Photo Source: Essence Magazine
By Jc of The Natural Haven
The lovely Jaded remarks, ‘I find it so odd that african americans just in general have such a hard time *relaxed or natural* growing our hair.’ Well, the truth is that African hair is very different from Asian or Caucasian hair. Here are some more details:
Slow growth rate?
It has been suggested that African hair grows much slower than Caucasian hair ( Br J Dermatol, pg 294-7, 2001.). African hair was measured at between 3.7 to 4.3 inches per year while Caucasian hair was measured at 5.7 to 6.3 inches per year. This study unfortunately is too small in my view to be representative of the entire African population but it is nonetheless a valid study.
Shape of the hair?
– Asian and Caucasian hair is more round in shape compared to African hair which is more oval/elliptical (see the diagram!). Some scientists suggest that this can make the hair weak but studies in 4 different labs produced contrasting results (J Am Acad Dermatol,pg S106–S114, 2003). Two of them showed no difference while two found African hair to be weaker – so there really isn’t a conclusion as to whether the ellipse shape affects strength.
Breakage
– This one is a bit of a duh moment. The curlier the hair the more likely it is to break. African hair has more kinks and curls. Each of these turns represents a weak point which can be tested by washing, conditioning, towel drying, combing, braiding (everything basically!).
Next Page
1 2
my hair grows at about 6.5″ a year, grows faster in the warmer months, i transitioned for about 1 1/2 year and have now been natural for 19 months and i now have 22 inches of hair even with trimming 2-4 times a year. even while relaxed my hair grew and retained length with relative easy. i always assumed that other girls and women had short hair because it was either by choice or because of damage,over processing and lack of proper care, not because their genetic code predetermined the ultimate length and growth rate of their hair…
i consider mid back to waist length hair long, my hair is currently bra strap length and i consider it to be medium length, not yet long!!
I think most people keep their hair at a certain length because they want to. I am often surprised how people in this community assume anyone with short/mid-length hair has difficulty growing out their hair.
My hair grows a half an inch a month and a little more in some sections…I think the slower growth rate thing is an illusion (for most) caused by breakage.
My hair grows about 4.5 inches a year. After three years, I’ve been able to retain most of that growth through gentle detangling, sealing and protective styling. Before these past three years, my natural hair never retained more than 6-7 inches. I once thought that I just had short-hair genes. I now know that isn’t true. Proper care and the right products have made all the difference.
I think the inconclusiveness of these studies just shows the variance amongst different heads of “African” hair (using the term loosely here). Maybe on average it is true. There will always be individual differences. I can attest that MY hair grows slowly. My hair was dyed 2 years ago and from there to today I could see how much my hair grew over 24 months and it’s about 10-11 inches. Studies & questions like this don’t bother me because it helps me put things in perspective. For example, if I know that most black peoples’ hair grows a little slower than every other race’s hair then I can let go of the pressure to try to compete. It’s counter-productive to me to think my hair is capable of the exact same things as an Asian or Caucasian woman’s. I don’t care that my hair grows slower, I’m just glad that I know. And it’s quite possible that once I graduate college my stress level will dramatically reduce and my hair might grow a little faster. Either way, my hair has adapted to my environment (my body is directing resources from my hair to more important things due to many stressful factors) and it will always do so. I always take studies with a grain of salt because they measure the average not the exception. And in the cases outlined here, the results are inconclusive. Basically, back to your regularly scheduled program, folks!
“And in the cases outlined here, the results are inconclusive. Basically, back to your regularly scheduled program, folks!” LOL, Indeed =)
It depends on a lot of things, each person’s rate of growth is different, last year sept 12& 13 on 13th i cut my hair down to 3 inches. My hair is now heading to 14 inches at it’s longest point. It grows over an inch a month. I just had my anniversary last month, and during that year I cut my hair twice and had many trims.One thing I can say though, is that the bottom third of the back of my hair grows slower than the rest of my hair. Ask me how much – i can’t say but it definitely grows slower, and is of a different texture altogether. I have a thyroid problem and i’m iron deficient so my hair is kind of brittle. It’s very thick and it would be even thicker if I didn’t have that problem, so not all black people have a slow rate of growth. One one of my jobs one of the ladies (a hispanic) was complaining at how slow her hair grows. we’re not the only one. By the way I’ve never had a problem with growing my hair long. I just love a pair of scissors.
