Hello everyone!
Many women have faced this issue at least at some point wherein they feel that their hair has stopped growing. While the truth is that hair never stops growing entirely. There can be a number of factors that either slow the growth of your hair or increases the rate of breakage to growth, making it appear like your hair has stopped growing altogether. Here are 8 factors you should consider:
1. Heat Abuse:
Even though you may have heard this a hundred times, excessive heat styling damages the cuticle of the shaft your hair, thus causing breakage and split ends. This reduces hair growth considerably. If you really have to heat style your hair, use heat protectant creams and sprays to minimize the damage.
2. Split Ends and Breakage:
One of the biggest mistakes women make, to maintain the length of their hair, is avoiding trims. This will create split ends that ascend up the length of the hair shafts, ultimately causing breakage. You need to trim your hair every 3 months according to experts. But even if not 3 months, go for a trim at least every 4-5 months to maintain the health of your hair.
3. Unhealthy Scalp:
Inflammation of the scalp reduces hair growth as well. So maintaining a healthy and clean scalp is of utmost importance. Some of the clinical conditions that lead to hair loss are alopecia, seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff), psoriasis and other fungal infections.
4. Lack of Moisture:
Dry and brittle hair will only result in breakage. It is necessary to keep your hair moisturized as it cannot produce the required natural oils and sebum to cover the entire hair. Thus, getting a hair spa done twice every month is excellent for your hair. Along with that, you also need to go for hot oil massages regularly and consider using sulphate free products for your hair.
5. Stress and Unhealthy Lifestyle.:
If you are a student, you must have noticed excessive hair loss and stoppage of hair growth during the exam time. This holds true for everyone. Too much of physical and mental stress can cause you to lose your hair. Same is the case with other factors like lack of exercise, irregular sleeping habits to name a few. Hence it is always recommended to exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Exercising releases endorphins that help combat stress, and thus help in preventing stoppage of hair growth.
6. Improper Diet:
A deficiency of vitamins can lead to serious hair problems. Adequate levels of iron and protein are extremely important for maintaining good hair health and to prevent breakage of hair. Along with it, ferritin, vitamin B12 and zinc are also very important to maintain the length and quality of hair.
7. Age:
With increasing age, hair tends to become weaker. The growth phase of hair shortens. This makes hair shed faster making your mane look thinner and shorter. Also, oil production decreases after 45 years of age, which would make hair dry. This will lead to increased breakage and thus reduction of growth.
8. Genetics:
Genetics has a major role to play in determining the maximum length to which your hair could grow. Every person has a unique hair growth cycle, that will determine their potential for hair growth. This does not mean that hair stops growing beyond a certain length. Rather it means that hair growth markedly reduces or even ceases after a certain amount of time has passed, which is usually 2-6 years.
Source: Victoria’s Glamour