Is this that leaps and bounds growth thing?

**coalblacklocs** · 08-10-2013, 12:13 PM

I wash my hair once a week sometimes more, but I have started noticing where, every time I wash my hair, it looks like my hair has had a huge growth spurt down my back. It's different than it use to be. My roots have always been kinda baggy and loose after washing, i thought it was from slippage. Bur now I'm thinking it must have been growth because

a) its more obvious because my locs are crawling down my bqck at exponenial rate. The growth came from somewhere, so of course my roots are goiing to be loose. I have a huge shrinkage thing with my hair, always have, loose or not, so maybe i didnt notice that slippage being actual growth because my locs were going throw a giant huge shrinkage period for those first years. Maybe it's finally done condensing and shrinking as much as it possibly can and starting to actually show growth?

b.) I put a box color in my locs at the beginning of summer, the latest being a few weeks ago, and already need a retouch desperately. (not saying I will because I'm dubious of the experience, but the color line at the roots is definitely showing that this slippage is actually growth going on)

Btw, my locs are 2 years old, and will be 3 in October.

Also, I took that av pic in spring, and its even longer than that now.

**Desdesdes** · 08-11-2013, 12:41 PM

Sounds like a growth spurt to me

I do think locs reach an age where they stop fighting and start hanging. Maybe it's growth happening faster than shrinkage can because of the weight of the loc, or hair training itself to start locing before shrinking or cosmic hair gods bestowing a blessing....Whatever it is it is sure nice when it happens.

Enjoy that new length.

**KnottyAuthor** · 08-11-2013, 11:47 PM

OOOO exciting! My BLs took off at 18 months, after shrinking for 2 years. So I vote YES! Get ready to adjust to the length!!! It can be a love hate thing, nevertheless exciting!

**chachadiva** · 08-12-2013, 01:11 AM

Not sure I believe in a "loc growth spurt." After all, your hair follicles don't know that your hair is locked. Locking is not magic. Whatever growth there may have been would have to be the same growth one would experience if they had loose hair. **shrug**

**coalblacklocs** · 08-12-2013, 05:44 PM

Huh,

1) I thought I made it clear in my post that it's not so much accelerated growth as much as it seems to be that my shrinkage has seemed to finally have condensed as much as its going to condense, so that normal regular growth is starting outdo shrinkage, thereby showing more. Many folks here have mentioned that point happening after their locs get done condensing.

2) a lot of people notice their hair growing a smidgen of a bit faster in the summer months, whether this is true or not, who knows. I wasn't referring to that in my first post, however.

3) I don't know why it is that the slightest mention of growth brings certain people out of the woodworks, who then feel so compelled to negatively comment.

It's as if there are keywords searches being done, and whatever mention of growth myths, imagined or otherwise, absolutely MUST be either passive aggressively or firmly dismissed.

Rest assured, chacha, that we all, especially those of us who have been around for a while, are 110% aware of where you stand on the subject of growth.

**KnottyAuthor** · 08-12-2013, 07:29 PM

I agree with you CBL. My theory is that after all that time of the hair condensing and meshing, finally it settles into itself and all the growth that has been naturally occurring is visible. I've seen this time and time again with my own and installs Ive done. For traditional locks, long hair starts have no advantage on length. I've done side-by-side comparisons and see the same length at time point 3/5/7 years for both lengths of hair.

At this point, it's not about the follicles 'activating'. It's about the length being visible and final the new growth is contributing towards the length and not the condensing process. I saw this as well with the lock take-down process-the older part of the lock was very difficult to unravel, lots of hair, shed etc...the shaft of the lock from the root-easy to unravel, thinner than the tips etc. Not all locks..but at least for latched locks this has been the case from what I've experienced.

**coalblacklocs** · 08-13-2013, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by KnottyAuthor

I agree with you CBL. My theory is that after all that time of the hair condensing and meshing, finally it settles into itself and all the growth that has been naturally occurring is visible. I've seen this time and time again with my own and installs Ive done. For traditional locks, long hair starts have no advantage on length. I've done side-by-side comparisons and see the same length at time point 3/5/7 years for both lengths of hair.

At this point, it's not about the follicles 'activating'. It's about the length being visible and final the new growth is contributing towards the length and not the condensing process. I saw this as well with the lock take-down process-the older part of the lock was very difficult to unravel, lots of hair, shed etc...the shaft of the lock from the root-easy to unravel, thinner than the tips etc. Not all locks..but at least for latched locks this has been the case from what I've experienced.

Yes, I agree, and the bolded sums up nicely what I was trying to say.

I think my hair must have been growing faster than I originally thought all along. I have always had *so much* shrinkage, and it must have been that all the growth I was getting was really really getting incorporated back into the loc in condensing and condensing and condensing. It seems like, due to the texture and how much shrinkage I have, getting to the point of seeing more growth took a big longer for me than it to for others, and it was kinda discouraging at points.

I think more of what I always contributed to slippage was actually growth *all along*. Maybe not all of it, but more of it than I realized. Especially noticing how quickly the box color grew out at the roots.

**galeb** · 08-13-2013, 06:27 PM

So, as the hair starts condensing into itself is when it starts to thicken up. I'm not so concerned about length, I want my hair to thicken up, how long does that take, I look like a plucked chicken, I need it to start filling in, but its only been a month.

**coalblacklocs** · 08-13-2013, 07:11 PM

I think it's all individual as to when they plump up. Mine loosened up a lot after the first couple of washes, got really fat about a year, and then started to slim down and get tighter and firmer as time went by.

How old are your locs? Post some pics, I'd love to see.

**galeb** · 08-14-2013, 12:22 PM

I got my braidlocz on the 17th of of July, and they are real scalpy and thin, I wanted small ones cause my hair is very thin, but i'm in it for the long haul, I'll get my daughter to take some pictures this weekend. I haven't taken any yet, looks bad to me, but I know they will be fine in a couple of months.