Did you know that your hair grows faster during the summer?
Hello lovelies,
There’s something about summer that just makes all things blossom. Flowers are in full swing, love seems to blossom, and for some odd reason, my hair always seems to grow faster during the warm weather months. I’ve heard many other women tout that they experience faster hair growth during the summer, but I’d never heard any scientific proof to back up this claim, that is until now.
It turns out human hair does indeed grow faster during the summer, but only by about 10% in comparison to hair growth during the winter months. According to a study led by the National Institute of Health, seasonal changes bring about changes in human hair growth. On the scalp, the hair follicles that are in the anagen phase reach a peak around March, just as the weather is warming up. The number of follicles in the anagen phase tend to decline from there until about September; then the change in growth rate ramps up again completing the cycle. I always say take the extra growth where you can get it, and even though 10% faster growth isn’t much, it is something.
Why Human Hair Grows Faster During the Summer
So why does our hair grow faster when it’s warm? I’ve heard it’s due to increased humidity in the air, but perhaps its due to increased circulation. When it’s warm, the body doesn’t have to work as hard to keep our internal organs warm (most people experience cold hands and feet in the winter because blood pools around our torso to keep the important organs warm and functioning properly). Blood flow is much more efficient during warm weather months, and blood easily reaches other areas of the body. Increased blood flow means that more blood is reaching the scalp, so increased nutrients to the scalp equals slightly faster hair growth.
Length Retention is Better During the Summer
Perhaps more important than a summer hair growth spurt is the fact that retaining the amount of hair you grow is simply easier when the weather is warm. I don’t know about you, but when it’s warm out, the last thing I’m thinking about is showing off my long locks. When the weather is hot the first thing I do is throw my hair up in a messy ponytail to keep it off of my neck and to prevent a heat stroke, lol. I’m willing to bet most other women do this as well. If we’re wearing our hair up and protecting our ends more frequently in the summer, our hair is experiencing less damage and we’re much more likely to retain more growth. Additionally, with the increased humidity, using heat tools or curling the hair is simply pointless for many of us gals because the curls are bound to fall or turn into a frizzy mess within a matter of hours. So maybe it’s all of these factors combined that causes us to experience faster hair growth during the summer.
Don’t Forget to Protect Your Hair from the Sun
If your first instinct after discovering this fascinating hair growth fact is to set out for summer fun and attempt to kick your summer hair growth spurt in to overdrive, not so fast. It’s still important to protect your hair from the sun during the hot weather months. So many of us focus on protecting our skin from the sun’s harmful rays, but we forget to protect our hair, and many of us don’t even realize that it’s important to do so. Consider wearing a cute summer hat or reach for a protective sunscreen for your hair like this one
