Here are 9 tips to (potentially) promote hair growth
Growing out your hair takes time, patience and sometimes a little extra boost from the right products and a healthy lifestyle.
On average, hair grows about half an inch per month, per Today. While some factors like genetics cannot be changed to accelerate hair growth, others can, such as your diet, what products you use and how you treat your hair.
Sometimes hair growth cannot be improved via home interventions and it is necessary to discuss your hair with your medical care providers. In other cases, using products at home might just help you achieve your hair goals.
Here are nine tips to help you (potentially) grow out your hair.
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Eat a healthy diet
If you want healthy, shiny hair, one place to start looking at is your diet. Foods like salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts, broccoli and tofu are rich in the essential fatty acids that can help with the health of your hair, according to WebMD. Including foods like bananas, potatoes, spinach, fish, dairy products and citrus fruits can help you take in the vitamins and folic acid necessary for hair health.
You can also use supplements for healthy hair. Supplementing iron, zinc and protein can be important for boosting hair growth, per Medical News Today.
Prevent breakage
Preventing hair breakage is multifaceted. Much of this prevention involves avoiding heat, bleach and dye (more on that later), but there are some other tips you can try.
You can switch out your cotton pillowcases for silk or satin to help reduce breakage. Avoid putting your hair up as much as you can (or use a silky scrunchy instead) and try not to go to sleep with wet hair. In general, try to be gentle with your hair. Using a brush aggressively on your hair is likely to cause more breakage.
Use onion juice (yes, really)
If you have an onion laying around, it might be worth trying onion juice for hair growth. There’s not a lot of research on whether onion juice works — it is limited to one study, per Medical News Today — but the study did show positive results for those who put onion juice on their scalp twice a day. Try juicing a few onions and then applying to the scalp twice a day for a few weeks to see if it can give you a boost.
Try these superfoods
Superfoods like spinach, beans and avocados have nutrients necessary for hair growth, according to Healthline. Incorporating more of these foods into your diet can increase the amount of healthy fats, vitamins and biotin you intake, which in turn can impact the growth of your hair.
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Trim your hair
While trimming your hair to grow your hair may seem counterintuitive, regular trims prevent split ends. In the long run, split ends may prevent you from achieving the long locks of your dreams. Frequent trims also have the benefit of keeping your hair relatively even.
Put down the heat, bleach and dye
It might be difficult, but putting down the heat, bleach and hair dye may be able to help you grow your hair longer. Embrace the natural look by growing out your hair to its natural color.
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Use rosemary oil or rosemary spray
As you may have seen on TikTok, rosemary spray is making the rounds as a way to grow your hair. According to Healthline, rosemary oil has “anti-inflammatory properties” and can “promote nerve growth” and “improve circulation.”
Moisturize your hair
Moisturized hair is hair that has a good chance at growing longer and staying healthy. Using conditioner, deep conditioner, masks and oils to help your hair stay moisturized is important — especially if your hair is on the dry side. Finding the right conditioners and masks for you might take some time. Here are 14 DIY hair masks from Good Housekeeping that may be worth a try.
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Massage your scalp
“Scalp massages can’t cure hair loss, but they do show promise with promoting hair growth,” Healthline reported. Scalp massages can end up stimulating hair follicles, which may cause the follicles to producer thicker hair.