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Ever heard that cutting your hair makes it grow faster? Or maybe you've diligently brushed your hair 100 times every night hoping for Rapunzel-like results? The truth about hair growth is far more fascinating than the myths we've all been told.
Hair growth follows a predictable biological pattern through three distinct phases – the anagen (growth) phase lasting between two and seven years, followed by the short catagen (transition) phase, and finally the telogen (resting) phase when hair stops growing and eventually sheds. Understanding this natural cycle is the first step toward healthier hair management. While most hair grows about half an inch monthly, genetics largely determine your personal growth rate, making comparison with others largely pointless.
As someone who personally experienced alopecia due to stress, I've learned that hair loss often appears months after stressful events – not immediately. This delayed response frequently confuses people about the true cause of their thinning hair. Similarly misleading are claims about miracle products promising overnight results when even effective treatments take at least three months to show visible improvement. What genuinely supports healthy hair growth is proper nutrition (especially protein, biotin, and omega-3s), gentle scalp stimulation to improve circulation, and avoiding damage from heat styling and harsh chemicals. Quality hair products matter tremendously – inexpensive shampoos containing waxes can actually clog follicles and prevent new growth over time.
Ready to embrace what science actually says about hair health? Subscribe to All About Hair and So Much More for evidence-based advice that works. What hair myth have you believed for years? Share your experience in the comments!
Running a salon is hard enough—training new stylists shouldn’t feel like a second full-time job.
If you're constantly pulled in a dozen directions, struggling to teach while juggling clients, and wishing your new hires would just get it faster—you’re not alone. And more importantly, you don’t have to keep doing it the hard way.
If you've ever wondered whether trimming your hair makes it grow faster or if stress really causes hair loss, then this episode's for you. Welcome to All About Hair and so Much More. I'm your host, denise Kylitz, and I'm so excited to have you here. If you love hair, beauty and all the ways to feel amazing inside and out, you're in the right place. But here's the twist we're not just talking hair anymore. We'll dive into everything Life After 50 brings Health, hormones, relationships, fitness and so much more. This is a space for women who are embracing change, building confidence and living with creativity and grace. So let's get started. Hey there, and welcome back to this week's podcast episode where we're going to talk about the truth about hair growth myths versus science. This is where we're going to talk about the truth about hair growth myths versus science. This is where we're going to break it all down for you. We're going to separate the fact from the fiction. We'll discuss some common beliefs about hair growth and what science actually says. Okay, let's start by understanding how our hair grows. And before we get into that, let me just say this episode really, really does hit home for me, because I don't know if you know it or not, but I had a time where I had alopecia, which is when you lose your hair in almost like bald spots and various places on your head, and that is caused by many factors or could be, but in my case it was caused, I think, by stress. So anytime that you have a stressful event happen anything, a death of a loved one, divorce, any kind of stress it could be financial stress, whatever you might experience some hair loss a couple of months beyond that. So just know that, but we'll talk about that today. But that's why this episode really hits home for me. I do know a lot of people who are really concerned with their hair growth, and if I can help anybody with that, even a little bit, you know then that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1:
Okay, let's understand how our hair grows first. So your hair grows from follicles that's located in your dermis, which is your skin layer of your scalp. Oh, actually, hair grows all over your body, but in this case we're talking about the hair on your scalp. So there's actually three cycles that growth happens. Growth happens in the growth phase, which is the antigen phase, and this lasts between two and seven years. The longer it lasts, the longer hair can grow Okay, it's different on everybody. The longer hair can grow Okay, it's different on everybody. Then we have our catagen stage, which is the transition phase. This is a very short phase when your growth slows down. And then we have our telogen, or resting phase, and this is when hair stops growing and eventually sheds. Every single hair on your head goes through these three phases of hair growth and each hair is different. Okay, the growth phase, the transition phase and the resting phase are all different on every single hair on your head and it's different on every single person. Okay, on average, hair grows about half an inch a month, that's about six inches per year. But your genetics play a huge role in how much your hair grows per month. Some are a little faster, some are a little slower. A little faster, some are a little slower.
Speaker 1:
Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about some common hair growth myths. This is kind of the fun part, okay. Myth number one trimming your hair makes it grow faster. Okay, I think I gave that away at the beginning, but hair grows from your scalp, not the ends. Trimming prevents split ends from traveling up the hair shaft. This keeps your hair healthier and fuller, but it does not speed up hair growth.
