Does Trimming/Dusting Really Stimulate Your Hair Growth?

[OneInAMillion]

http://morroccomethod.com/lunar.shtml

I hear the the new moon and first quarter are the best times to trim hair. I think I'm gonna use this schedule:

http://morroccomethod.com/lunar.shtml

I'll trim/dust a little this month and again in August, then I should be cool for a while. Per this schedule, the best June dates for cutting to increase length is June 26-27, based on PST northern hemisphere (almost exactly what you read).

I'd love to give this a try, but I always see sites with conflicting dates for cutting to increase growth. According to this site, the dates are in the beginning of June:

http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/moondays.php

 

[sweetcashew]

I'd love to give this a try, but I always see sites with conflicting dates for cutting to increase growth. According to this site, the dates are in the beginning of June:

http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/moondays.php

That's odd. I always, always, have to cut my hair in June. I could never explain it. No matter how healthy it is in May, at the beginning of June it usually needs a cut really badly. So every year June is my big cut month.
I did a deep trim in March so I'm waiting to see if this June I'm going to have to do it again.

 

[jwhitley6]

I'd love to give this a try, but I always see sites with conflicting dates for cutting to increase growth. According to this site, the dates are in the beginning of June:

http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/moondays.php

I think that's full moon. Some people cut on a full moon for thicker hair. They say new moon and first quarter for length.

 

[OneInAMillion]

Sorry I meant to post this link instead of the full moon link:

http://www.almanac.com/astrology/index.php

It still says the best days to encourage growth are June 1, 2, 5, and 6. I was looking at the full moon dates to figure out why some sites encourage the full moon and others encourage waiting for the new moon.

 

[Kimberly]

Could trimming the hair cause some sort of "psychosemantic" (sp?) hair growth? Mind over matter, that sort of thing? Like, I know I just got my hair trimmed so I am determined to grow it back?

I do not believe that trimming makes the hair grow nor do I believe that not trimming it somehow affects mental health as it seems to be implied in the article but I do know that if you believe something strongly enough, you can just about make it happen or make it real for you.

Did I state that to where it makes sense?

 

[anatomicallycorrect]

I don't really agree. If that were the case, then I would no longer need to shave my legs or armpit hair b/c all the contstant "trimming' should've made it stop growing. Don't I wish! But, I would like to see the scientific evidence used to back up their statements.

 

[JazzyDez]

Hey...maybe this explains why when I trimmed my hair last year on June 19th, my hair GREWWWWWWW! Even to this day, I havent seen my hair grow that fast. I planned on doing another major trim on the 22nd of June this year and see what happens. Hopefully I have a repeat of last summer's major growth spurt.

Girl I am on the no clip til DEC challenge! The reason being is to gain some length. Why are you doing this to me?!?!

BTW....all of you ladies have some great points!!

 

[jwhitley6]

Sorry I meant to post this link instead of the full moon link:

http://www.almanac.com/astrology/index.php

It still says the best days to encourage growth are June 1, 2, 5, and 6. I was looking at the full moon dates to figure out why some sites encourage the full moon and others encourage waiting for the new moon.

Well, this says astrology/moon sign, not moon phase. There is talk of increased growth while the moon is in certain astrological signs (like cut while moon is in Leo for bushierr hair). I'm just going with moon phases for now....cutting during waxing (growing moon) vs. waning (decreasing moon). I don't know if it'll work, we'll see.

 

[Isis]

Well, this says astrology/moon sign, not moon phase. There is talk of increased growth while the moon is in certain astrological signs (like cut while moon is in Leo for bushierr hair). I'm just going with moon phases for now....cutting during waxing (growing moon) vs. waning (decreasing moon). I don't know if it'll work, we'll see.

What about this Saturday's New Moon on May 27th? Does that count or should one wait until June?

 

[Isis]

I am unsure of the reason behind it, but my hair definitely appears to grow faster and healthier after a trim/dust. However, I will admit that when I cut my hair it is to remove damaged, thinning ends. Trimming relieves me of the extra effort it takes to make my hair behave which equates to less stress on my already damaged ends and ultimately less breakage. If my ends were healthy to begin with, I don't believe I would see much of a difference.

My nails split and break often and never appear to grow (I am pretty handy). It's no wonder because I almost never file them or ensure they're smooth on the ends. When I do file them on a regular basis, they retain length like nobody's business (and this is without the aid of polish or vitamins). The filing (i.e. dusting combating damaged ends) eliminates snags. Could this be what is happening with hair?

BTW, my hair has been cut to ear-lenth.

Thank you Shine-On for sharing your interesting experience with your nails and how keeping them smooth seems to retain their length. I've always wondered if filing them stimulates growth, just like tapping them on a keyboard or piano, for example seems to stimulate their growth, at least for me. :scratchch

 

[Isis]

Hair is DEAD period. "Hair is an appendage of the skin, a slender, threadlike outgrowth of the skin and scalp. There is no sense of feeling in hair, due to the absense of nerves." quoted from Milady's Standard Book of Cosmetology

If our hair had nerves, then the body would be able to sense when it is being cut. The only way our body communicates is through nerves. If our hair communicated with the body, I think it would hurt when our hair sheds.

