in your life. Imagine it as a never ending process until it dies to produce your crown of glory. These 3 phases are known as

  • ANAGEN
  • CATAGEN
  • TELOGEN
Let' s get in depth with each of the hair phase.



The ANAGEN Phase

This is the first phase of your hair growth cycle which is also known as the growing phase. At any one time, 80 - 90 percent of your hair follicles on your scalp are in the ANAGEN phase. During this period
hair_anagen.jpg

  • Your hair grows continuously
  • The growing will continue for 3 to 7 years
  • Grows at the rate of half an inch a month
  • The hair bulb produces your hair pigment
  • Blood supply provides nutrients and minerals to your hair
  • Looks thick and nourished




The CATAGEN Phase

After the ANAGEN phase, your hair will turn into a transitional phase before going to rest. This short phase is known as the CATAGEN phase which last for 2 to 4 weeks. During this time,
hair_catagen.jpg

  • Your hair detaches from the blood supply
  • The detached follicle will slowly shrink to about 1/6 its size
  • The hair bulb stops producing the color pigment
  • The bulb will be pushed upwards towards the surface when the new hair is formed
  • Approximately 2 - 3 % of your hair will be in this phase in your scalp




The TELOGEN Phase

This is the final phase of your hair growth cycle. It is also known as the resting phase where your hair follicles will slowly fall off and replaced by a new hair.
hair_telogen.jpg

  • Around 10 - 15 % of the hair in your scalp will be in TELOGEN phase
  • 50 - 100 hairs from this phase will shed daily
  • This period lasts for 3 months before the hair falls out
  • The hair follicles become weak and thin and you can easily pull them out - new hair follicle will emerge once the hair the hair falls.





​
 
jcsavestheday said:
I don't understand the growth phase thing. How do you know if your hair is in a growth phase? Is all of your hair at different points in the growth phase? can someone further explain?
Click to expand...

Each hair follicle is in its own stage. If all of your hair was in the same stage..you would have periods of balding because all of your hair would shed at once.
 
thanks so much OP! Gives everyone much to hope for... compared to knee length, waist length hair is definitely within our reach!!!!
 
This article conveys a lot of stuff that has been a point of debate on this board for a long time. I totally agree with it but then are those who thinks that genetic has nothing to do with growth rate: If you take care of your hair like member xyz, you too will have hair down your butt just like xyz. Nope. Not going to happen if your growth rate and hair cycle is shorter than member xyz. Growth aid will help your cause, but only to some extend.
 
^^^^ i agree

i saw this and thought it was very intresting to actually see the side by side picture



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Differences in hair length depend on the length of anagen, which is genetically determined. These two people started off with hair of the same length and went without a haircut for 18 months: the man's hair grows only to his collar before it falls out naturally, but the woman's anagen period is clearly much longer [reproduced from Diseases of the Hair and Scalp, A. Rook and R. Dawber (eds), 2nd edn, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1981]

http://www.pgbeautygroomingscience.com/the-hair-growth-cycle.html
 
One of the questions that I have is about something discussed on page 5 of the article. She talks about how nails are a good indicator of scalp/hair health. My thing has always been - I have strong nails which grow easily and are tough to break. They are not brittle just hard. I can't say the same for my hair. For this reason, silica does not work for me.

How does that happen?
 
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