Honestly I think it a little of column A (genetics) a little of column B (maintain length through practice and other external factors) and a little of column C (internal health, not just diet).
It irritates me that people like to jump on the fact people can’t take care of their hair or blacks can’t grow hair. Diet for the most part I don’t think greatly affects your hair unless it in extreme cases. But when I say internal I also mean drugs (prescription or over the counter, and illegal if you want to include that) and sickness (disease, cancer, allergies and intolerance) and stress (which can take on different faces besides work depending on your lifestyle). But I can see if your genetics are slower and your having the same level of breakage as person who’s genetic growth is faster then of course your suffer short hair and very noticeable length difference, and even if you have less breakage or no breakage even, you could still have slower time maintain the length as them or exact speed. So I think all columns need to be considered when one takes care of ones hair.
I know for a fact stress maybe my big flaw. What I need now is to check rate of growth from the root to determine exact rate of growth, combine with the rate of split ends at single strands following trim, and stress outlets. That might start me on the right way to approach my hair.
Huh, I’ve never had hair growing problems.
At my fastest, I grow an inch every three weeks or so, at the slowest, it’s just over half an inch a month.
This seems to run in my family, too, so yeah. /Kanye shrug
I am African and my hair has been growing about 0.5 to 0.75 inche per month.
I am curious if the people JC was around in Kenya had relaxed or natural hair? Also, I know many of my country people, Nigerians, have terrible hair care practices.
Hi June,
The longest hair that I saw were girls with natural hair. There was a mix of natural and relaxed hair but in all fairness most girls wore braids most of the time (synthetic).
Anytime, I see studies of black women, they are always focused on what we can’t do and what we are doing wrong. Is there any study anywhere that thinks black can do something??? Any scientist out there, please help me out.
i did read a study in a financial magazine stating that black women were out-performing and earning more in the “workplace” than their “Hispanic”, white and Asian counter parts! sweetie i learned quite some time ago that studies and statistic only serve the purpose of attempting to degrade us and tarnish or image in the eyes of not only our society, but the world. so i dont pay them much attention!!
Like many, my hair grows at a pretty steady rate (no I have not measured it). However, I do notice that certain areas grow faster than others. Additionally, certain areas are more prone to breakage.
It used to, but now it doesn’t matter if my hair grows fast or not. Today I just want it to be healthy and strong, and these knots are something that has been bothering me for a while. Thank you for this article, I can now admit that it’s normal for my type of hair to have that much knots in it and I will not try to unknot them any more. It has never led to anything else than breakage anyway
like i always say………lose the comb until we find a way to create a comb for our type of hair. combs were and have never being made with our type of hair in mind
Africans have made and used wooden combs for a very long time. Ceremonial combs, wedding combs. There is nothing wrong or damaging about combing ‘our’ hair.
First off, define “African Hair.” Are we strictly talking people of complete African descent born in the continent of Africa with no other ethnicity in their ancestry? Most African Americans have a varied ancestry that may not be completely African. I know I most certainly don’t. My mother is from Belize, which is culturally diverse country. I know I do not have strictly African ancestry, yet my hair is extremely kinky. Same for “Caucasian” hair. What specifically defines Caucasian? European descent? Even so, there are many countries in Europe, and all of those ethnicities can not be grouped in to one. I don’t think “race” determines hair growth at all. I for one know that my hair grows pretty fast. I’m not much one for measuring hair but on a whim I measured one of my shed hairs. It was 5 inches long. I started out with about one inch of hair, about half an inch in the back when I went fully natural. Seven months later, the longest length of my hair is five inches. Bottom line, no matter skin color, ethnicity, whatever, everyone’s hair is different, will grow differently, will react to certain conditions differently. I think it mainly depends on the individual.
In general I honestly believe it is harder for “MOST” of us to retain length due to dryness and fragility but I believe our hair grows at close to the same rate.
for kinks and curls, each turn represents a weak point. I wonder if this is true for white curly hair too? Probably not
This topic regarding hair growth is interesting. But, I do get tired of “us” comparing everthing we have to white people. I wish the title would have been rephrashed to possibly “Does kinky/coily/tightly curled hair have slower growth rate than other hair types?”
