How to speed up Hair Growth? Know your hair growth secrets!

Hair growth has been identified by Natarelli, Gahoonia and Sivamani (2023) as a natural cycle that consists of three chief phases: anagen, catagen and telogen. In the anagen phase, hair grows actively, the catagen phase was identified as a transition phase, whereas the telogen phase was described as the resting phase that results in shedding (Geyfman et al., 2015). On average, hair growth occurs somewhere between 0.5 and 1 inch per month, but this natural hair growth is often delayed due to different factors (Barrell, 2023). Factors like hormonal imbalance, poor nutrition, stress, aging and unhealthy scalp environment often disrupts the natural hair growth cycle, resulting in delays.

• Hormonal Imbalance:

Hormonal imbalance is one of the major factors that has been affecting hair health. For instance, the DHT (dihydrotestosterone) hormone shrinks the hair follicles over time, which leads to weaker strands and slower growth (Kinter, Amraei and Anekar, 2023). Therefore, hormonal imbalance disrupts the natural hair growth cycle while making the hair more prone to reduced shedding. 

• Nutritional Deficiencies:

Nutritional deficiencies essentially affect hair growth. For instance, Almohanna et al. (2019) found that nutrients like protein, iron, biotin and vitamins strengthen the hair roots, support healthy hair growth and prevent excessive hair fall. However, deficiency of the above-mentioned nutrients disrupts the natural hair growth cycle while resulting in excessive hair fall.

• Poor Scalp Health:

Poor scalp environment, like dandruff, clogged hair follicles and excess oil accumulation, often disrupts the healthy hair growth cycle by weakening the roots while inhibiting hair growth. Also, Trüeb et al., (2018) found that imbalance of scalp pH, moisture levels etc. makes a huge contribution to delay hair growth. Therefore, poor scalp health often reduces the rate of normal hair growth.

• Lifestyle & External Factors:

Different other internal and external stressors like pollution, excessive heat styling and stress can significantly damage hair over time (Samra, Lin and Maderal, 2024). It weakens the hair roots and disturbs the hair growth phase (anagen), resulting in an increased amount of hair moving to the resting (telogen) phase.

• Cleansing Care for Scalp:

A clean and healthy scalp is the foundation for healthy hair growth. So, ensuring a clean and well-cared scalp helps in creating the perfect environment for hair growth through balancing scalp pH, evenly moisturizing, cleansing pores of dead skin cells and product residues, while improving blood circulation (Trüeb et al., 2018). Following a gentle scalp cleansing routine may be of help as it efficiently removes the dirt, buildup and excess oil without stripping the natural moisture content.

• Oil Massage for Faster Hair Growth:

Regular oil massage boosts hair growth by increasing blood circulation in the scalp (Koyama et al., 2016). Increased blood circulation in the scalp helps in optimising the delivery of oxygen and essential nutrients to the hair follicles while strengthening the hair roots for enabling continuous hair growth.

• Right Nutrition for Hair Growth: 

Nutrition plays a key role in aiding healthy hair growth as the hair follicles work efficiently. According to Rajput (2018), a better supply of nutrients like biotin, iron, zinc, Omega-3 fatty acids etc helps in strengthening hair roots while improving the overall hair growth and reducing hair fall over the course of time. So, consumption of essential nutrients or considering different nutritional supplements helps in improving the scope of hair growth.

• Reduce Stress for Better Growth:

Exposure to excess stress often disrupts the hair growth cycle while pushing more and more hair from the growth phase (anagen) to the resting phase (telogen). Thom (2016) stated that increased stress releases the hormone Cortisol, which inhibits healthy hair growth by forcing the strands to enter the telogen phase prematurely, resulting in increased hair fall. So, managing stress with the help of regular exercise, meditation, proper sleep and relaxation is the best way to boost healthy hair growth.

• Over or Under-washing: 

Washing the hair too frequently is capable of stripping away the natural oils that keeps the scalp hydrated and balances the scalp pH. Punyani et al., (2021) found that excessive washing dehydrates the scalp while removing the sebum and natural lipids, resulting in breakage. Contrarily, Cirino (2019) found that not washing the scalp at all leads to different issues like product buildup, excess oil and clogged follicles that create an unhealthy scalp environment. An unhealthy scalp environment, dandruff and pH imbalance lead to breakage while hindering new hair growth.

• Excess Heat Styling:  

Regular use of heat styling tools like straighteners, curling irons and blow dryers reduces the resilience of the hair shaft while breaking apart the structural proteins. It was observed by Zi et al., (2025) that excessive use of heat and chemical styling fiddles with the hair’s protein structure while resulting in dryness and split ends. Therefore, too much use of hair styling tools not only increases breakage but also restricts the length and resilience of the strands, affecting hair growth.

• Tight Hairstyles: 

Tight hairstyles like braids, ponytails and buns often put constant tension on the hair roots, damaging the follicles while leading to hair loss. Ludmann and Schleehauf (2024) stated that the constant pulling of the hair strands, when tied in tight hairstyles, often damages the hair follicles while causing traction alopecia, leading to hair fall. Therefore, using tight hairstyles for a longer span disrupts the natural hair growth cycle while increasing hair fall.

• Improvements in scalp health:

A hair growth shampoo helps in cleansing the dirt, debris, dead skin cells and buildup from the scalp. Ingredients like Zinc Pyrithione, Coco-Glucoside, Decyl Glucoside, etc. or different natural extracts are often included in hair growth shampoos that help in reducing dandruff, clears buildup and maintains scalp pH, thereby resulting in a favourable scalp environment for hair growth (Barak-Shinar and Green, 2018).

• Strengthens Hair Shaft & Reduces Breakage:

Hair growth shampoos are often formulated with strengthening ingredients like Keratins and amino acids, which assist in reinforcing the hair shaft while improving texture (Dias, 2015). Bragulla and Homberger (2009) stated that Keratin is a structural protein of hair and insufficiency of keratins in the hair structure results in delayed anagen (hair growth) phase. Therefore, hair growth shampoos boost keratin balance to boost visible hair growth and reduce hair fall. 

• Stimulates Hair Follicles:

Hair growth shampoos are mostly rich in active ingredients like caffeine or rosemary essential oil that help in activating the dormant follicles by improving blood circulation. Pan (2025) found that improved blood circulation to the scalp helps in supplying essential nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles, thereby stimulating hair growth. So, with active ingredients, the hair growth shampoos work efficiently in boosting the dormant follicles through improved blood circulation.

• Prevents Action of Harsh Chemicals: 

Unlike regular shampoos the gentle and mild hair growth shampoos do not include harsh sulfates and parabens. Fernandes et al. (2023) found in a study that the use of harsh chemical infused shampoos removes the natural oils while leaving the hair dry, frizzy and more prone to experience breakage. Therefore, the harsh parabens and sulfates strip the natural oils and weaken the strands.