I'm starting to get *really* discouraged with my hair. My dreads are over 3 years old and the darn things don't seem to be growing. They look tight as hell and have begun to look rope-like, but when I look at pictures from last summer they appear to be the same length! They weren't as defined, but the same length. At first, I attributed it to their needing 3 years to shrink and define (mine are naturally grown). Makes sense to me that it would take that long to slowly shrink a foot and a half... but I'm a long-hair person, damn it! Anyone here with older locks that took a loooong time to really begin to grow? Am I alone in this? I have friends who have had dreads who tell me it takes forever, and then bam... they start to grow really fast. But it's been 3 years! The kicker is, my hair grew pretty fast pre-dreads. My husband insists they've grown, but I think he's trying to make me feel better. We both miss my having long hair.
Mine (also natural) took about 2 and a half years to start growing but when they diid they grew really fast
That's encouraging Pat. How old are they and how long are they now? The thought went through my head that they won't grow at all. Surely, there are worse things... but is it so wrong to get a little joy from long hair?! (Not to mention how much easier long hair is for me to manage.)
They aren't loopy anymore, but quite lumpy! I definitely have textured dreads. Do you suspect that could be why?
I think it's just random to some extent as to how fast people's hair grows, I started mine over six years ago, and they are still not down to the bottom of my back. If you compare the length of mine to Brayingdonkey's his are considerably longer than mine, and maybe about two years younger than mine. I totally agree with Pat though, I'm sure after about two years, maybe three, they seemed to get a lot longer more quickly, having said that I might just have been imagining this though. dunno shrug, wait a few more years?
I mean I guess it's hard to say. If you wait though, I'd say it will be worth it as when they do start to grow they grow quickly (from what I've seen) maybe sew on a bead and measure growth over the next few months? that can be encouraging to see. Start it at the top of the dreadalso maybe palmroll. I've palmrolled one of mine because it had a crazy loop. And it smoothed it out nicely and made it appear longer.
When I think back on it, it felt like my hair initially took forever to grow when it was non-dreaded. It took a really long time to get it to the length it was, and only started to grow quickly when it passed a certain point. Indeed, I'll just sit back as the years roll by. It'll grow in time.
oooh... maybe I'll sew a sequin in an inconspicuous spot. I used to try to measure it by a particular lump... but I lost track of where it was :-? I used to palmroll here and there, but don't bother anymore. I wouldn't want to change their texture anyway - I love their wavy lumps and bumps
try not to get discouraged, they gotta shrink before they grow, and if there doing both and the same time for a while it might look like nothing is happening
it's still shrinking. that's why you aren't seeing any new growth. TIME is the master, time can be a disaster...
I'm fairly confident they've stopped shrinking. Although, I did a deep clean over the weekend and I think this tightened them even more. Perhaps they are still shrinking.
pics? Everybodys hair is different...if you saw a difference after washing then perhaps they are still shrinking. Gawd 3 years must feel like forever and I can see how it would be frustrating.....but look how far theyve come in 3 years!!!! In another 3 years they will be twice what they are now. =]
The first is from 4th of July weekend last year. Sorry so small. The 2nd, more recent pic, isn't the best quality because I took it just now with photobooth.... but you get the idea.
