My Hair Has Not Grown in 2 years!!! Please help!!

[cutiebe2]

Hello Ladies,
I have refrained from asking for help for so long but I am truely at my wits end. I have not seen any serious length retention in 2 years. My hair should be MBL by now.

I will say that I this change in my progress coincided with my two surgeries during my Sophmore year of college. I also started to have alopecia patches after that (two). Still, the patches grew back and the rest of my hair should continue to grow. My hair has always been thin and fragil, so I have always had some sort of breakage (I honeslty think my hair is too thin to aviod it all together). I am natural and wear my hair in a bun all the time (or I just put a scarf over my plaits and go). In January of this year I was optimistic, and thought if I did XYZ I would see growth (DC, protein, protective style, MTG). Now another year has passed and I see everyone elses progress and it just gets me so down. I have been on this board going on 6 years...

This is the only things I can think of doing:
-continue with my egg shake (everyday, started 1 month ago)
-continue with Shen Min vitamins or Andrew Lessman (started Shen Min 1 month ago)
-continue with iron pills (I am a little low on iron)
-Crown and Glory method for the year


If anyone else has any insight please contribute. I feel like I get breakage even though I DC once a week, co-wash once a week, and use Deep Protein when needed to keep my hair strong. I am honestly starting to loose faith in growing my hair.

I am around APL right now.


Thank you in advance!!!

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

A lack of moisture might be the culprit for your breakage and lack of retention. How often are you adding moisture to your hair via DC, Leave-ins or cowashing?

 

[Loveygram]

Please don't get discouraged. You and your hair have been through a lot. As your general health improves and heals, so should your hair... Sounds like you have a regimen. If you find anything not working let it go. I think most of us go through trying times of little or no retention when trying to obtain length. (I've seen more loss than gain this past year.)
My motto is treat your hair as gently as possible and take what ever time you need to make that happen. I say this but find myself not doing this many times, so you have to be vigilante.

Also, watch what accessories you use as some may cause breakage you don't even realize. I used flexi-type combs to hold my bun for a long time before realizing it was causing a ring of shorter hair where it held.

Blessings

 

[Guitarhero]

I'm sorry to hear of these troubles. Just about everyone goes through some kind of bad period with their hair. If your hair is thin and fine, fragile, maybe you should find another route of conditioning? It could be you are using to heavy a protein or that your hair is becoming mushy from the co-washes. Also, bunning hair when wet can cause strands to snap. Have you tried just oil after your shampoo, like the Jamaican Black Castor Oil? I haven't personally tried that one but I hear such good reviews on it.

Are you concentrating on moisturizing the ends of the hair with an oil-based leave-in cream? That might help. And lastly, nightly massages of the scalp for 15 min. or so help to bring blood to the scalp. I hope this helps.

 

[Tiye]

Because you've had health problems in the recent past I think you should have a blood analysis to find out exactly what your nutritional deficiencies are. Some doctors do these and sometimes they're offered through health food stores, etc. Taking vitamins on your own is great but if they don't have enough of a particular vitamin or mineral you're lacking in this probably explains your problems with hair brittleness. When you find out exactly what your body needs you can build a vitamin regimen around that and do research into the foods you need to get your body back into balance (there's more to it than egg shakes unless an analysis shows that you're short on protein). Once you sort these things out your hair with thrive on even a simple regimen as long as you aren't too hard on it.

 

[EbonyCPrincess]

I'm glad to see you've started things that adjust the internal - ie the shakes and iron pills. That was going to be my suggestion...that you examine your diet. APL is amazing and perhaps it is filling out although it may not be growing longer. I've been APL for about 8 months and I've seen people go from SL to BSL in that time, so stay encouraged!!!

 

[Nayna]

What protein conditioners do you use and how often are you using them?

Also what moisturizing conditioners do you use and how often?

You say your hair is thin and frail; are you using protein regularly? Or only here and there? Also, do you seal with an oil? If not does it not work for you? Maybe you can try sealing your ends, and since you bun try vaseline.

 

[FroFab]

I agree with PPs about internal health affecting your hair health as well. Additionally have you long term PS to keep breakage to a minimum. Fine hair sometimes needs to be just left alone.

 

[Moonpie8]

Hello Ladies,
I have refrained from asking for help for so long but I am truely at my wits end. I have not seen any serious length retention in 2 years. My hair should be MBL by now.

