How can I make my hair grow faster?

Healthy fats are indispensable to hair growth. Without fat in your diet, your body cannot maintain healthy hair. Fat is also very important to the body because it helps it assimilate vitamins that are necessary for hair growth, like Vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Be sure to limit your fat into to a healthy level and focus on unsaturated fats and fatty acids such as Omega 3. 4Make sure you meet your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C. Having a Vitamin C deficiency can cause dry, dull, and weak hair that is prone to breakage.

Your body uses Vitamin C to build collagen, a fiber essential to the production of new hair cells. Without Vitamin C, your body will also have a hard time absorbing iron, so it's doubly important to make sure you get your daily dose, particularly in combination with iron-rich foods. Good sources of Vitamin C include citrus fruits, pineapples, strawberries, guava, broccoli, kale, and peppers.

5Take B vitamins to avoid hair loss. Anecdotally, B vitamin supplements and topical applications have gained a significant following among those trying to speed up hair growth. Though there is little scientific evidence that increased consumption of B Vitamins such as riboflavin and biotin actually leads to healthier hair, deficiencies of these vitamins can lead to hair loss or thinning.

67 Consult with your physician before taking any supplements since hair loss could be a result of something other than a Vitamin B deficiency. Good sources of B vitamins include seafood, spinach, oatmeal and other whole grains, soybean products, lean dairy, lean meats, bananas, lentils, potatoes (with the skin), peas, beets, broccoli, and artichokes. 6Have realistic expectations about your dietary changes.

What you eat will not affect the hair that has already grown, but it will affect new growth. Dietary effects on hair may take up to 6 months to be visible even though changing your diet may begin affecting the growth of hair in a much shorter time period. 1Maintain good general health and avoid stress.

Eat well, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep to reduce general physical stress levels. Intense physical or emotional stress can cause hair growth to slow or shut down completely. In severe cases, stress can cause hair loss.

Extended fatigue, dietary deficiencies, and sleep deprivation can trigger your body to go into a survival mode where it exclusively devotes its energy to maintaining essential bodily functions and organ repair, leaving your hair malnourished and unprotected from damage and loss. When your body has adequate stores of nutrients required for healthy hair and does not need to devote energy and nutrients to simply keeping you awake, it can utilize those nutrients to build and protect your hair. The better your nutrition and general health, the more likely your body will be able to construct healthy hair quickly.

2Identify specific physical stressors. Certain physical stressors, such as excessive dietary supplementation or overuse of certain over-the-counter medications, physical trauma, and hyperactivity can stress the body to the point of shutting down hair production and growth. If you are experiencing one of these factors, address the physical condition to reduce strain on your body before focusing on promoting swift hair growth.

Slow or unhealthy hair growth or hair loss may be signs that your body needs to heal itself in another area before devoting nutrients and energy to quickly constructing hair. In many cases, hair growth will return to previous rates after recovery or following the removal of the physical stressor. For instance, someone suffering from the physical trauma of a car accident may notice slow hair growth for several months, but once the wounds have healed (and emotional stress is also addressed), hair growth should return to normal.

3Learn how to effectively manage emotional stress. Emotionally stressful events, such as the loss of a loved one, a change in employment, feeling a lack of security, or worrying about not having a safe place to live, can all cause slowed or halted hair growth until the body is able to adjust. Removing emotional and psychological stressors can help give your body the environment it needs to produce healthy and rapid hair growth.

It may take several months to see visible slowing of hair growth or even hair loss because of extreme or chronic stress, but that doesn't mean that stress levels should be ignored. It generally takes many months to repair the damage that stress inflicts on your hair so the sooner you start reducing your stress levels and learning how to relax on a daily basis, the better chance you'll have of promoting faster hair growth. 1Make sure your slow hair growth or hair loss is not caused by a medical problem.

