The Truth About Genetics and Hair Lenght

Ladies!!!

How are you all doing?

I get asked time and time and time again about genetics and hair length.  So many ladies are insistent that long healthy hair is a product of genetics alone.  These ladies also believe that nothing you do in terms of hair care can have any significant effect on the length and thickness of your hair because “this hair thing is only genes” apparently.
The truth is this – Genes are only one of the factors that determines your actual length and thickness.
If you do not take good care of your hair, you will NEVER know what your hairs genetic potential is.  How will you know what your hair is genetically capable of if due to lack of care, your hair in a damaged state permanently.  I use myself as an example just to drive home this point.  Look at the pictures below.

No one ever looked at my hair and thought “oh this girl’s hair can grow” . I myself never realised that I had the genetics to grow hair longer than shoulder length UNTIL I cared for it correctly. My clients and so many other ladies on social media have shared their healthy hair transformations from damaged and very short to healthy, long and lush.  This should prove that there is more to actual hair length than genes alone.

Yes, there are some ladies who don’t take care of their hair and still have amazing hair.  Those ladies hair would be even more amazing IF they took care of it There are three factors that determine how long, healthy and thick each lady’s hair is. These are: 1) Genetic factors 2) Internal factors 3) External factors.

ALL three play a SIGNIFICANT part in determining what your hair is actually like.

Genetic Factors

Genetic factors we are born with will determine –

• The colour of our hair,
• The texture and thickness of our hair strands
• Density (number of strands)
• How long our hair can grow and the speed of our hair growth

You can have hair that is capable of growing to your bum but only have shoulder length hair in real life. How long your hair is capable of growing is determined by the length of your anagen phase and how fast your hair grows (eg half an inch a month or one inch a month). The anagen phase is the growing phase of hair before and sheds.    The anagen phase on average varies from as short as 2 years to as long as 6 years.
On average, humans of all races grow approximately half an inch a month.  So, if you have two women who both grow the average half an inch a month, the woman whose anagen phase is 6 years  will be capable of growing hair longer than the one whose anagen phase is only 2 years long.   In reality though, both of these women can have hair the same length depending on some other internal and external factors explained below.
There isn’t anything you can do to change the genetics you were born with.  Genetics are factors you cant control.  But please note that based on genetics, on average everyone should be able to grow a minimum of 12 inches.  EVERYONE!!!!  This is because the minimum anagen phase is believed to be approximately 2 years.

Same girl. same genes, same health and fitness level, same type of diet. The only thing I changed was how I cared for my hair.

Internal Factors
There are internal factors which can affect our hair’s genetic capabilities.  Some of these factors include

• Hormonal imbalances
• Some medical conditions
• Medications
• Diet and water intake
• Stress levels

These factors can affect hair growth and/or thickness by either halting or slowing down hair growth and/or cause excessive shedding and thinning.  Some of these factors are within your control and some are not.  For example you can try to have a good diet and healthy lifestyle.  Having a medical condition or hormonal imbalances are clearly not things you control.

As an example, a woman may have the genetics to grow 20 inches of medium density hair but a hormonal imbalance can mean that in reality she has 10 inches of sparse hair. With internal factors, some of them can be worked on and improved and some may need some treatment or therapy to overcome.

 

 

External Factors
External factors that can influence the state of your hair includes

• Our hair care and hair styling practices (having a hair regimen, using good products correctly, avoiding excessive manipulation, avoiding aggressive manipulation, wearing styles that are safe for your hair type, etc)
• Environmental damage – such as damage from UV rays, hard and salt water, cold or humid weather conditions
• Chemical damage – chemical straightening and colouring processes.

These factors are within your control and this is where having a healthy hair regimen comes into play!!!!  With the right regimen for your hair type, hair needs and lifestyle, you can control the amount of damage your hair sustains. For instance, a woman with natural textured hair can have it chemically coloured but if she does not give it the level of care that her process hair needs or follow correct colouring procedures, she will likely sustain damage and breakage.  This will prevent her hair from reaching its genetic potential.

Another example is of a lady who does not protect her hair correctly in the winter months or one that uses a lot of flat irons which damage hair.  The lady may have genes that make it capable for her to have 22 inches of hair, but her hair care practices will cause damage and breakage which may mean in reality she only has 6 inches of hair.  She would be growing hair capable of getting long but damage and breakage keeps it at a shorter length.

 

A client’s progress

I hope this post helps you understand the balance between genetics and the other factors which determine the hair we have in reality.

Going back to the example of the two ladies above, where one woman has an anagen phase is that is 6 years  and the other has an anagen phase of 2 years.  If both are genetically capable of growing half an inch a month, both of them would grow 6 inches in a year. The woman with the 6 year anagen phase will be capable of growing 36 inches hair and the woman with the 2 year anagen phase will be able to grow 12 inches of hair.  This is described as their terminal length (the maximum length their hair can grow to). Imagine both these ladies currently have hair that is 4 inches long and the one capable of growing 12 inches begins to care for her hair and grows it to 10 inches.  The lady capable of growing 36 inches may begin to admire those 10 inches not realising that her own hair is capable of growing 36 inches IF she took care of hers.  The moral of the story is take care of yourself internally and have a good hair care regimen that works for your hair type and meets your hairs needs.  This will go a long way to helping you maximise your hair growth potential

😊

Happy hair journey

X

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow