Does cutting your hair make them grow faster? Debunking hair lies you’ve heard

Hair plays an important role in grooming and enhancing our personality. It not only adds character to our appearances but also protects our scalp. In order to look well-groomed and match the existing trend, we end up using a lot of styling products and tools. From tightly twisted braiding to using hair dyes, coloring, streaking, and use of curlers or straighteners, everything damages its quality and hair growth.

While certain hair mistakes are backed by experts and studies, some are out of a midwife’s tale! To bust all the common myths around hair care, HealthShots spoke to Dr Sonali Chaudhary, MBBS Dermatologist and Cosmetologist.

Here are some myths and lies around hair care and hair growth:

Myth 1: Combing wet hair helps detangle hair

Fact: A very basic routine that we follow everyday is combing our hair. When our hair is wet, its weight increases by 12 to 18 percent and is stretched by 30 percent of its original length. Pulling on hair while detangling them, may stretch it between 30-70 percent, it can lead to irreversible changes. Tugging at it can lead to permanent hair breakage causing hair fracture if stretched to 80 per cent.

Myth 2: Sunlight is good for hair health

Fact: UV radiation in sunlight is equally harmful to the hair as it is to the skin. “Exposure to sunlight and UV radiation not only causes dryness, roughness, reduction in the luster, colour and shine but also makes the hair brittle and stiff,” says Dr Chaudhary, who is also the founder of Holistic Skin Care, New Delhi.

Myth 3: Oiling has no effect on hair growth

Fact: Mineral oils have no role in hair repair as they are hydrocarbons and cannot penetrate into the hair. Other oils that can repair and replenish the hair are coconut oil, jojoba oil and argan oil. Also, your ends need oil more than your scalp! And oils like peppermint and rosemary oil are also proven to help with reversing hair fall.

Myth 4. Cutting your hair makes it grow faster

Fact: Your hair grows from the roots and not the tips. The pace of your hair growth remains the same whether you chop it or not (your hair may break due to split ends but it’s still not connected to hair growth),” says Dr Chaudhary.

Not to forget, your hair grows an inch in 2 months on an average. So, cutting them often won’t actually make a difference in speeding up hair growth.

Myth 5 : Natural drying of hair is better than blow dryers

Fact: Dr Chaudhary suggests that using hair dryers can be less damaging as compared to letting our hair dry naturally in the sun. If the dryer is used in continuous motion and at a safe distance of 15 cm, it may harm less than sun damage.

Myth 6: Hair dyes or colouring is not damaging our hair

Fact: Hair dyes are definitely harmful to the hair but it has been found that use of certain oils like organ oil and coconut oil before and after dye application can be beneficial to the hair shafts. Massaging them in before hair colouring may give you shiny hair.

These are some of the worst hair mistakes that ruin your locks. So, we have helped you bust these myths for once and for all!