If you have a medical condition or prolonged illness, prescription medication, substance abuse disorder, eating disorder, genetic or family history, or other serious medical situation that may be causing slow hair growth or hair loss, consult a physician before beginning any hair growth regimens. In some cases, resolving an underlying medical condition can help hair growth return to normal or speed up. Discuss with your doctor or pharmacist whether your health condition may cause slow hair growth, thinning, or hair loss.

Some diseases, such as diabetes or lupus, can cause problems with hair growth, and certain individuals experience the loss of clumps or large portions of their hair. If you are suffering from a chronic health condition that has this side effect, discuss possible methods for preventing hair loss with a doctor before beginning over-the-counter hair growth treatments or significantly altering your diet. Certain hair growth supplements or dietary change efforts may negatively impact your health because of your current condition.

2Ask a physician or pharmacist if your medication may be the culprit. Birth control pills, heart medications, gout treatments, blood pressure medications, arthritis pills, and depression medications can cause hair loss or growth problems. If hair loss or thinning is a side effect you have noticed, inform your doctor and discuss a possible change in prescription.

3Get checked for a scalp infection. Scalp infections, such as ringworm, can infect the skin and hair on your scalp and slow or prevent healthy hair growth. If you suspect you have this or another fungal infection, discuss using an oral or topical anti-fungal medication to treat the condition before focusing on hair growth treatments.

In many cases, once ringworm is treated, hair begins to grow normally again. 4Avoid highly restrictive diets unless advised by a physician. Eating disorders, restrictive fad diets, crash diets, fasting, and certain nutrition-related illnesses can cause slow hair growth and even hair loss.

If your nutrition is sub-optimal due to any of these conditions, discuss proper nutrition with a physician or dietitian before beginning hair growth regimens. 5Ask your healthcare provider whether your hair issues may be caused by hormonal fluctuations or imbalances. Hormonal changes, such as menopause, a change in birth control use, pregnancy or childbirth, thyroid problems, or elevated levels of testosterone, can cause hair thinning, loss, or slow hair growth.

9 In many cases, balancing your hormones will return hair growth to normal. Growth naturally slows with age,11 so if that your hair loss is caused solely by natural hormonal changes related to age, maximizing hair growth through diet and nutrition is the best treatment. 1Style your hair in moderation.

Hair may begin to grow more slowly or may even fall out more frequently when certain styling techniques are used, making hair appear to grow more slowly overall. Frequently styling and cleaning your hair in harsh ways may cause hair loss, thinning, or damage. 12 Although occasional use of the following techniques may not cause problems, repeated use of or the regular combination of multiple techniques below may exacerbate damage.

In most cases, this damage is reversible, but because hair grows slowly it will take time to restore your hair's natural health if you regularly used these styling methods. 2Avoid perming, crimping, chemically or mechanically straightening, curling, and bleaching or repeatedly coloring hair. These treatments can weaken hair strands and stress hair follicles, leading to increased hair breakage and even hair loss.

Hot styling tools can cause damage very quickly, so air dry or manually style hair whenever possible. 3Brush or comb hair no more than twice per day. Excessive or improper brushing and combing can pull hair out prematurely, preventing quick and natural gains in hair length that gentler or less frequent brushing may allow.

Avoid pulling harshly or detangling without the assistance of a conditioner or detangling spray. Always hold hair in one hand, if it is long enough, while brushing or combing with the other to prevent pulling hair out from the root. 4Do not use rubber bands to hold hair back or to style hair.

The rubber can snag the hair and cause it to break or dislodge at the root. 5Avoid hairstyles that pull hair tightly, such as cornrows and tight ponytails. These styles can put stress on the hair follicle and damage or break your hair at the root or further down the strand.

Ask your hairdresser for alternate style options that will reduce the pull on your roots, minimize the need for hair treatments and hot styling tools, and reduce opportunities for hair breakage. 6Choose hair products carefully and follow proper hair hygiene. Keeping hair clean and healthy allows your hair to continue growing and reduces breakage and loss.

