Hair products seem to come in more shapes, sizes and colors than people do. If you have tried to grow long hair, to repair dry hair or even to keep healthy hair shiny and soft, you know how bewildering the choices are. The manufacturers of dry hair conditioners, shampoos and other styling products don't help by making all kinds of dubious claims. Certain shampoos and conditioners claim to actually help grow your hair, but their claims are a little bit misleading.
Basic Hair Facts
Your hair is made up of a protein called keratin. Each strand starts out in a follicle, which is a tiny sac just beneath your skin. Each hair is made up of the cuticle, which is the outermost layer and consists of tiny, overlapping scales. Next is the cortex, and inside of that is a spongy part called the medulla that isn't present in very fine hair. The strands of hair that you can see are not living tissue, according to the researchers at Exploratorium Magazine online. This means that your hair cannot repair itself.
Misconceptions
The idea that you can speed up the growth of your hair, the way you can encourage faster growth by feeding plants with certain plant foods is a popular one. The truth is that hair grows an average of half an inch per month, according to the hair problems page on Medlineplus.com. This growth rate is genetically set, and there is no way to speed it up.
Considerations
Dry, brittle hair tends to break much more easily than healthy hair that contains all of its natural oils. When you dry out the cuticle of your hair, you can actually wear it away. This is what causes split ends, which are actually the cortex unraveling the way a piece of yarn will untwist. Once a split end begins, it will continue to unravel all the way up the length of your hair shaft, giving your hair a dry and frizzy appearance. Harsh chemicals, hair dyes, blow drying and other rough treatment can dry out your hair enough to damage the cuticle and expose the cortex.
Prevention/Solution
Conditioners don't actually repair your hair. According to an article on BBChome.com, the keratin in your hair has a negative electrical charge to it. The chemicals in hair conditioner are positively charged. These chemicals, called cationic surfactants, are attracted to the negative charge in your hair. They coat the shaft of the hair, smoothing down the ruffled cuticles and protecting the cortex from unraveling. Not all conditioners contain cationic surfactants, but they still work by coating the hair with a thin film that does not rinse off with water.
Conclusion
Conditioner will not make your hair grow faster. The rate at which your hair grows is predetermined by your genes. Using a good conditioner and avoiding harsh chemicals or styling tools that get very hot will help you avoid the dryness that leads to breakage. So your hair won't grow any faster, but the stronger and more supple it is, the longer you'll be able to grow it.
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