# Make Hair grow faster **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934 "2003-10-12T00:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Father\_Atticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Father\_Atticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Father_Atticus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/1 "2003-10-12T00:55:35Z")
Is there any way to make the hair on your head grow faster than it already does?;j ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/2 "2003-10-12T01:47:51Z")
[Rogaine](http://www.rogaine.com/)? Or is that just for people with hairloss, instead of those wanting quicker regrowth of hair? ---
**Author:** ![Father\_Atticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Father\_Atticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Father_Atticus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/3 "2003-10-12T01:49:04Z")
I think that is to hang onto the hair that you are about to lose. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/4 "2003-10-12T02:46:12Z")
A wig. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/5 "2003-10-12T03:00:05Z")
According to [_Hair News Magazine_](http://www.hair-news.com/hair-grow-faster.shtml), you can’t, despite claims to the contrary. > [@](#): > > Hair is a fairly exact science called trichology and there is not much that we do not know about hair structure, chemistry and growth. Most of the Hair Voodoo out there dates back before the onset of modern science. All sorts of conclusions were drawn from what seemed like reasonable observation, but was more often than not just pure conjecture based on coincidences. > Although there is nothing that you can do to make your hair grow faster with current technology, there are a number of things that may actually slow the process such as; a poor hair care regimen, poor diet, illness, medication, male and female pattern hair loss, and emotional stress. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/6 "2003-10-12T04:18:21Z")
Pull on it. I’m not kidding. It won’t grow a _lot_ faster though. Maybe 7 inches a year instead of 6. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/7 "2003-10-12T04:31:36Z")
**Ciada** : Pulling on your hair is more likely to pull it out than to make it grow faster. But if you think you can prove your assertion, do a study. Shouldn’t be hard, assuming you can convince enough people to let you pull on their hair. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/8 "2003-10-12T04:44:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cicada2003 \* > \*\*Pull on it. I’m not kidding. It won’t grow a _lot_ faster though. Maybe 7 inches a year instead of 6. \*\* I don’t see how. It’s not like extruding something. The follicles produce hair proteins and stick them onto the bottom of a growing hair shaft, gradually pushing it outwards. Pulling on the hair isn’t going to cause the follicles to produce hair protein any faster. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/9 "2003-10-12T05:03:47Z")
All right. Some years ago I interviewed a lady whose circus act was to hang by her hair. (She eventually learned some other things, like riding elephants, but that was her original act.) I had lots of questions like, doesn’t this hurt? Etc. In the course of the interview she mentioned that after she started doing this on a regular basis her hair grew not only faster, but thicker. That bit didn’t make it into the story so I have no cite. But I asked my hairdresser if this could possibly be true. He said yes, absolutely, because pulling on the hair stimulates the scalp to produce MORE protein. He also said pulling on the hair–not, of course, to the point of actually pulling it OUT–reduces tension and can prevent headaches. Okay, these are not the opinions of PhDs. And a study would be very slow, because first you’d have to track how fast the hair grows without pulling, then how fast it grows with pulling. I’m willing to try this with my own hair, though. (Well, I’m not gonna hang by it or anything.) I’ll report back in six months. Okay? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-hair-grow-faster/206934/10 "2003-10-12T05:10:44Z")
You do that.