Most people should not wash their hair more than 3 or 4 times per week. African Americans and those with curly, dry, or coarse hair may need to wash their hair even less frequently, as natural oils are essential for strong and healthy hair. Oily haired people should wash hair more often but should not over-wash their hair as that makes the condition worse.

Over-washing can cause hair to lose moisture, leaving it prone to breakage and split ends. A dry shampoo like Batiste takes care of the oiliness while giving hair volume and shine. Using oils like coconut, avocado, almond, olive, or jojoba in the hair before or after washing really does improve the condition in hair and minimizes your chance of getting splitting hair or damaged hair.

Using some oil on the ends of your hair before applying heat styling tools helps to keep the ends healthy. Try experimenting with some oils and see which one is right for you. 7Trim your hair.

Regularly trimming hair to remove split ends (at most every 10 to 12 weeks) can help prevent split hairs from traveling further up the strand, weakening the hair and making it prone to breakage. Trimming hair does not promote faster growth, but may help prevent hair damage that can lead to the appearance of slower or less healthy hair growth. 1Consider an over-the-counter or prescription hair growth treatment.

In most cases, medications are not necessary for improving hair growth (and may even have adverse or unnoticeable effects). Many people will be able to achieve faster, healthier hair growth by regulating their diet, behavior, and stress levels. If your hair loss or slow hair growth has a medical cause or if you have tried natural methods without success, however, you may be a candidate for hair growth medication or supplements.

13 Before beginning any of the treatments below, including the herbal remedies, it is important to consult a physician or health professional. 2Try a homeopathic remedy for hair growth. Although many natural therapies for hair growth are anecdotally recommended for hair growth, they have not been scientifically demonstrated to increase hair growth.

Supplements and natural treatments such as biotin, masques and creams made of household foods and oils, herb waters, and vitamin or mineral supplements may help some individuals achieve faster hair growth. In some cases, such treatments may promote healthy hair through topical application, but there is incomplete evidence to suggest such treatments help hair grow faster. 3Buy Rogaine at a drugstore.

Rogaine (minoxidil) is the only over-the-counter (non-prescription) topical treatment shown to increase hair growth and prevent hair loss in some people, and it is safe for both men and women to use. 4Ask your doctor about corticosteroid injections or ointments, Finasteride, Anthralin, or other prescription-strength drugs. Corticosteroid ointments or injections are available through physician offices for certain causes of hair loss, and have been shown to stimulate hair growth in some patients.

If you have a diagnosed hair loss condition such as alopecia, prescriptions like Finasteride or Anthralin may speed up hair growth but must only be used as prescribed. Women should not take Finasteride.

When you wash your hair, massage your scalp to encourage blood circulation to the roots. Also, drink a lot of water. It's good if you drink about 6-8 glasses of water each day.

Water keeps you hydrated throughout the day and that also means it keeps your hair hydrated as well. For shinier hair, wash your hair with the coldest water that you can handle. Eat healthy food so you can make your hair stronger and shinier, Paleo!

Avoid stress: stress can make your hair fall out or trigger trichotillomania (trik-oh-til-oh-MAY-nee-uh) which is a hair pulling disorder that causes an irresistible urge to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body. Hair pulling can be a way of coping with negative or uncomfortable feelings such as stress, among other emotions such as angst, frustration, depression, or loneliness. Clip-In Extensions are good while you are growing your hair, you can just pop them in and out without any damage to your natural hair.

If you need to comb your hair while it's wet use a wide tooth comb or a wet brush. A wet brush works an amazing on all hair and also works as a normal hair brush. Use oils such as:Argan oils or coconut oil.

Try using coconut oil or olive oil for you're hair. It helps keep hair shiny and healthy! Also eat a lot of spinach because it has the vitamins for your hair to grow faster and healthier.

