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Why is my hair so short and dry?


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I've never gotten a haircut in my life, I just trim the dead ends, but my hair is so short. Is it because its always in a ponytail, how do I get it to grow longer, and stop being so dry?

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Do you lighten the colour of your hair? If so, the bleaching agent can cause dry hair. So can chlorine. What is the water like where you live? If the water quality isn't good, this can also have a detrimental effect on your hair. What products do you use for washing and conditioning?

 

You say that your hair is short, but if you can put it in a ponytail, then it can't be super short. But the constant pulling of your hair certainly isn't good for it. Also, our hair does have a finite length. Imagine if the rest of your body hair just kept growing! Head hair is no different. Some people can grow really long hair and some can't. An old flat mate of mine couldn't grow hair past his shoulders. It's just nature.

 

Sounds to me like you need to start seeing a hairdresser. Get a good cut and get advice on how best to care for your hair.

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If finding money for a hairdresser is an issue, go to a hairdressing college and let a trainee cut your hair under supervision.

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If finding money for a hairdresser is an issue, go to a hairdressing college and let a trainee cut your hair under supervision.

I just started going!....Someone I know always gets great haircuts from the supervised students and I decided to give a try.

 

My hair turned out great. And the $$ I saved was substantial :)

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FeelingFireworks

Well, the ponytail might not help. If your hair is always up and is tight it can contribute to traction alopecia which will affect your hair growth.

 

But really, you need to review several things:

 

- what's your haircare routine like? Eg Do you deep condition? Dye? Use hair straighteners +/- protective products? Regularly trim split ends?

 

- lifestyle choices? Eg Do you smoke, eat a healthy diet, take any supplements?

 

- what about genetics? I.e. are there close blood relations who suffer from the same/similar problems?

 

So many things to consider. Don't think forum can help especially with such limited info. Maybe a professional hair stylist might be able to give better advice after a proper salon consultation.

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Generally the hair grows... At an average of half an inch per month.

 

 

How often do you trim it? Have you considered not trimming it at all for a year and conditioning it each week? Maybe even give the ends more conditioner more often.

 

 

I layed off the scissors for 4 years and my hair is to the middle of my back. I also thought my hair never grew past my shoulders.

 

What is the length now for your hair? What products do you use? Do you eat a healthy diet?

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I need to trim the dead and split ends, don't you? My diets ok, but not super healthy, I do condition once a week. It's a little above my shoulders.

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I don't want any kind of haircut, I want to find a way to get it longer and fuller.

 

And seeing a hairdresser is part of this. Even when growing your hair, regular trims (even one every three months) give your hair shape and style. You may be able to grow your hair longer, but only a decent cut and hair products will make it appear fuller.

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I can give you 2 great tips to help you out with this because of my recent experience with massive hair loss due to severe anemia and how I finally got my hair to grow back and longer than before I was sick.

 

My hair is curly (think Ramen noodles) but hair that appears and feels dry IS DRY. Curly hair is dryer than straight hair. Wavy hair is in between, of course but some people have plain frizzy hair. It's a type of curly hair that's dry to an extreme.

 

After reading loads of tips online, I devised something on my own that ended up working better than everything I read to deal with the dry issue. Olive oil mixed with my regular conditioner. It's something I cook with all the time so it's virtually free for me. For my hair length (center of my back now - yay! Almost my lower back, actually), I mix about a pea sized amount of olive oil into my conditioner in my hand and start applying it to the length first and carefully move toward my scalp so there's almost none left by the time I get to my scalp. After I did this 3 showers in a row, I was able to wait 2 full weeks before I had to do it again. My hair was amazing for those 2 weeks before it wore off.

 

The other tip is stop trimming your hair. I know what everybody says but if you're trying to get length out of your hair, forget the trims. The ends of your hair will start getting weirdly uneven and it won't look fantastic but avoid scissors like a plague for a while. Give it at least 6 months to grow out before taking scissors to it. It's so hard to do but it pays off.

 

Before I got sick, my hair was in the front pockets of my jeans, one length, to my waist. After my hair fell out from the anemia, it refused to grow back for anything and appeared to just sit still at one length for a year and a half. I thought it wasn't growing! And I wasn't trimming more than a quarter inch off at a time because I was afraid to lose more of the length. Apparently it was growing the whole time...

 

I do have a third tip. Don't tie it back whenever possible. Between the tension pulling on your hair follicles pulling hair out from the roots and the breakage occurring where it's tied, it's not worth it unless it's something you absolutely have to do for work. And if you really have to tie it back, use a gentle covered elastic and tie it as loosely as possible.

 

I'm finally going to have waist length hair again but this time it isn't dry like it always used to be so way less frizz and it's much shinier than it ever was.

 

Don't trim it!

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