The only important thing about trimming is that it maintains the health and strength of the hair. That is what helps with growth. If your hair is breaking off faster than it is growing, then of course after you trim off those bad ends, you will notice the growth.

I don't believe the hair length has to have nerves anyway in order to receive instructions and we know it doesn't have nerves. Since hair grows from the roots, which is always "alive", that's where the instructions are received.

So the theory is, if one trims or dusts the ends, the body or roots gets a message to restore balance to the hair and rush more protein and other nutrients directly to the roots. The results would be a large growth spurt in a shorter period of time.

The body seems to always be trying to maintain balance, whether it's the hair or a body part. Or, for example, if someone loses one of the senses, such as hearing, another sense (or more) becomes much more heightened as the body seeks to restore balance.

I believe our bodies are intelligent and miraculous. I am saying it's possible for the body to "know" what happens to any part of the body, whether we consider it dead or not.

 

[Isis]

On the other side of the coin, I do refer to Supergirl's thread about not trimming which has many great points. This is a great thread and is one of the sources that helped me not to trim so far.

Here is the thread:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=6726&highlight=trimming+split+ends

 

[YellowButterfly]

God Bless You SuperGirl for that article and Isis for bringing up the article.
The longest my hair has ever been was when I was going to college for the second time and was paying my way through so I did not have money to get my hair touched up and trimmed every 4 to 6 weeks. I had to wait 2 or 3 months and my hair grew to well below shoulder length and since I was getting it permed at a beauty school , they did not trim. Even people of other races would ask me if I was letting my hair grow in surprise because where I lived at the time most of the African American women had short hair.
When I finally went to a professional hairdresser , she mixed a motions mild relaxer in a little tube with a regular motions relaxer because she ran out
of the mild and applied it to my hair and my head felt like I had live flames on top and I came away with 2nd degree burns on my scalp . She also cut
my well below shoulder lenght hair to above shoulder length because she had some issues with long hair. I was too much in shock to object because I was in pain and I am not usually a person that is burned bad or if at all by a relaxer application. Fast foreward to 2oo5 and 2006 I now stretch for 4 or 5 months and trim little if any and have learned to tell a hairdresser before we get started that I do not want a trim or only a little dusting. If there is a big hassel I have learned to go elsewhere. I have a nice hairdresser now who encourages me to continue to do what I am doing and she only dust a very little amount or none if I tell her not to and I only see her ever 4 or 5 months and she doesn't make a big deal out of it. I also learned that hairdressers are paid and extra amount on the price of a retouch if they cut, trim , dust etc. your hair. I have fine textured hair and it has grown from above ear length to the top of my shoulders in back and below chin lenth the very sides by stretching and reducing my trims to no trims because with fine hair
my hair dresser have always had trouble distinguishing healthy hair from spit ends even if the hair had just been cut. Everyone I knew with long hair always said they did their own and most did not cut their hair . Cutting my hair also did not thicken it up as most of the hairdressers promised it would do, it just got shorter. So , I am going with dusting maybe 4 times a year or less , if at all.

 

[OneInAMillion]

On the other side of the coin, I do refer to Supergirl's thread about not trimming which has many great points. This is a great thread and is one of the sources that helped me not to trim so far.

Here is the thread:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=6726&highlight=trimming+split+ends

Isis,

Thanks for posting this thread again, I used it when I first got to the site! I thought it was helpful and defies what everyone says about split ends and makes the distinction between ends that are thin vs. split. It's all about trimming for appearance, in my opinion, which is great. I was more into trimming regularly when I wore my hair straight. Now that I wear it every way but straight, I go longer. Thanks again.

 

[Isis]

You're welcome ladies. Without trimming, I've found that my hair has no where else to go but down my back. Since I don't wear my hair straight, it doesn't matter. My ends look good too.

On the other hand, dusting (which I have not been doing) or clipping just the split ends may stimulate the process a little. It would be interesting to test.

 

[zzirvingj]

I hope this makes sense, but I currently DO NOT believe that trimming the hair increases the RATE AT WHICH YOUR HAIR GROWS OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

HOWEVER, I DO believe that trimming does increase RETENTION OF LENGTH. With the increase in retention of length comes the ILLUSION of faster growth. You are not actually experiencing faster growth--it's just that more hair is on your head now. Why?

Split ends and breakage go hand in hand. They contribute to a loss of hair at some point for most.

Thus, in a one month period AFTER a trim, you retain more length that the spit ends are not eating away at like they were in the one month BEFORE your trim.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[balisi]

I am not one to say that trims/haircuts/dusting makes hair grow or increases growth rate. But I do believe that immediately afterwards, the workings underneath the scalp that are responsible for hair pushing through the epidermis is stimulated for a brief period, especially when the various phases of growth are factored in.

If any of you ladies are familiar with gardening, you know that pruning (cutting) forces new buds to emerge elsewhere along a stem. Pruning is used to shape a shrub and the new growth causes the shrub to fill in instead of just growing straight out. Within days after pruning, there is new growth, whereas the plant's growth was virtually imperceptible before pruning, but we know it had to be growing, right?