Agreed.
I think “black” is easier to type and more encompassing. {Is that the right word? My English is off today. :U}
Black is easier to type. I agree. It’s just the constant comparisons..:)
Hello all, I could care less if our hair grows slower or not, it still grows and is beautiful. Check out this book, The Science of Black Hair: A Comprehensive Guide to Textured Hair Care by Audrey Davis-Sivasothy.
Readers will learn how to:
* Maintain chemically-treated or natural hair in optimal health.
* Stop hair breakage with a novel, protein/moisture balancing method.
* Regulate product pH balance for shinier, more manageable hair.
* Grow their hair longer, stronger and healthier for life! Additional Features
* Regimen Builder with extensive product listings
* Ingredients glossary
* Interviews
* Real photos of hair at the microscopic level
Also check out this video from the one and only Kim Love. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNJi9ckqGqo&list=PLFE1A7E46EC4AA6AB&index=19
“I could care less if our hair grows slower or not, it still grows and is beautiful.”
+1
Best comment in the whole discussion.
agreed…that’s really all that matters. It’s a bit depressing to hear that your hair grows slower than other races but at the end of the day, is it really important? To me, it’s just discouraging and nothing much else.
Like others have said, I think it’s more a matter of length retention than lack of growth. My hair grows pretty fast and my hair got almost to bra strap length before I went natural, but the ends were thinning due to relaxing and too much flat ironing. Now I am 15 mos post relaxer w/ neck length hair that is thick from root to tip throughout my whole head.
Well…..duh. Lol, anecdotes aside, it takes a lot of gentle loving care for black hair to grow long for the vast majority and there’s nothing wrong w/ acknowledging it.
Articles like these seem to pop up every 2-3 months as if to make black women all around the world feel bad about their hair. I didn’t bother reading it all because these so call ‘studies’ aren’t exactly accurate as for as hair growth rates are concerned, you can choose to believe it or not, I surely don’t. Hair growth is determined by genetics no matter if it actually grows slow or fast or in between, unless a person is extremely ill their hair will continue to grow. *Retaining* what you grow when it comes to curly/coily hair boils down to good hair practices, it does take time to figure out what methods/products that may work for you, but if you (general you) fail to take care of your hair properly don’t be surprise if your hair remains at neck length for 5 years straight.
My hair grows the average ½ an inch per month–sometimes a little more than, I retain what I grow, my hair isn’t going to stop growing anytime soon and I intend to reach all of my hair length goals (currently grazing wl). My hair isn’t all that fragile, it has strong and weak points by nature, but it’s not soooo fragile that I can’t wear it out or wear a certain hairstyle whenever I so please, it wont break into a million pieces if I do so.
It’s really irking when articles like these are published as if it’s the absolute truth, some things you just have to use your common sense with because this article and those like it is straight up b.s.
What is really irking is that some people like yourself fail to read articles. Did you not see the sentence
‘This study unfortunately is too small in my view to be representative of the entire African population but it is nonetheless a valid study.’
I constantly call for more work to be done by scientists in studying African hair. It is really silly for anyone to dismiss a study just because the results do not follow the line of thinking we want. It is a valid study that was well carried out, it would just be nice to have a sample of 500 people instead of 35. It would be nice to have a study of just women and just men. It would be nice to have a study of adolescents and adults. However this does not exist and until we as black people plough some money into studying it, it never will.
You see it as a valid study, I don’t obviously.
I highly doubt these ‘scientists’ studied each individuals daily hair care practices–diet and environment aside, they barely brushed the surface, hair growth and length retention are two separate things. Studies like these will never be valid no matter if 500 people or 500 million people are studied. I don’t take articles like these too seriously but obviously some do.
Actually SA the way hair growth is measured is from shaving a small part of the scalp and then taking measurements after a set time point ( for example every 7days). This hair length is very short and unlikely to be impacted by hair care (i.e too short to comb and break).
Many studies have also shown that diet does not really affect hair growth except rate in the case of malnutrion.
However, you are not one to care for evidence but just thought that those who do care may be interested to know.
Why should or would BW feel bad for something we already know or what simply looking around can tell us? Stating the obvious isn’t some conspiracy against BW. =/