Let’s face it: the quality of your hair is a huge priority for both men and women. Though women tend to focus more on length and shine while men prioritize thickness, healthy hair is a hot commodity that basically everyone is after.
Whatever your hair goals might be, it’s likely that you have two words in mind when it comes to your hair growth: longer and faster. Though it seems like some people’s hair has a natural tendency to grow back mere weeks after every haircut, not everyone is so lucky; in fact, many people struggle to grow their hair to the length or fullness that they desire.
5 Ways to Make Your Hair Grow Faster and Longer
It would be nice if there was a magic potion, we could take to make our hair grow healthily and quickly, but in reality, the process is a bit more complicated than that. However, improving your hair growth abilities is absolutely possible with patience and effort. Here are the top 5 ways to do just that:
Use a hair mask. You may have heard of face masks, an incredibly popular skincare treatment used by both men and women to deeply cleanse the skin. Did you know that hair masks also exist and perform a very similar function? Just like face masks work as a supplementary skincare treatment in addition to daily face washing, hair masks supplement your regular hair care with some extra TLC.
Hair masks help to moisturize and nourish your hair, leaving it soft and shiny. This treatment can work wonders if your hair is damaged or dry and susceptible to breakage, especially through hair brushing. This will help to reduce the amount of hair you lose through normal grooming processes each day while also supporting healthy hair growth. Plus, not only is there a wide variety of hair masks available on the market today, there are many DIY options for hair masks that use everyday items to naturally moisturize your hair.
Reevaluate your diet. Most people know that the quality of your diet can affect the way you look and feel, but in fact your diet contributes to much more than just physical appearance and general health. Certain aspects of your diet, deficiencies in your diet to be exact, can take a huge toll on hair health and reduce hair growth.
The mineral iron is involved in maintaining healthy circulation and blood pressure. If you’re iron deficient, you may be noticing thinning hair as well as decreased energy and dizziness. Increasing your daily intake of iron through supplements or foods like red meat and leafy greens can improve your circulation and boost hair growth.
Decrease your stress. No one likes to be stressed. It can cause a wide range of undesirable effects from weight fluctuations to insomnia to mood swings, and hair loss or inability to grow hair is yet another effect. In fact, stress is known to interrupt the hair growth cycle, causing it to remain stalled in a single phase and stopping hair growth for a period of time.
If you’ve experienced a singular stressful event in the last few months, that may be the catalyst behind your stalling hair growth and your hair cycle will return to normal soon. However, if you’re putting yourself under constant stress, your hair (and your general wellbeing) could benefit from a consistent self-care routine and some regular downtime.
Cut your hair regularly. I know what you’re thinking: if I’m trying to grow longer hair, aren’t regular haircuts counterproductive? In fact, just the opposite is true. As hair grows longer, the ends will start to split from too much brushing, causing your hair to appear the same length even if it’s grown from the roots.
The more often you trim your hair, the less likely you are to develop split ends. Therefore, not only will your hair look healthier, you’ll be able to see differences in length more easily as it grows.
Throw out the dyes and put away the heat treatments. By now, most people know that hair dye and excessive heat exposure from hair dryers, straighteners, and curlers aren’t great for hair health—yet we still use these things! If hair growth is your priority, exposing your hair and scalp to harmful chemicals and heat aren’t helping.
If you prefer having colored hair, explore natural methods such as henna dying. If heat treatments are a regular part of your hair care routine, you don’t have to cut them out completely to see increased hair growth results. However, try reducing your usage to once a week or less.