Does Cutting Your Hair Make It Grow Faster?

Fashion magazines have always said that if you want your hair to grow faster, get regular trims at the salon. I have always wanted long hair, so I get my hair cut frequently. But now I wonder as I go to get another inch of my hair cut off, is this theory actually true? I asked all of my female friends and they say the same thing- cutting your hair makes it grow back faster than just letting it grow out without touching it. Many of them argue that it works the same way with shaving- the more you shave, the faster it will come back. Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a trichologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic in New York City who has been studying hair and scalp health for over 22 years, concludes that this theory is false. “Cutting the hair will have no influence on its rate of growth,” says Cunnane Phillips, “that is something that is predetermined genetically.” Your hair follicles do not respond to your hair being cut, and it all has to do with genetics, diet, and overall health. If you’re getting necessary nutrients and vitamins such as Iron, Zinc, Vitamin D, Protein, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and biotin, your hair will grow on average a half an inch per month. (article)

So that hypothesis is all to do with how your scalp reacts to frequent hair trims, which we found out is a null hypothesis, because frequent hair trims do not make your hair grow faster. But what about other body hair that involves shaving? Hair and body hair grow differently for every person, and everyone has different types of hair. I could have sworn that the more I shave my legs the faster it grows back, or the longer I wait the longer I am able to wait in between shaves. But maybe this is all in my ~head~…

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image from fabioinc.com

According to Amy McMichael, chair of the Department of Dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Health, says there is no science behind hair growing back thicker. Hair usually gets thinner towards the ends, so when it is shaven, it can appear coarser, thicker, and darker than before it was cut because the hair now has a straight edge to it unlike before it was cut. After a study was performed with men shaving their beards, “The study authors collected the short hairs and compared 100 of them after each measuring, arriving at their chief conclusion: There is no evidence that shaving accelerates the rate of beard growth.” So that answers my question about shaving- but what about waxing? I think that waxing, like plucking your eyebrows, take the hair from the root, so it must have a greater effect on the growth of the hair than shaving. “Excessive waxing, which tears a hair from its root, can eventually reduce growth from certain hair follicles due to the repeated trauma.” (article)

After this research, I will stop falling for beauty myths regurgitated in glamor magazines. So I was wrong about getting regular haircuts, but my premonition about waxing was correct. I will still continue to get regular trims to keep my hair looking healthy without dead ends, but I will not expect inches more of my hair to dramatically appear after getting regular hair cuts like I used to. The next time my hairdresser tells me this is fact- I’ll be able to tell her it’s a myth!

4 thoughts on “Does Cutting Your Hair Make It Grow Faster?

  1. Hailey Tully

    An important thing I think you should have added was why people mistakenly believe regular trimmings lead to rapid hair growth. The reason is because regular hair trimmings remove the split ends and hair damage, leaving hair healthy and strong. Making it look like the trimmings are the reason to the growth because the hair will break less allowing it to grow longer in a shorter amount of time without breaking off. But, in reality it’s the vitamins and nutrients you need to grow strong, healthy hair strands from the follicle and the trimmings just maintain the length/growth.

  2. Sarah Elizabeth Pettoruto

    Not going to lie the pictures at the top are what drew me into this article, the girl’s hair on the left is my dream!! That is why I have always wondered why my hair never grows. I could get my hair cut at the same time as my friend and it always seems hers grows faster. I have wondered if getting your hair cut actually helps with hair growth and now that I have read this my questions are answered. However, if not cutting your hair, how does some people’s hair grow faster than other’s? Maybe a third variable could be involved? Like if you straighten your hair or not. Great post though! I also like how you related it to shaving, which can bring a whole other question into it. Here is some common hair myths!!

  3. Megan Ann French

    I also believed this to but then I started to think “how does cutting the ends of my hair effect how my hair will grow from my scalp?” I think this is a pretty interesting post and I liked how you not only related it to women but you also related it to men due to their beards. I also came across the article from Oprah that discusses the myth of trimming your hair makes your hair grow faster. Here’s some tips on how you can make your hair grow faster!

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