So I came across a post on a natural hair care forum, nappturality.com. The post itself was about natural hair growth. While this was a natural hair site the question was a general inquiry. The question asked was “Is it possible for your hair to grow more than 1/2 an inch of hair each month?”

In the post, she gave a bit of background information about her natural hair journey. While doing that she stated that she had a complete head of natural hair for 20 years. Her hair had grown to about mid-length, down your back, just past the shoulders. In the natural hair community, it would be similar to the equivalent of “bra strap length.”

Hair Growth Cycles

There are four stages of hair growth in the hair growth cycle. The first stage is the anagen which is the growing phase. The second is catagen the transition phase. The third is telogen, the resting phase. The fourth is estrogen, the shedding phase.

Anagen: The Growing Phase

This stage normally lasts between three and five years, making it the longest stage of hair growth. Your hair follicles are pushing out during this stage. This is a continuous stage of growth and will increase until they are cut off. Essentially at the end of the hair growth’s lifespan, they will reach the end, at which point they will fall out. On average, 90% of the hair on your head is in the anagen stage.

Catagen: The Transition Phase

Typically, this phase lasts for about one week to up to 10 days. This phase begins once the anagen phase has come to a close. During this period of time, the hair follicle shrinks and hair growth begins to decrease. In spite of separating from the hair follicle’s base, the hair continues to grow for a few more days. On average, 5% of the hairs on your head are in the catagen phase.

Telogen: The Resting Phase

No hair typically grows in this phase. You don’t actually lose any of that hair at this time either. This is the phase when new hair starts to form. All of this is done in place of the hair-releasing follicles from the catagen phase.

Exogen: The Shedding Phase

This stage of hair development is a continuation of or a component of the exogen stage. Hair sheds from the scalp during the demanding phase, which is aided by washing, brushing, combing, and manipulation. During the exogen phase, it is common to lose between 50 and 100 hairs every day. New hairs can sprout in the old follicle gaps during this time, lasting between two and five months.

Hair Growth Challenge

She said she had attempted to start a natural hair growth challenge with some of the other girls in the group. This was done to see how long their hair could grow. This was basically just to see if your hair only grew half an inch a month which would technically be 6 inches per year.

Given that I’ve been utilizing a new hair care regimen designed to promote hair growth, I found her challenge to be really intriguing. After utilizing the items for a few weeks, I observed that my ends appeared thinner than usual. The new shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in I’ve been using might be to blame for this. Then I started gradually clipping away my ends as they began to thin out. I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was clipping off as I was trimming my hair.

So I made the decision that it was now time for me to straighten my hair. I didn’t do this very often because I wanted to prevent heat damage. So I straightened my hair and did a length check. I measured the length of my hair after straightening it. My hair didn’t appear to be growing. As I extended my hair out, I noticed that it was actually mid-length down my back. I thought this was very intriguing because it seemed as if my hair wasn’t growing at all. Similar to her inquiry about the amount length that you would have at the end of the month each month.

As I very recently—maybe a few days ago—checked my length, I made the decision that I would be interested in taking on this challenge. I’ll start keeping track of my actual length at the start of the month. I’ll post a brief video and snap photos of my hair each week, at least once in the same place, to measure and document how long it is. And at the end of maybe a 90 Day challenge, I will see how long my hair is and actually measure it for the best chance at accuracy. This will let me know if your hair is able to grow longer than 1/2 an inch a month.