Protective hairstyles cannot help your hair grow. Your DNA determines the rate at which your hair grows, and there are no products, hairstyles, or treatments that can change that. However, protective styles can help to reduce breakage, and less breakage can help you achieve longer hair.
It's a common belief that protective styles can make your hair grow faster. While protective styles don't directly cause hair growth, they can help you retain length by minimizing breakage and damage.
Braiding hair does not speed up the growth rate. Your hair grows at a rate determined by genetics, while lifestyle factors like your diet and stress levels can cause thinning and breakage. But the way you wear your hair is not a factor in your hair growth rate.
In conclusion, an itchy scalp does not necessarily mean hair growth. In fact, it is more commonly linked to hair loss and scalp problems. Understanding this myth and its misconceptions is essential for proper hair care.
A sleek ponytail, cornrows, tightly pulled updo, or head covering can help you express your style and look and feel great. However, these styles also constantly pull at and damage the health of your hair. Over time, the pulling can lead to hair loss. The medical term for this type of hair loss is traction alopecia.
Be patient and gentle when removing your braids to avoid damaging your natural hair. After removing your braids, give your hair a deep treatment to revitalize and moisturize it. Let your hair breathe: wait at least 15 days before braiding again.
According to Michele Green, a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist in NYC, choosing products with clinically proven ingredients is key to finding an effective hair growth serum. Currently, the only FDA-approved topical treatment for hair loss is minoxidil.
Low-tension hairstyles support natural hair growth by reducing strain and damage.
There's little solid evidence that hair wraps can help hair growth from the roots (aside from avoiding unnecessary friction, which we've already covered) but it does help with length retention, which is typically what people think when talking about hair growth.
If hair growth is a goal, box braids can serve as a protective style that minimizes manipulation and breakage.
"Braiding is great for preserving your hair and staying away from the use of heat on the hair, especially for thinner hair," says the stylist.
The Case for an Updo Before Bed
It's more about protecting your hair to reduce friction so you don't risk breakage or waking up with a tangled mess. If you have long hair, you can pull your hair back or put it up. If you choose to sleep with hair up, avoid metal or rubber hair ties, which can lead to breakage.
Get a Trim
"Getting a trim every six to eight weeks prevents split ends and damage, making ends stronger and leading to faster growth," Bergamy explains. "I recommend trimming 1 to 2 inches at each appointment to avoid fraying ends and keep hair healthy."
How long do you keep cornrows in? Depending on the size of your cornrows and how you care for them, they could last anywhere between two weeks and two months. Smaller braids will last longer than larger braids. Taking care of your braids by sleeping in a silk or satin bonnet will help braids of any size last longer.
Dandruff doesn't necessarily slow down hair growth, but the hair that grows will probably be less healthy and more prone to damage and breakage. But resist the temptation to scratch your scalp at all costs. If you give in, you could easily damage the hair follicles and stop them from producing good quality hair.
Every time you fiddle with your hair, your locks rub against one another and get twisted and tangled. This repetitive yet minor damage can have repercussions on the hair fibre. Its natural protection becomes fissured and thus less effective. As a result, your hair is more damage-prone.
The friction caused by your hair rubbing against the pillow can cause it to break or develop split ends more easily. “In general, wet hair is more fragile and prone to breakage than dry hair,” says Timothy Schmidt, MD, a dermatologist at University of Utah Health.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, we shed an average of approximately 50-100 hairs per day. Curly hair is most prone to shedding when compared to other hair types. Remember; we have 100,000 hair follicles on our heads!