I will say that I this change in my progress coincided with my two surgeries during my Sophmore year of college. I also started to have alopecia patches after that (two). Still, the patches grew back and the rest of my hair should continue to grow. My hair has always been thin and fragil, so I have always had some sort of breakage (I honeslty think my hair is too thin to aviod it all together). I am natural and wear my hair in a bun all the time (or I just put a scarf over my plaits and go). In January of this year I was optimistic, and thought if I did XYZ I would see growth (DC, protein, protective style, MTG). Now another year has passed and I see everyone elses progress and it just gets me so down. I have been on this board going on 6 years...

This is the only things I can think of doing:
-continue with my egg shake (everyday, started 1 month ago)
-continue with Shen Min vitamins or Andrew Lessman (started Shen Min 1 month ago)
-continue with iron pills (I am a little low on iron)
-Crown and Glory method for the year


If anyone else has any insight please contribute. I feel like I get breakage even though I DC once a week, co-wash once a week, and use Deep Protein when needed to keep my hair strong. I am honestly starting to loose faith in growing my hair.

I am around APL right now.


Thank you in advance!!!

First maybe the egg is too much.. to intake everyday.. what about taking a vitamin one specifically for hair growth? Also what about essential oils for stimulation. Just stay encouraged!

 

[CherryCherryBoomBoom]

I've had a similar problem too. My hair has been hovering around shoulder length for two years now, way too long. I just decided to stop being so hardcore with my regimen, stick the hair in weave, and just forget about it for a while, only spraying with moisturiser and washing when needed. Maybe you could try something like that, wearing some sort of low maintenance protective style, so you don't have to keep looking at your disappointing hair all the time, and at the same time it's also hopefully helping it to retain length

 

[caribeandiva]

Go to a dermatologist ASAP!

 

[Solitude]

Maybe you should try a different hairstyle, like twists or something that keeps your hair stretched out.

Also, APL is very good progress. I'm at APL (from nape length) after two years. Some people grow much faster, but I've established that I have to grow/retain at my own rate.

What are you moisturizing with? Do you moisturize daily? What are you using to DC?

 

[Mook's hair]

I am also having some issues with retention. It grows just fine but the splits are hurting my progress. I think that if you do crown & glory for a year that you will see good results. But make sure you do the infusium and the african Royale braid spray while it is braided.

Also I suggest that you avoid micros, they are too stressful to your edges.

 

[cutiebe2]

Because you've had health problems in the recent past I think you should have a blood analysis to find out exactly what your nutritional deficiencies are. Some doctors do these and sometimes they're offered through health food stores, etc. Taking vitamins on your own is great but if they don't have enough of a particular vitamin or mineral you're lacking in this probably explains your problems with hair brittleness. When you find out exactly what your body needs you can build a vitamin regimen around that and do research into the foods you need to get your body back into balance (there's more to it than egg shakes unless an analysis shows that you're short on protein). Once you sort these things out your hair with thrive on even a simple regimen as long as you aren't too hard on it.

Yes I have had several blood test. The most recent when I went to the derm two months ago for my alopecia spot. The only thing that he found was slightly low iron. I brought the Blood Builder pills that Vester recommends. After that there is nothing "wrong". My body could be off kilter from my surgeries but that doesn't show up on the test

 

[AmyRose92]

Have you taken pictures on a regular basis? On top of all of the things mentioned above, I suggest you take pictures every 1-3 months to see how you are faring. Sometimes we might think that our hair isn't growing, but pictures can help you keep track of your progress in stages. Perhaps it is thickening, which is a good thing, even though you may not be retaining length. Please don't be discouraged.

 

[cutiebe2]

Yes I take pics regularly...the length has not changed...

Thanks for the encouragement, ladies!!

 

[SweetNic_JA]

Sorry to hear you are going through this. I've recently (in the past 3 months ) started to eat according to my blood type. Once I started paying attention to my blood type, I realized i was eating so many things that were bad for my health - and were causing problems that I had just come to accept as normal for me. With my new diet I expect to see a lot of benefits, including in my hair and skin, and I have been seeing some benefits already, but it is still too soon.

I have also significantly reduced my sugar intake, and watch foods that have a high glycemic index and/or glycemic load. All these little things make a huge difference on skin and hair - but most importantly overall health.

The blood builder also works well. A friend recommended it to me last winter and it helped a lot. I cut my hair bald last summer (09) and now it's up to about 6" and I'm working on growing it back, mostly through protective styling (I'm also natural). Perhaps you need to give your hair some refuge for a while to allow it to retain some length.

 

[cutiebe2]

@SweetNic yeah, I was reading the yeast thread and I am going to make drastic changes to my diet. The effects of sugar are scary. I already workout each morning so that is a pluc. I will look into the bloodtype diet. I have heard of it but never followed it. thanks