Do you ever wonder why your hair is “stuck” at a certain length? Are you convinced that your hair isn’t growing? Well, the good news is is that your hair is growing… always, but the reason you may not be seeing any length is because your ends may be breaking off at the same rate that your hair is growing. This causes the illusion of no growth and you to ask, “why isn’t my curly hair growing?!!”. Here are five common reasons why this may be happening to you:
Over-Manipulation
Many of us naturals have a hard time keeping our hands out of our beautiful hair. As we all know curly/natural hair is extremely versatile and our hair can achieve beautiful twist outs, braid outs, puffs, plus many more styles. However our hair is fragile and prone to breaking due to the structure of our strands. Constant styling/manipulation of the hair including twisting and braiding can cause hair breakage. Low manipulation styles that limits the amount of manipulation to the hair can help retain length.
Dryness
If your hair is constantly dry your strands will snap and break off. It is crucial to keep your hair and especially your ends properly moisturized. Your ends are the oldest part of your hair and if they get dry they will break off causing your hair growth to be stunted. Try weekly deep conditioning and moisturizing your hair as often as needed even if that means moisturizing every day.
Unhealthy Ends
If your ends are split, damaged, and unhealthy they will continue to split up the hair strands and break off. Dusting your ends and getting regular trims will help you to retain length.
Heat
Too much heat breaks down the hair and dries the hair causing breakage and slower growth. Try reducing or eliminating direct heat to your hair for a better chance at retaining length.
Heat Tools
Believe it or not the hair tools you use can also cause breakage. Using certain combs and brushes and using them too much can damage to the hair strands which can also cause breakage. Try replacing a comb or brush with your fingers to detangle your hair, and see a big difference in length retention.
These are the five common reasons why naturals notice their hair doesn’t seem to be growing. If you are guilty of any of these practices try my advice and begin to notice healthier hair and length retention.
