As I am sure you have heard, if you cut your hair frequently your hair will grow in faster, longer, and healthier.
Gobbledygook! This myth came from the observation of men’s facial hair. As they shaved, the facial hair would indeed grow in thicker. Its called, ‘puberty.’
This is because certain male hormones affect facial hair in that manner. They do not affect the hair on the head in the same way.
To the contrary. Male hormonal activity is what leads to hair thinning and loss on certain parts of the head, but not all. Hence the familiar balding pattern known as ‘male pattern baldness.’ This same hormonal activity also affects women, but not until much later in life, and in a different pattern.
Cutting your hair only makes it shorter, does not affect the growth rate one iota, and cannot determine the length that your hair will grow to. Maximum hair length is determined by the shape and width of the hair shaft, and that is determined genetically and is not alterable with current technology.
Lastly, hair is neither healthy or unhealthy. It is in fact, dead. Else, it would really hurt to cut it. It is the health of the hair follicle below the outer skin that requires nutrients for good health, and deminished adverse hormonal activity.
So, unless you have split ends or chemically damaged hair, the only need to cut your hair is for the look that you want.
A few things that you can do to ensure that your hair follicle remains healthy and your hair is undamaged, are:
1. Take an inexpensive daily multi vitamin such as ‘One-A-Day’ or even ‘Flintstones.’ Your hair likes zinc and biotin and both of the above mentioned vitmins contain ample amounts of these. Don’t waste your hard earned money on ‘super vitamins.’ Your body only requires so many vitamins per day and simply discharges the excess. You can’t put twenty gallons in a ten gallon tank. In some instances, over dosing on supplements can actually be fatal.
2. Do not over brush your hair. With every stroke you damage your hair more. Brush only as much as you need to style your hair, then stop.
3. Buy a good quality brush or comb without sharp plastic or metal ridges. This is one of the common factors leading to split ends, as is over brushing.
4. Don’t be penny foolish. Buy good quality salon products. The chemicals used in many if not most over the counter shampoos and conditioners, contain very harsh ingredients such as ‘ammonium laurel sulfate’ which can actually dry your hair out, and cause breakage and split ends. Even worse, many contain a form of silicon, and that can be very bad for your hair.
5. Don’t constrict your hair with tight bands, hats, braids and the like. These also lead to split ends and hair breakage.