Speaker 1:
If you've been told in the past that, hey, you got to come in more often to trim your hair to make it grow faster, no, no, no, no, no. That is not how it works. Your hair grows from your scalp, not the ends. Now you can skip your six week trims If you're taking proper care of your hair. So if you are not not using heat appliances on it every single day, if you're using the right shampoo and conditioner, things like that, you might be able to go longer in between trims. But most of the time, anywhere between six and eight weeks is about the proper time to get your hair trimmed, depending on the length of your hair.
Speaker 1:
If you have shorter hair, it actually you have to get it trimmed more often because you'll notice it the outgrowth a little bit more. Does that make sense? If you have a pixie cut and it grows half an inch, it's going to mess up your look. If you have long hair past your shoulders and it grows half an inch, you're probably not going to notice, right, right, okay. Myth number two an inch you're probably not going to notice, right, right, okay.
Speaker 1:
Myth number two brushing your hair 100 times a day boosts hair growth. Wrong, brushing too much can actually cause mechanical damage and breakage. Now, gentle, scalp massages without hair brushing can help improve circulation, but brushing won't make your hair grow faster. So if you want your hair to grow faster, you can actually manipulate your scalp by going in there with either your fingers, or they do have scalp massage like little rubbery brush things that you can use. They also have different serums that you can put on your scalp that actually help to improve circulation on your scalp, and some of those have really been proven, really, really effective. If you need some recommendations, I'll put that in my show notes, because I know of a few that really are super, super good. Okay. Myth number three know of a few that really are super, super good, okay.
Speaker 1:
Myth number three cutting hair during a full moon affects growth. This is a new one to me. I actually hadn't heard this before, but really there's no scientific evidence that supports lunar hair growth cycles. No matter what you believe, hair grows based on biology, hormones and genetics, not the moon. The moon affects a lot of things, but I don't think it affects how our hair grows. Myth number four hair products can make hair grow overnight. Hmm, well, no product can override genetics or hair cycles. Now there's some treatments like minoxidil, rogaine, which may help with certain types of hair loss, but there's no shampoo and no serum that will make your hair grow instantly. I know we all want instant results and I know there's also some red light therapy out there too, and we want it to. We want results, we want that magic potion, right. But there's nothing out there, nothing that's going to work overnight. It takes about three months before you see any hair product, any vitamin supplement, ointment, shampoo. It takes about three months for you to notice new hair growth if it's going to work.
Speaker 1:
And myth number five stress makes your hair fall out instantly. Well, chronic stress, like I told you in my case before, it can contribute to hair loss conditions. But hair doesn't just fall out overnight from a bad day. No, it typically happens months after a stressful event and it has something to do with the stress hormone in your body actually disturbing that growth cycle that we talked about before, and it I don't really know how it really really works. I'm not a scientist I but I do know that it does happen.
Speaker 1:
So, again, like maybe you've just gone through something very stressful in your life. A loved one died, um, a divorce, financial hardship, um I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of things in the world these days that can stress us out. We don't need to have that conversation, but if you did have some stress in your life and a couple months later you're noticing your hair's getting thinner that's probably normal I wouldn't be real, real concerned. I would take care of yourself. I'd get proper nutrition, use good shampoos, conditioners, you know, take care of yourself, and that'll really really help regrow your hair and get it into its normal state. Now, if you've gone through something like, you know, cancer treatment, that's a little bit more harsh and that's a whole other conversation, but the same still goes after cancer treatment, if you really just take care of yourself with proper nutrition, proper, um, shampoo conditioners, you can use some of those serums we were talking about. You can do scalp massage, you could do red light therapy. There's all kinds of things that you can do to help you get through this.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so, with that said, let's talk about what actually works for hair growth. Like we said, nutrition and diet. Your hair needs protein, iron, biotin and omega-3s for strong growth. I do have a YouTube video on this specifically going through what every supplement does for hair growth. So if you want to take a look at that, I will put the link in the show notes Deficiencies in these nutrients.
Speaker 1:
This can actually lead to slow hair growth or shedding. So just really look at your diet Now. You might not have to have supplements to do this, but if you feel like you're lacking, especially biotin, omega-3s. And as we grow older, past 40, we need protein. We need a lot of protein in our diet and most of us don't get enough protein. So if you want to supplement with protein bars or protein mix, that's what I do every morning after I get back from the gym, I have a protein drink. That and it just helps. They actually sell protein powders now that have no flavor at all, so you can add them to whatever you make your coffee, your pancakes, your casseroles, your oatmeal, I mean because it doesn't have any flavor. So again, I can link that in my show notes as well. Let me make a note of that, so don't forget.
