Key Takeaways
- Blame your genes if your hair grows slowly! Your hair growth rate — how fast your hair grows — is usually determined by your genes.
- It’s not about growing your hair faster but growing it healthier. Healthy follicles produce stronger hair that’s less likely to break or turn frizzy, which means your hair stays on your head longer and reaches greater lengths.
- Scalp health is essential. Keep your scalp (and the follicles found within it) nourished through proper nutrition, gentle sulphate-free shampoos, and regular massages to create the foundation for strong hair growth.
- Lifestyle factors like stress, sleep, and nutrition affect your hair growth cycle. Chronic stress and poor sleep can disrupt natural growth phases, while nutritional deficiencies can hinder growth and even lead to hair loss.
- Evidence-based hair growth treatments are available for those who need stronger interventions. Avoid the gimmicks and go straight to the good stuff: minoxidil, finasteride, and other medically-proven treatments can genuinely stimulate regrowth.
What Controls Hair Growth?
Hair grows from hair follicles. These tiny pockets in the skin undergo continuous cycles of hair growth, which don’t just involve growth but also shedding.
The growth phase (called the anagen phase) is the phase we all crave, where tiny bulb cells called keratinocytes proliferate within the follicle to form a strong, flexible hair shaft.
After 3–6 years of growing hair, the follicle transitions into a roughly week-long catagen phase, where the hair strand is cut off from the blood supply, stops growing, and begins to shrink.
Your follicle then takes a short break before forming a new hair shaft, which eventually pushes out the old hair. This is what we call the telogen phase — this is when your hair sheds.
The average hair grows about one centimetre each month, which is generally much slower than it takes for grass to grow.
But so many factors can influence how quickly (or slowly) hair grows.
For example, according to a 2020 review by dermatologists Leerunyakul and Suchonwanit, Asian hair grows at a rate slightly faster than Caucasian hair, while African hair is significantly slower:
- Asian hair: 12.3 mm per month
- African hair: 8.4 mm per month
- Caucasian hair: 11 mm per month
Alongside genetics, environmental and biological factors can also affect your hair growth. Pregnant women, for example, often experience faster rates of hair growth, while perimenopausal women can experience slowed growth and even menopausal hair loss.
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Can You Actually Make Hair Grow Faster?
The secret to growing hair isn’t about growing it faster — it’s about growing it healthier.
As you’ve seen, the rate your hair grows has a lot to do with the genes you’ve inherited. You can’t change that. But you can make sure your body has the right conditions to grow strong, healthy hair.
Healthy follicles produce stronger hair, making it less likely to break or turn frizzy, which in turn prolongs the life (and length!) of your hair.
Scientifically-Backed Tips to Support Faster Hair Growth
Plenty of hair growth myths are circulating out there. One that we often hear is that trimming your hair makes it grow faster. But now that you know that hair grows from the follicles, not the tips, you can see how that myth makes no sense.
But what about hair growth facts, backed by science?
While you can’t change your genetic makeup, you can make other changes to support your hair health.
Eat a balanced diet
Hair follicles thrive on a steady diet of oxygen and nutrients. Certain nutritional deficiencies can slow hair growth and even cause hair loss.
So one of the best things you can do for your hair is to make sure it’s getting the vitamins and minerals it needs, including protein, iron, zinc, biotin, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Learn more about the best vitamins for healthy hair.
Naturally, a good place to start is to eat a balanced diet rich in nutrients, with a daily menu of foods that promote hair health.
Failing that, speak to your doctor about hair growth supplements to balance any nutritional deficiency and ensure your hair follicles are getting the good stuff.
Take care of your scalp
Your follicles live within your scalp, which leaves us with this simple formula:
scalp health = follicle health = hair health
There are a few ways to keep your scalp satisfied:
- Swap out your regular shampoo for a sulphate-free shampoo.
- Massage your scalp to stimulate blood circulation and increase blood flow to the hair follicles.
- Reduce your shampoo use to just a few times a week, rather than every day, to avoid stripping your scalp of its essential oils.
Manage stress and sleep well
Both chronic stress and chronic sleep problems are believed to disrupt the hair growth cycle, potentially slowing hair growth. So making sure you sleep well and manage stress can go some way in protecting the health of your hair.
Learn more about stress and hair loss, and sleep and hair loss.
Some quick tips:
- Practice stress reduction techniques such as yoga, meditation, or breathwork.
- Exercise regularly.
- Get 7–8 hours of sleep every night.
Stay consistent
It can take months to notice improvements to the strength and health of your hair once you’ve made changes.
Don’t forget: the nature of the hair growth cycle means that the changes you make on day 1 may not be visible until day 100 or beyond. Don’t give up!
