How Long Does Hair Take To Grow 1 Inch

Does it feel like your hair takes forever to grow? Yous're not alone.

Waiting for your tresses to transform into long, luscious locks can often feel like a painstakingly tedious process. It takes a healthy dose of patience.

But whether you've been trying to grow Rapunzel locks for years (with no luck), or are just ill of your cropped cutting (no judgment here!), there are a few things yous tin do to help your hair grow a little fleck faster. And TODAY Way is breaking them all down with the help of the pros!

How to grow hair fast — The time of twelvemonth even influences how apace your hair grows (faster in the summer and slower in the wintertime). Getty Images stock

How fast does hair grow?

It's hard to say exactly how fast your pilus grows — everyone is dissimilar! — just on average, hair grows about one-half an inch over the course of a month. That being said, it'due south not unusual for hair to abound as little as a centimeter or every bit much every bit an inch in a calendar month.

A number of factors can influence pilus growth, some of which yous can command and others you can't. "The speed at which hair grows is adamant by genetics but there are other factors that tin can affect the growth rate. Age, nutrition, stress, hormonal fluctuations, scalp health, hair care practices, medications and other health weather tin can potentially influence hair growth," said primary hair colorist, Stephanie Brown.

In general, men's hair grows faster than women's, just pregnancy can actually speed upwardly the hair-growth process. Even the time of year can affect how fast or slow hair grows.

"Hair tends to abound a little faster in summertime and slower in wintertime," said Dr. Alan Parks, board-certified dermatologist and founder of DermWarehouse. "An underactive thyroid can also ho-hum down pilus growth."

If y'all've got damaged hair (cheers, hot tools!), genetic structural abnormalities (they typically crusade hair to interruption off at a certain length) or certain hair types, your hair might as well grow more slowly.

"Some people have finer hair that breaks easily, so it just may seem that your hair isn't growing but it is," Brown said.

According to Randy Veliky, clinical studies director for HairMax, hair grows faster from the historic period of 15 to late 20s and slows down considerably after that, especially with the onset of menopause.

"Pilus growth can exist described in three cycles, the anagen growth phase, lasting 5-7 years; the catagen resting phase and and so the telogen shedding phase. Each follicle goes through these phases independently. As we age or experience pattern hair loss, the anagen growth phase is shortened. This is why information technology is difficult for women over 50 to grow their pilus long like they did when they were younger," Veliky said.

Before you lot go frustrated with your hair, try to proceed in mind that any number of factors, including pilus loss in general, can influence growth. "Hair loss tin be caused by many things including illness, medication, poor diet, hormones and over-styling. Any one of these causes tin can interfere with the pilus growth bicycle, and tin harm hair follicles, preventing them from growing hair," Veliky said.

Foods that help hair growth — Eat up! Certain foods can help hair grow faster. Shutterstock

Can certain foods aid hair grow faster?

Trying to grow your hair longer for a special event? The primal just might be your diet. Hair craves nutrition, so a balanced diet filled with lots of nutrients volition go along it healthy and happy.

"The foods y'all eat should contain vitamins and minerals known to back up healthy pilus growth, such every bit vitamin C, biotin, niacin, fe and zinc," Veliky said.

If you want longer hair, stock up on any (or all) of the following powerful foods:

Salmon
Eggs
Avocados
Sugariness potatoes
Berries
Basics
Olive oil
Fish
Beans
Whole grains
Foods rich in protein, biotin (vitamin H) and omega-iii

How does your scalp influence hair growth?

Believe it or non, your scalp plays a huge part in pilus growth, only it takes a beating on a daily basis — harsh brushes and potent products are often the culprit. Considering all that scalps can go through, it'south fifty-fifty more important that you treat yours with a flake of TLC.

"Lifestyle, nutrition and medication can slow down the hair growth process, so a make clean, healthy scalp is truly instrumental," said Angelo David, a hair loss and thinning expert. "Wash hair regularly and don't overwhelm the scalp with too much product or abrasive chemicals."

In other words, keeping your scalp good for you is all about taking picayune steps — like using a sulfate-costless shampoo, a filter to remove chlorine from your shower or making sure to thoroughly wash your hair.

"Y'all just need to make sure yous cleanse your scalp by shampooing and massaging to become all the expressionless skin cells off. And brushing your hair once a day volition assistance. Only don't shampoo every mean solar day; attempt to shampoo every other day because this volition help you take stronger, healthy hair," Dark-brown said.

Using hot tools too often or too close to the scalp can as well harm hair at the root and forbid information technology from growing, and then endeavour to use them sparingly.

You're bound to expose your scalp to harsh elements old, merely the good news is, there are a few steps you lot can accept to help protect yours:

Wet hair is super fragile, and so use a wet brush on it to avoid damage
Condition your hair every time y'all shampoo
Prevent breakage by using a light pilus towel to help pilus dry faster
Apply silk pillowcases instead of cotton
Use masks and treatments, such as Olaplex, to help strengthen pilus

What about vitamins for hair growth?

If you're struggling to go the nutrients your hair needs through nutrient alone, you might be wondering if there's whatsoever other way to assistance your pilus forth.

"Proper diet and nutrition are essential to healthy pilus growth," Veliky said. "If you cannot get these nutrients in the foods you swallow, endeavour vitamins for hair growth."

There's typically naught incorrect with trying vitamins or supplements to boost your hair growth efforts. At the same fourth dimension, foods in their original form usually agree more nutrients, so try to incorporate at to the lowest degree a few new foods into your nutrition earlier heading correct to the vitamin aisle.

If you lot've worked your way through the list of hair-healthy foods and could even so use a little assistance, you lot can ever try some of these vitamins/supplements:

Biotin
Fish oil
Vitamins C, B and D
Iron
Omega-3 and fatty acids
Nutrafol
Hair Detox
Ducray Anacaps Activ+

At the stop of the day, pilus growth is notwithstanding a bit of a mystery to scientists and skin experts alike, and then no one solution volition work for everyone. "Nosotros are learning more about how hair growth is controlled at a cellular level, but scientific evidence on how to speed upwardly hair growth directly is still lacking, so certain methods take not been rigorously studied," said cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Sejal Shah, founder of SmarterSkin Dermatology.

Just that doesn't hateful you can't (safely) try incorporating certain products or foods into your routine to at least see if they give your hair a boost. And when all else fails, don't underestimate the value of regular haircuts! Frequent trims can encourage hair to abound more if you've hitting a length plateau.