Hair Growth vs Retention!

Did you know that there is a difference between hair growth and length retention? Caring for your hair directly impacts how well your hair will grow and retain length.

However, length retention can be controlled easier than hair growth based on the measures you can actively take, which include trimming your hair regularly; you can reduce split ends and damage that can impact the length of hair retained.

Interesting, isn’t it? As you continue reading, you will learn further about how hair growth and length retention differ and how proper hair care can influence both effectively and efficiently.

 

Understanding Hair Growth 

Hair growth is comprised of three main phases: Anagen, catagen, and telogen. 

Anagen is where all the growth happens with your hair. This growth stage lasts approximately between two to six years.

Catagen (transitional stage) lasts for about ten days, and hair growth slows tremendously at this stage. 

Telogen is the phase of rest for the hair follicle. This phase can last as long as 100 days. 

 

Having a basic understanding of the hair growth phases highlight that they are all routine. Genetics or race can determine faster hair growth phases, but the average speed of hair growth is generally half-inch in any given month. 

In essence, this displays why the control of hair growth can be tricky. However, implementing good hair care habits for areas that are damaged and grow slower will help hair regain health, strength, and growth more routinely. Therefore, you don’t necessarily control the speed at which your hair grows; your hair care routine helps create a healthy environment for it to flourish naturally without experiencing excessive hair loss (telogen effluvium or damage that can interfere with hair growth and volume. 

 

What then is Length Retention?

Hair length retention is different from hair growth. As earlier mentioned, your length retention can be better managed and controlled than hair growth that must happen naturally through phases. 

Retaining the length of your hair means providing it with the necessary hair care to prevent damage leading to unwanted breakage. Thus, the routine trimming of hair ends helps prevent split ends and remove already existing split ends from causing further damage to your hair strands that would result in breakage that interferes with the length of your hair. 

When seeking to retain hair length, it is also essential to manipulate your hair strands less and provide your hair with protein and moisture treatments to ensure it has the balance that will keep it from breakage. 

 

Final Thoughts

Hair growth and length retention are two different terminologies and should not be considered the same. 

Though you may control how well your hair retains length, you don’t have the same control of how your hair grows. But what they do have in common is that with proper hair care strategies, a healthy environment will be created for your hair strands. 

A healthy hair environment will encourage the natural growth phases without leading it to experience premature hair loss and limit the length you retain by staggering split end damages or other damages that directly impact the length of your hair.