Those that know me know that I am slightly obsessed with taking care of my hair. Even with my relaxed hair I was always very interested in growing a healthy head of hair.
During my relaxed days, I was often changing hair styles and cuts and this often meant growing my hair longer to achieve the desired style. However, my hair wouldn’t grow back properly at the nape of my neck. The hair back there has always been fine and years of shaving, toxic abuse and wrapping headscarf’s around ‘barely there hair’ took its toll and the hair just wouldn’t grow back, it would always appear patchy once it grew to a certain length but it didn’t really bother me. I just would just go ahead and cut it all off again.
When I started the natural process and my short, cropped hair begun to grow back, I was curious to see whether the back of my hair would come through for me properly and to my surprise it did. It grew back finer than the rest of my coarse naps and has some of the longest hairs on my head. In fact, my hair just generally grows much quicker now and I can actually get this fro into a single ponytail (yay!) so my goals are changing. My hair idol has hair around belly button length and yes, I intend to get there too but one step at a time!
Some of you may look at these naps and think I’m crazy but my next hair goal is armpit length and I fully believe that I will get there in no time. But there are plenty of cynics out there who actually believe that if you have afro hair it won’t grow and the only way to have long hair is to pay for it, so I thought we’d delve into this a little further.
Some of you may be familiar with the concept of terminal length. Some interpret this to mean that the majority of hair on an individual’s head reaches a certain length and then that’s it. I don’t personally believe in a limit to hair growth. Furthermore, all of the hair cannot reach a terminal length at the same time, because they weren’t “born” at the same time. Hair is always growing, but it is also always falling. It is believed that the life cycle of growing hair is anywhere from 2-7 years before the hair falls out. So faster growing hair can accomplish more in this time period. This is where genetics factors in to determine the length of the growing phase and how quickly the hair grows during this time. Keep in mind that the rate of hair growth also slows with age. Some women on the hair forums describe their hair reaching a terminal length of shoulder length or arm-pit length (apl), because it always breaks off at this particular length. I think that this limitation is due to poor care practices fragile hair types that are more susceptible to damage. These include the use of chemicals, rough handling of hair, inadequate moisture and not using protective styles (although not everyone needs to use protective styles to achieve long hair but I definitely do).
Many factors come into play in determining hair length. One factor that I will not include singularly is hair type. I mention this because many black women believe to achieve long hair they must relax/straighten the hair or that they must have a looser hair texture. Yes, looser/straighter hair is usually easier to detangle and tends to knot less often (less damage=more retention), but it does not grow faster. The average rate of growth is 1/2 inch a month with some individuals averaging more or less. Because of the fragile nature of kinky hair, issues often arise with how to detangle and care for the hair properly. This leads to most never achieving their possible length potential. There is also a theory that coily hair growth may be slowed down upon exit out of a curved follicle (the follicle shape determines the strand texture). In curly-headed individuals, the hair follicle below the scalp has a hooked end. More hooks produces even curlier hair. Genetics determines the rate of hair growth, so it is sometimes helpful to look at family members experiences with hair length, but not always. For more on terminal length and genetics, read this informative article on Terminal Length and the Role of Genetics in Black Hair Care by Audrey Sivothosy.
My tips in previous blogs will help with growing your hair long but If you are interested in further information about growing your naps longer also try visiting ‘Grow Afro Hair Long’ http://www.growafrohairlong.com/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment