by Adrienne (Second Wave)

Hair:

It was another month of hiding the hair. Only this time, I hid my hair with a wig. The last two weeks of November, I kept my hair in cornrows going straight back and under a wig. I like not having to do my hair, especially with my busier schedule. I do need to make sure I unbraid my hair every weekend to wash and deep condition. My hair is feeling a little dry, so I know I need to moisturize more. I’ve tried deep conditioning with the braids in, but felt like some parts of my hair were missing out. Also I’ve come to accept that I’m just a slow grower. I’m serious, my hair doesn’t even grow ¼ inch a month … I probably get that every three months. It’s snail’s pace slow and I’m at a loss as to why. I’m taking vitamins, I drink water, I’m gentle with my hair, I moisturize and seal … what am I doing wrong? I’ve tried every hair vitamin (biotin, Nioxin, and I’m currently on TreasureLocks Growth Vitamins plus Garlic to lessen shedding). Why does it seem that I’m not seeing any results like everyone else? Maybe my regimen needs to be tweaked with. Maybe I need to DC twice a week instead of once … I don’t know. I’ll take any advice right now.

My plan for December is:

• Wear two strand flat twists six days a week
• Spritz and seal hair every night
• During the day, either wear my wig (with a satin cap underneath) or sometimes I’ll skip the wig and just wrap my hair in a cute scarf.
• On the seventh day, I’ll take down the twists, mud wash and deep condition, moisturize, seal and twist back up.

Hopefully this will mean I see some length retention.

Exercise:

Yeah … not so much. November wasn’t a very productive month in the working out department and I’m afraid December won’t be any better. My schedule just doesn’t permit lengthy workouts. The most I’ve been doing is taking the dog on a quick twenty-minute run in between jobs. I don’t really have time to get to the gym to lift weights. But I’m vowing to make it to this Body Works class on Saturday mornings, which involves weights, lunges, and well … the whole body, hopefully that’ll do!

*************************************************************************************************************************

Let’s make this a “Got Skills?” segment too!

Adrienne, it sounds like your regimen is pretty solid to me! I think that you just have to give it time. Remain consistent and keep protecting your hair and ends to promote length retention. Even if your rate of growth is slower, your hair IS growing. If I remember correctly, you have a medical condition that might be impacting your rate of growth too, right? So, you have to consider that in the equation.

I would suggest a few things though. Perhaps try scalp massages (daily or as frequently as you can), with or without oil, to stimulate your follicles. If you can/want to use oil, you could try my essential oil mix or maybe check out the suggestions in BGLH recent article, 8 Herbs and Oils that Promote Hair Growth. Also, take a look at your diet. There was another really good article on BGLH entitled, 13 Nutrients that Promote Hair Growth and is about getting these vitamins and minerals via whole food sources, rather than supplements. Look at your diet and see if you are getting these via your food, rather then relying wholly on supplementation.

Also, try to get your few minutes of exercise in a day. You don’t need a lengthy work-out your 20 minutes sounds fine. You just need something that gets the blood pumping. I definitely think that my growth rate is increased and the health of my hair is improved when I’m exercising regularly. That’s all I got (and I’m sure that it’s more than enough ;))!

What do you think ladies? Any suggestions for promoting hair growth? Have you found something that really works for you?