Speaker 1:
Okay, another thing that actually works for hair growth is your scalp health. Take a look at that. A clean, well-moisturized scalp encourages healthy growth of your hair. So what does that mean you want to avoid buildup from products that clog follicles. This is a big one, especially with men. Okay, I'm saying this because my husband's guilty of this, so I want to use him as an example. He has an oily scalp. He doesn't like an oily scalp, he actually wants to feel nice and clean and uh, so he likes to use a very cheap shampoo. I'm not going to tell you what, which one it is, but he likes how this cheap shampoo I'm not going to tell you which one it is, but he likes how this cheap shampoo makes his hair feel squeaky clean. I'm not going to throw this shampoo under the bus, but what has happened? What I believe has happened? Yes, heredity too but he's used this shampoo and it is actually.
Speaker 1:
It's got waxes in it, believe it or not, and those waxes and some of the other ingredients that's in the shampoo has clogged his follicles, his hair follicles, yes. So if you're not okay, back up, what does that mean? You clog the follicles, you suffocate the hair from growing and then it can't grow new hair. So if you're using cheap products, thinking that you're saving money and it's just shampoo, it's just conditioner, how bad can it be? Well, it can be pretty bad. Okay, think about the waxes they put in it. So, okay, think about the waxes they put in it. Think about some of those things they put in it to make your hair shiny and I'm doing that in air quotes. Those things can, yeah, make your hair shiny, but it can also clog your hair follicles. Just think about it.
Speaker 1:
Okay, all right, let's talk about blood circulation and scalp stimulation. Scalp massages, exercise and a healthy lifestyle support hair growth. Just like every everything else in your body. You need blood circulation for hair growth. So that could be from taking just your fingertips or they do have those um scalp massage brushes out there. They're like little rubberized things that have fingers on them and um massage your scalp a couple of times a day. You could also use essential oils like rosemary oil, and that has been studied to promote circulation, so you could put rosemary oil on your scalp and then stimulate your scalp that way. There's also, like I said, some serums that you can use for helping blood circulation in the areas that you put the serum, like on your scalp.
Speaker 1:
Okay, another thing that actually works is to really reduce the breakage and the damage of your hair. So, with that, try to use heat protectants every day and avoid harsh chemical treatments like bleach, high lifts, high lift tints, high developers, and just be really gentle with your wet hair. Wet hair is super fragile, so don't take a brush to it. Make sure you're using a wide tooth comb. And then another suggestion to help reduce friction and breakage is to sleep with a silk pillowcase. That could help.
Speaker 1:
Again, check my links in the show more notes. If you need any help researching any of this, I'll make sure I put all the links down there. And then the last thing is just really have patience and consistency. Hair growth takes time and there is no magic trick that's going to make it grow overnight. I know we all want it and we check for little new growth hair every day, but it's going to take time.
Speaker 1:
You know what I would suggest? I would suggest to take a picture of your hair today and then, whatever you're using, maybe once a month the first of the month, maybe, say the first of the month take the same picture of the same part of your hair, like your, your hairline or your part line, and see if all your good habits, your good healthy habits, are paying off. Okay, and because there's no quick fixes, we all want it, but I think just consistency consistency on everything, just like working out right Consistency with your hair care will really really help. Okay, I hope the things that we've shared today will really help you understand about hair growth and some of the common hair growth myths that we talked about. Hopefully we've debunked those, I guess, and and I hope that we gave you some ideas on how to get healthy hair. Pretty easy and sounds like common sense, but you know, a lot of us take take it for granted. So I do um encourage you, if you wanted to, to share your hair growth experiences.
Speaker 1:
If you've had hair loss in the past and you've tried something that's really worked for you, hey, I would love to hear about it. So just shoot me an email, shoot me a message on my Instagram or, heck, just leave it in the text on this podcast episode. There's a little box right there that you can um text me and I get it right away. So, and again, make sure you're subscribing to and following us on this podcast and share it with your friends who you think might like this talk about hair and all the other things that come along with that, and if you'd leave us a review, I'd super, super appreciate it, and if you'd leave us a review, I'd super super appreciate it. So you might want to think about tuning in next week and see if you subscribe and you follow us. You get a little like reminder, I think, and it'll tell you when our next episode airs.
Speaker 1:
But how to strengthen weak, brittle hair? I'm going to give you some expert tips on how to do that. So again, thank you so much for listening this week. Until next time, remember, when you know better, you do better, and I'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning into all about hair and so much more. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss a new one, and if you think someone else would love it, to share the episode. Let's keep spreading the love and learning together. See you next time.