What to Avoid if You Want Faster Hair Growth
Having healthy hair is as much about what you don’t do as what you do. Your hair won’t grow long if it’s brittle and breaking easily.
There are a few things you can avoid to reduce breakage:
- Avoid applying excessive heat to your hair, including the use of hairdryers, straighteners, or hot curlers.
- Avoid excessive steam and hot water; this can open up the cuticles in your hair, leading to dry, frizzy, or brittle hair.
- Avoid excessive use of dry shampoo and other styling products that may clog your follicles.
- Avoid harsh chemical treatments, such as bleaching or colouring your hair.
- Keep tight hairstyles — like the ballet bun, dreadlocks, and tight braids — to a minimum.
The Most Effective Hair Growth Treatments
While there are plenty of lifestyle changes you can make to improve your hair’s health and strength, some people may need something a bit stronger to facilitate hair growth.
The most effective, evidence-based treatments for hair growth include hair growth shampoos that contain active ingredients, medications like minoxidil and finasteride, and procedures like low-level laser therapy.
The Hairy Pill® is another hair growth treatment that can help halt hair loss and stimulate regrowth.
It includes regular doctor consultations and personalised treatment, tailored to you with a customised blend of vitamins, amino acids, and essential elements to strengthen and regrow your hair. Take the quiz to find out if you’re eligible.
Hair growth shampoos and serums
Hair growth shampoos and serums often promise thicker, fuller hair, but most are gimmicks. The results are usually much more modest.
The Australian dermatologist behind The Hairy Pill®, Dr Rodney Sinclair, recommends using a gentle, sulphate-free shampoo tailored to your hair type and texture — your hairdresser is best placed to provide some advice.
Some hair growth shampoos may have promising results, particularly those containing medical-grade or active ingredients. For example, a 2024 study found that shampoos containing caffeine and adenosine boosted hair density and reduced hair loss.
But the ingredients in hair growth shampoos mainly act at the scalp’s surface, helping to improve scalp health. They rarely address the underlying causes of hair loss, such as hormonal imbalances, genetics, or nutrient deficiencies.
For better results, consider serums with evidence-backed actives like minoxidil. Even better, work them into a broader treatment plan combined with internal support and professional guidance.
Minoxidil
Most Australians are familiar with minoxidil as an over-the-counter topical solution for hair growth. Available for both men and women (although it’s not safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women), minoxidil can be applied to the scalp twice a day.
It works by enlarging small blood vessels, which helps improve the flow of blood (and with it, oxygen and nutrients) to the hair follicles.
Minoxidil is believed to shift hair follicles into the growth phase faster, keeping them there longer, and encouraging regrowth.
A 2019 review of minoxidil shows that there’s plenty of evidence that minoxidil works. But like all good things, it does take time (6–9 months on average) to see improvements.
Finasteride
If there’s any hair loss medication you’ve heard of, it’s probably finasteride. This is the most popular treatment for men’s hair loss, and has been for the past 20 years.
This prescription hair loss medication is taken daily as a pill, with improvements usually visible after 3–6 months.
Finasteride stops an enzyme in your body from creating dihydrotestosterone, the hormone responsible for hair loss. For this reason, it’s an ongoing treatment; if you stop taking the pills, hair loss can recur.
According to a 1999 clinical trial by Marck Research Laboratories, as little as 0.2mg of finasteride can decrease the amount of DHT in the body by as much as 60–70%.
But there’s a catch: it’s only safe for men.
Finasteride can cause birth defects in male babies, making it an unsafe treatment for women who are or may become pregnant. As a precaution, it’s rarely prescribed to premenopausal women.
Low-level laser therapy (LLLT)
An approved treatment for hair loss in men and women, laser therapy uses red light waves to help reduce inflammation and promote tissue repair and regeneration.
A 2020 literature review of 10 randomised control trials concluded that laser therapy is effective in treating hereditary hair loss (male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss).
A year later, another review by Indian dermatologists, Dr Pillair and Dr Mysore, confirmed the efficacy of LLLT, with repeat treatments proving to be the most effective approach.
When to See a Professional
Painstakingly slow regrowth from a bad haircut isn’t a reason to see a medical professional (but our condolences all the same — we’ve all been there!).
But it might be time to see the doctor if:
- Your hair isn’t growing as it used to
- You’re suddenly shedding far more hair in the shower or while brushing
- You’re noticing thinning hair or visible scalp where there used to be hair cover
- You’ve made lifestyle changes for healthier hair growth but you’ve seen no improvement
A GP may be able to assess the situation and provide help or refer you to a trichologist or dermatologist. These medical practitioners can thoroughly assess your hair and conduct a range of tests to get to the root cause of the problem.
They can also create a treatment program tailored specifically to your unique situation.
Want to know more about hair loss?
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