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Terminal Length
Every person has a different terminal length (the maximum length to which their hair can grow), determined by the length of the anagen or growing phase of their hair. The anagen phase lasts between 2-6 years, during which time the hair grows on average 0.44 mm a day. After a brief transitional period (the catagen phase) the hair enters the resting (telogen) phase, sheds out, and is replaced by another hair. Obviously, a long anagen phase allows the hair to grow longer than a short anagen phase.
Physical Damage Caused by Haircare Practices
Hair care and styling can be gentle or damaging. Many mainstream haircare practices such as blowdrying, dyeing hair, heat-straightening or curling, scrubbing shampoo into hair atop the head and even vigorous towel drying damage hair. As hair is dead, it cannot be 'healed' once physical damage has occurred (despite the claims of some miracle products). Damaged hair splits and breaks easily, resulting in hair that tapers significantly towards the tips and ultimately does not grow as long as healthy hair. This is nothing to do with terminal length, and can be avoided by using and wearing gentle hair care techniqueshair-friendly hair toys that do not snag or tear at the hair.
Contrary to popular myth, cutting the ends of your hair has no effect on what happens at the root end. Cutting hair off will not prevent your hair growing back; nor will it make it grow back faster. What cutting hair does do is cut off some of the 'lifespan' of your hair. A hair that has been growing for 3 years of its anagen phase, cut off, only has 3 years left of a 6-year anagen phase to grow. Because of this, some people hit a 'false terminal' length at which they feel their hair has stopped growing, whereas in reality their hair simply used up most of its growth through several haircuts. Eventually as the hairs on the head cycle through their phases, such a false terminal will be resolved as long as the hair is kept long.
Hair is often a good indication of the general health of the body. Pregnant women, full of pregnancy hormones and boosted by pre-natal vitamins, tend to have fast-growing, healthy hair and nails. According to the 'Something Fishy' website for eating disorders, diets deficient in zinc can cause splitting hair,while a lack of vitamins A and E can cause hair to become dry and badly-conditioned, contributing to breakage. Iron deficiency (anaemia) also causes dry hair and hair loss, while a lack of selenium, biotin, silica or folic acid contributes to poor hair growth. As a hair's lifespan is measured by time, not length, hair which grows more slowly than normal will shed out at a shorter length, resulting in hair with an unnaturally short terminal length.
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