I believe that it is somewhat similar with hair. Even though the hair itself is purportedly dead, there are muscles, blood vessels, glands, etc that are all a part of the hair shaft underneath the scalp, where growth actually takes place. Remember, new hair begins before we can ever see it. How does the new hair know? The hair only stops growing when there is damage to the scalp and/or any of the parts within or beneath it. Just because a hair does not contain nerve endings or other vitals does not mean that a cut hair will not respond. A damaged, broken hair would not respond the same way BECAUSE of the damage. The human body is a miracle in every way, shape and form, so there may be more to this theory than we would like to think.

 

[LovelyZ]

I am not understanding this. You cut your hair in order to make it get longer. Why does this seem like a contradiction to me? If you want your hair to be longer, why would you cut it? (Of course with the exception of cutting splits for retention.)

 

[gemini051987]

I have heard that cutting/ trimming your ends does not make your hair grow back and certainly does not stimulate growing. Your hair grows from the top of your head. Massaging your scalp with the tip of your fingers, not nails, helps stimulation. The only thing trimming does is give you better looking ends.

 

[SleekandBouncy]

Interesting article, my take is this. Trimming your hair can lead to longer hair, but not because the hair actually grows faster or even recognizes that you've cut it. It's a fact that hair is dead, but trimming removes split ends that would otherwise break off. It gives the appearance hear is growing longer when in fact you're just retaining length that was always growing and IMHO ends that are even and thick can look longer and healthier than long hair that's stringy and thin.

I hate the look of uneven, split or thin ends and I think it defeats the purpose of having long hair so I trim when it starts getting thin but only then otherwise I'd be cutting faster than I can grow it.

 

[RainbowCurls]

Even if cutting or trimming were to send some signal to the roots, how the h**l would it get there!!

Maybe the folicles sense the sudden change in weight of hair attached to it?

 

[Amarech]

I hope this makes sense, but I currently DO NOT believe that trimming the hair increases the RATE AT WHICH YOUR HAIR GROWS OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

HOWEVER, I DO believe that trimming does increase RETENTION OF LENGTH. With the increase in retention of length comes the ILLUSION of faster growth. You are not actually experiencing faster growth--it's just that more hair is on your head now. Why?

Split ends and breakage go hand in hand. They contribute to a loss of hair at some point for most.

Thus, in a one month period AFTER a trim, you retain more length that the spit ends are not eating away at like they were in the one month BEFORE your trim.

Just my 2 cents worth.

thank you thank you thank you. I thought it was just me.

Maybe the folicles sense the sudden change in weight of hair attached to it?

You mean like the change in weight when we put our hair up, or add weave or leave it down? Come on.

 

[Sistaslick]

This is one of the most interesting threads I've read in a long time. As much as I love and enjoy long-winded responses/theories, I'm gonna have to apply Occam's Razor (no pun intended ) to this one.

All things being equal, the simplest answer is usually the correct one.

 

[Candy_C]

aslong as i have no splits ...all is good round ere hehehe the person who explained about the month b4 and after thing...u made me understand properley! great explanation

 

[Candy_C]

I hope this makes sense, but I currently DO NOT believe that trimming the hair increases the RATE AT WHICH YOUR HAIR GROWS OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

HOWEVER, I DO believe that trimming does increase RETENTION OF LENGTH. With the increase in retention of length comes the ILLUSION of faster growth. You are not actually experiencing faster growth--it's just that more hair is on your head now. Why?

Split ends and breakage go hand in hand. They contribute to a loss of hair at some point for most.

Thus, in a one month period AFTER a trim, you retain more length that the spit ends are not eating away at like they were in the one month BEFORE your trim.

Just my 2 cents worth.

^that 1 right there

i just search and destroy (thanks jewell) and ever since my ends r thick like my roots and v strong. i think some sort of system of tracking and cutting of splits is vital! 4 me anyway!

 

[Isis]

I am not one to say that trims/haircuts/dusting makes hair grow or increases growth rate. But I do believe that immediately afterwards, the workings underneath the scalp that are responsible for hair pushing through the epidermis is stimulated for a brief period, especially when the various phases of growth are factored in.

If any of you ladies are familiar with gardening, you know that pruning (cutting) forces new buds to emerge elsewhere along a stem. Pruning is used to shape a shrub and the new growth causes the shrub to fill in instead of just growing straight out. Within days after pruning, there is new growth, whereas the plant's growth was virtually imperceptible before pruning, but we know it had to be growing, right?

I believe that it is somewhat similar with hair. Even though the hair itself is purportedly dead, there are muscles, blood vessels, glands, etc that are all a part of the hair shaft underneath the scalp, where growth actually takes place. Remember, new hair begins before we can ever see it. How does the new hair know? The hair only stops growing when there is damage to the scalp and/or any of the parts within or beneath it. Just because a hair does not contain nerve endings or other vitals does not mean that a cut hair will not respond. A damaged, broken hair would not respond the same way BECAUSE of the damage. The human body is a miracle in every way, shape and form, so there may be more to this theory than we would like to think.

What an interesting analogy, thank you Balisi for sharing this. I agree, the human body is truly a miracle and it continues to baffle science.