Tilt your head 90 degrees forward and massage your scalp for four minutes or longer. This creates blood flow to your cuticles. In this fact, your hair wil grow longer.

If you wear any hair styles, wear the loose ones. Because the hair styles that prevent a lot of stress on hair and hair pulling, will cause your hair to grow quicker. IF you want to use Argan oil or any oil, use it sparingly on your scalp, because it can make it very oily and your hair will be very greasy.

Oils are really more meant for your ends of your hair. Get regular hair trims to get rid of split ends and make your hair grow longer.

If you don't have someone you trust implicitly to trim your hair for you, find a salon that caters to long hair, has a long hair specialist, or at least be sure to glare at your stylist as menacingly as you can while you clearly explain your hair growth goals before letting her come at you with a pair of styling scissors. It also helps to ask your hair stylist to show you exactly their perception of the measure of your tresses you would like trimmed by showing you what they think is the same distance from the end of their comb. I am convinced hair stylists are taught a completely different measuring system from the rest of the world, and not once have I ever had a stylist show me an accurate half inch on her first try.

If you don't have inches of hair to spare, you'll be very glad you asked! It also helps to remember, it is not in the best interest of most hair salons or stylists if you rarely make visits to their salon, which is definitely a conflict of interest! If your hair is short and styled, you are always at the salon spending money for maintenance.

If your stylist tries to convince you that your long, healthy hair should be cut, run screaming from the salon immediately! In the end, it is up to you to make sure that anyone whose advice you consider, be it a stylist, friend or family member, has only the best interest of YOUR acknowledged hair growth goals in mind. Otherwise smile politely and ignore every word they say.

You absolutely are not too old, too thin, too short, too gray, too anything to have long hair. Avoid using any heated appliances whenever possible. No blow drying, no curling irons, no hot rollers, and especially no flat irons or hair crimpers!

If you absolutely must blow dry do so minimally, and contrary to popular belief, it is best to let your hair dry naturally for as long as possible and use the blow dryer just to finish it off at the end. If you must use hot rollers, use flocked or ceramic rollers that are safer for your hair, not spiked plastic rollers (and be sure to read about all the great alternative methods in our Ultimate Guide to Curling Long Hair first!) If you insist on using curling irons, flat irons or crimpers on a daily basis, really long healthy hair isn't in your future. If you do use any kind of heat on your hair, be sure to use a product that will help protect your hair from it, but keep in mind that every time you apply heat you are likely to cause some damage.

Don't use any harsh chemicals on your hair. Definitely no perms and no peroxide! If you must color, use non peroxide color or 100% natural henna (henna comes in a full range of colors, not just red).

In addition to being an all-natural way to add color to your hair, henna will "plump up" and add body to fine hair (but it's best not to use it on very dry hair). Check out our Hair Care Recipes Cookbook too, and learn to make your own organic hair color and products. Low-peroxide hair color is much less damaging to hair than permanent color, but using these products again and again will eventually detrimentally affect the health of your hair, it is unavoidable.

If you do choose to go this route, you will have to be even more diligent about taking care of your hair. Be sure to use a good daily shampoo and conditioner formulated specifically for color treated hair, which will make your color last longer, which equates to less exposure to damaging chemicals in the end. Using a line of shampoo and conditioner that adds a bit of color will make it last even longer.

And be sure to deep condition your hair often, again using a product forumated especially for color treated hair. With making your color last as long as possible as the primary goal so as to limit how often you have to use hair color, you may also want to consider using a leave-in color protectant. In the end, it's much safer, and less work and expense, to learn to love the color you have, or at least to use a hair coloring product that doesn't contain any peroxide at all.

Now, having spoken to hundreds of customers addicted to color over the years, I know how difficult it is to convince you kidz not to use it. That being the case, the least I can do is tell you how to use it while keeping damage at a minimum and long, gorgeous hair in your future. In this instance, 16oz.

Of prevention is definitely worth a ton of cure.