Posted by BlueBeard (other posts) on February 28, 2019 at 10:42:44 Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: If now hair growth problems posted by Raymond on February 27, 2019 at 11:05:41:
: Hey Marty,
: I need your help.
: I am coming up on my eight (8) year anniversary of letting my hair grow out. On Mar. 9, 2011 I got a guage four(4) buzzcut. I have let my hair grow out since then with the occasional trim. About two (2) years ago my hair was long enough to touch my pacemaker. My hair has shortened; I think because of breakage. Now my hair is barely shoulder length. How can I "kick start" my hair growth?
: Your long haired bro,
: Raymond
Ray, it's good that you are thinking about this now after 2 years. I didn't reflect back on my hair till 15 years had gone by because I figured I was going bald and there was nothing I could do about it-but 15 years later I still have most of my hair. So now I'm cleaning my scalp and I've gotten rid of my damaged hairs. Hopefully I can get it mid-back this time which I've never been able to do. I am doing lots of research into different ways of caring for my hair and scalp because this is my third time growing my hair out and I had problems with damaged hair all my life.
Something I've seen mentioned at a lot of sites is to ditch traditional store bought shampoo and conditioner and use natural cleansers and moisturizers. Good ol' apple cider vinegar, water, and a little baking soda can be used once a week to shampoo your hair but won't strip all the oils out of your hair so it's like a conditioner too. I'm using herbal tea rinses on the other days-teas like stinging nettle tea. Moisturize with a little jojoba or argan oil every day (especially on hair ends). People are also using canned coconut milk and aloe vera gel to make a shampoo. Apple juice is another natural product used to shampoo the hair but mine is acidic at pH of 4 so I just use 2 tablespoons and mix it into chamomile tea. Monitor the pH of the shampoo you make so it's 5-7 and closer to 5. I use pH strips. Coconut milk is also being used as a deep conditioner by draining the excess water off the top first. Green tea by itself is a nice natural cleanser and has a pH of 5-I double the strength so 2 bags per cup of water. Let the teas cool down before using on your head and I use a squeeze bottle with a thin nozzle. Extra coconut milk needs to be refrigerated or frozen but everything else seems to be OK at room temperature.
But first get your split ends chopped. This probably only means a half inch at the most but you can do this yourself since your hair is long enough. Have someone you trust do this with hair care scissors otherwise. I didn't know what a split end looked like till about a month ago-girls have made videos showing split ends in longhair on YouTube.
Once the split ends are gone then keep the ends moisturized with jojoba oil or something similar. Stay away from the hair dryer and any other thermal tool like hair straighteners. You should be good with damaged hair for a couple months.
Marty