How to Get Damaged Hair to Grow
- 1). Ease up on the abuse. If you pull your hair tightly into ponytails or braids, it causes damage that you may not be able to repair. This pulls the hair bulb from the scalp and causes minor scarring that might prevent further hair growth. Before you panic, it takes a lot of abuse to do that. Stop using torture devices on your hair such as hot air hair dryers set on the hottest level or hot rollers. These tend to dry out the hair. Lower the heat and you'll notice your hair seem to get healthier.
- 2). Take vitamins. Many vitamins help you grow healthy hair. You should take vitamin A, C, B6, biotin, niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5) and riboflavin (B2) for healthy hair. The B complex is particularly good for healthy hair, and biotin, in particular, helps the hair grow faster. If your hair is dry and brittle, you might find that your body has a vitamin A deficiency. Be aware that there is such a thing as too much vitamin A. The irony is that when you have too much, your hair is dry and brittle, just like when you have too little.
- 3). Get away from stress. Stress affects all parts of your body, including your hair. When the body is under stress it stops other activities and focuses on the ones necessary for survival. Growing hair is not in the last category. Take time to relax each day by using a relaxation technique or outlet like yoga to help you.
- 4). Supplement your diet with additional minerals and food supplements. Gelatin helps your hair grow because it is full of amino acids that make keratin, the protein in your hair. Calcium and magnesium work in unison to make hair grow. Some minerals prevent hair loss, such as iodine, iron, chromium and copper. Zinc, copper, silica and sulfur strengthen hair so it isn't easy to damage. Potassium and manganese also make the hair grow.
- 5). Schedule an appointment for a check-up. Sometimes damaged and dry hair indicates that there's something wrong somewhere else in your body. Anemia, for instance, tends to make you lose hair. Make sure that the damage doesn't happen before it grows.
- 6). Massage your scalp. A light scalp massage is good to stimulate the growth of your hair. It increases the blood flow to the hair bulb so all the important nutrients continuously feed the new hair.