Does a Trim Actually Make Your Hair Grow?

I’m sure if you’re a girl, and maybe even a guy, you’ve been told that getting a trim will help make your hair grow fast and longer. I’ve been told it before and have even told people that advice. Is it even true?

If you logically think about it, how does cutting off the end of your hair enable the hair in your roots to grow? Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a trichologist who studies hair and scalp health, says it is not true. The only thing that determines hair growth is your genetics. Some other factors in hair growth are dietary habits, endocrine function, thyroid function, and your general health.

Even though cutting your hair doesn’t necessarily make it grow, it’s still good to try to get your hair trimmed every six to eight weeks. Phillips describes how a trim will give your hair a healthier appearance, and stop split ends from traveling up the hair shaft and causing further damage. She also explains how frequent trims can lead to a net gain of four inches of hair every year. Your hair grows half an inch every month, so cutting off a quarter inch every six to eight weeks can lead to a healthier hair gain.

Women’s Health Magazine also states that skipping washes can be good for your hair too. Washing your hair too often can strip your scalp of natural oils that promote hair growth. They recommend using dry shampoos between washes. Also, when you do wash your hair, its important to massage the scalp for about three minutes.Paying close attention to the hair follicles in the scalp can stimulate them and help with hair growth.

While cutting your hair to make it grow faster is a myth, regular trims can help with hair gain. You will have healthier ends as your hair grows, which results in less cuts up to five inches from damage. There are also a number of ways you can help your hair grow stronger, if you pay close attention to your hair health.

4 thoughts on “Does a Trim Actually Make Your Hair Grow?

  1. Amber Kay Shojaie

    This is really cool. I had always wondered about this because anytime I’m allowing my hair to get longer, people always say, “oh you should really get your hair trimmed.” Right now, I am in the process of growing my hair out so that I can donate it without it being too too short once I get it cut, so I have definitely been wondering if I should trim it or just let it be, but it seems as if it would be a good idea to get it trimmed even though it doesn’t help my hair grow, but i definitely want to increase my chances of hair gain. Check out this video that talks all about hair growth.

  2. Benjamin N Seltzer

    I am currently engaged in a bet in which me and two of my closest friends have decided not to cut our hair from the middle of this summer until Thanksgiving. If we cut our hair at all in this time, we must dye it blonde. I guess our ends will not be as healthy as they could be, come November, but lucky for us, our hair will grow longer than it would have if we were trimming it!

  3. Jessica Nicole Greenhut

    I was really intrigued by your post! My whole life I have been getting hair cuts, assuming that it would help my hair grow! Is it possible that even though hair cuts dont actually make your hair grow, when you cut off the split ends your hair won’t split as much, leading it to be longer? Every time I need a haircut my mom will tell me that it’ll help my hair grow faster so next time she says it I’m just going to show her your article! Also, I wash my hair every day so I think I am going to need to invest in some dry shampoo if I want to keep my hair and scalp healthy. Thanks for the good advice!

  4. das5959

    Reading your article, I came upon an odd conclusion. Did anyone else realize how much our hair is like grass? I mean if you think about it, when our grass grows too long, we cut it; and when our hair grows too long, we cut that as well. Both hair and grass use fertilizer when they’re getting too thin, and both require maintenance. I’ve heard similar things about grass, that cutting it regularly allows it to grow back thick and strong. This is all similar to what you said about hair, keeping it healthy. I wonder though about the worms. In grass, the worms dig through the dirt making air shafts, as well as pooping out Nitrogen rich poo Which is very healthy for plants. I wonder if humans had “air holes” and nutrient rich shampoo we could get even thicker hair.

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