Why Trimming Hair To Make It Grow Does Not Actually Make Hair Grow

Ever wonder why your hair never seems to grow faster even though you are constantly cutting off the dead ends? The answer to this question is both logical and straightforward. It will also go against everything your hairdresser ever told you. Cutting and trimming your hair does just that. It cuts and trims your hair to a shorter length than it was before.

The average person's hair grows about half an inch a month and about six inches in a year. Typically, a hairdresser will recommend their clients to trim their hair every two to three months to take off dead ends and give hair a fuller/ healthier look. A hairdresser may also say that trimming or cutting dead hair off will result in hair growing faster. In fact, I have personally heard many women say that trimming their hair frequently of dead ends helps promote hair growth because dead ends break off, thus stunting hair from growing longer. This notion has  been told to me frequently as I was growing up as well. However, just because many people have said it, does not mean that it is a fact. While hair does break off, the idea that there is specific 'dead hair' is false. Hair, by definition, is already dead to begin with when it is growing out of the body. Hair, as well as other surfaces, are made of epithelial cells. As the cells that make up hair are pushed out of the skin, they are administered through keratin, an important protein in the body that is used to produce hair, nails and skin. So basically, hair is not really alive to begin with as it is coming out of the head and other parts of the body. The only time hair is alive is when the cells that make up hair is being produced in the 'hair bulb', the base of the hair follicle where hair first grows. After the hair grows out of the body, it no longer reproducing cells. It is no longer alive.

But how often is the science behind hair growth actually talked about? Not very often in every day conversation and you have to really search for the right information in a  google search. It is no wonder so many people assume that there are 'dead hairs' to trim and cut in order to have healthy hair . That means that many people who want their hair longer are literally cutting their chances of  having long locks because they are believing misinformed information throughout the year. In fact, the statistical analysis website, statista, states that "59.02 million Americans had four or more haircuts in the year 2020" within a six month time period. Keep in mind that from March onward in 2020, the US started going into quarantine. Even a global pandemic did not stop quite a large number of Americans, considering the circumstances, from getting a haircut. Furthermore, everyone's hair grows at slightly different speeds depending on a variety of genetic factors. For instance, in the journal, Science Direct, it is said that "The dynamics of the hair growth cycle vary[...] between different body sites in the same species, and between different follicle types in the same body site". Basically, hair is going to grow as fast or as slow as its going to depending on each individual person. Broadly stating everyone should get a haircut every two to three months is problematic because no two heads of hair are the same. 

The bottom line of this article is that, in order to grow hair out, the hair must be allowed to grow out. For some people with thick strong hair, that may be a easy wait period. For others with thin, easy to break hair, that wait period may be longer. The point is that everyone who wants to have longer hair, needs to let their hair grow. Cutting hair only slows down the time it takes to let hair get longer than it was before. This is not to say that people should never trim their hair while growing it out. It just means that hair grows by letting it grow. Last but not least, cutting hair a certain way may give the allusion that the hair is thicker, but its not actually thicker. Every individual is born with a certain type of hair (thick/ thin/ or somewhere in between). Cutting it does not change the type of hair that is naturally there. Hopefully this helps anyone who has been effected by this false notion that cutting/ trimming hair makes it grow longer.