Natural hair: 5 tips for stimulating hair growth

According to research, hair grows about six inches each year on average, but oftentimes that growth feels minimal, especially when most folks lose 50-100 hairs each day.

While it seems that for some women, enviably long hair just happens, for the rest of us, tweaking certain aspects of our day-to-day haircare regimen must be made. Whether that's using a different hairbrush, adjusting how often you use your hairdryer, adding foods to make hair grow quicker or vitamins to the mix, or sleeping on a silk pillowcase (yes, really), there are fast hair growth secrets and home remedies that even grow hair thicker. Check out these pro tips for how to grow hair faster, naturally.

Do a scalp massage

We spend so much time and money piling on hair products that it’s easy to forget where hair growth starts: namely, your scalp. Just like good-quality soil is essential to growing healthy plants and flowers, a healthy scalp is a foundation for healthy hair growth. Research supports the idea that a scalp massage has beneficial effects on stress hormones, blood pressure, and heart rate.

A simple way to stimulate hair growth at home is to give yourself a scalp massage. This will increase blood flow to your scalp, enhance the strength of your roots, and help nutrients get to your follicle faster. You can give yourself a scalp massage with dry hair, but adding a nutrient-rich oil to the mix will only double the benefits.

Trade hair growth supplements for healthy fats

Sure, you can easily pop a hair growth supplement, but honestly, the word’s still out on whether or not they’re an effective way to help your hair grow faster. Plus, they can contain unnecessarily large amounts of minerals and vitamins (ahem, biotin), which can actually wreak havoc in other ways (ahem, breakouts). For this reason, eating your way to longer hair is actually a smarter, nutritionist-approved way to make your hair grow faster. Vitamins and minerals occurring naturally in foods are easier for your body to utilize, and they’ll naturally deliver a healthier ratio of nutrients.

You probably know this already, but any hairstylist will tell you the most obvious way to help your hair grow faster is to ditch your routine of hot tools. Blow-dryers and styling irons can certainly damage your hair by making it dry and brittle, which can lead to breakage and shorter hair length.

Avoid over-shampooing

Rumour has it that over-shampooing can lead to broken, dry, and brittle locks, due to the cleanser stripping the hair of its natural oils. Depending on your hair type, the number of times you should shampoo your hair per week varies. Thicker, coarser hair types can get away without washing their hair for a few days, while thinner hair types may find their hair feels greasy even after one day. In such cases, dry shampoo can work wonders in soaking up excess grease as you await longer strands.

Trim your split ends regularly

It might sound counterproductive when you want your hair to grow longer, but regular trims get rid of dry, damaged split ends and are necessary for natural, healthy growth. If left untreated, split ends can work their way up the shafts of your hair strands and cause even more breakage, which means the only thing growing will be your frustration. But if your stylist takes off too much length every time you go in for a visit, your hair won’t get longer, so make sure you clearly communicate your hair goals. Depending on the condition of your hair, your hairstyle, and your daily routine, you could need a trim anywhere from every six weeks to six months. That said, the better you care for your hair on a day-to-day basis, the less often you’ll need trims, and the longer your hair can grow naturally.

Brush gently when detangling

Nothing will test your patience like properly detangling the knots in your hair, but it’s an important step in growing your strands faster and one that definitely shouldn’t be rushed. If you have a tendency to quickly and haphazardly rip a brush through your hair and call it quits, you might want to reconsider. Not taking proper care when brushing can cause your strands to break off and split—pretty much the opposite of hair growth. When it comes to brushing your hair, think slow and gentle.