There’s a general perception that cutting hair makes it grow faster, but is this true? To see what the majority of people thought, we ran a social media poll and surprisingly, an overwhelming 77% of respondents believed that fast hair growth was a result of cutting it. So, we turned to New York City Hair Stylist, Shanelle Thomas, to clarify this once and for all.
“Cutting the hair doesn’t make it grow faster,” she confirms. “Most people’s hair grows on average, ½ – 1 inch per month.” Then why do many hair experts suggest frequent trimming for growth? Thomas further clarifies that it is recommended that hair be cut routinely to encourage growth. However, you’re not really encouraging growth with regular cuts, but rather retaining length.
“When hair is old, dry, or damaged it may split. If the split ends aren’t removed in a timely manner the damage moves further up the hair strands. So while the hair is growing, the growth will offset the loss of ends due to damage,” Thomas explains the process.
“Most people wait until that damage is extensive and then have to cut a lot of hair off in order for the hair to look healthy again. If the hair is cut regularly then less has to be removed and the growth is more obvious.” (How to test for healthy hair)
The key take out from this is that routine hair cuts or trims are recommended for retaining length and not necessarily to make it grow faster.