Let's collect: What made your hair grow faster?

[Wusel]

I have searched and there is no thread where all methods which actually worked are listed.
There is some threads here and there on single methods but not all in one. Or it's too long ago and I can't find it.
And since it's a common question of many of us I thought it should get its own thread.
And very interesting for me since I'm one of the biggest 'GIMME LENGTH, FAAAST' crazy going idiots. ROFL!
So, which methods, foods, changes in routine, life etc. actually gave you more growth per month? (proven/measured).
For me it's definitely:

hair vitamins (biotin and a multivitamin),
massages,
regular washes (3 times a week, my scalp freaks out and growth stops when my scalp gets oily, I need very clean scalp to grow)
Inversion Method (gives me up to 3cm per month)
As for now I have the feeling that onion and garlic make me grow faster. But not sure. Will continue for two other months and measure.

[illicitlizard]

regular washes (3 times a day

I hope you mean 3x a week? Otherwise, that's a lot of product, wet hair and time in the shower. I can feel my skin crying just from thinking about washing it 3 times a day...

I've found nothing has changed the growth rate of my hair. Granted I've not tried much but frequency of washing, scalp massages and eating more protein have been a bust. And the evidence for unnecessary supplements (not treating deficiency) isn't enough for me to spend my money on them.

A massive help for increasing net growth however has been putting down the damn scissors! :P

[Wusel]

I hope you mean 3x a week? Otherwise, that's a lot of product, wet hair and time in the shower.

ROFL! Yes. Sure, week. Just corrected.

[Wusel]

I've found nothing has changed the growth rate of my hair. Granted I've not tried much but frequency of washing, scalp massages and eating more protein have been a bust. And the evidence for unnecessary supplements (not treating deficiency) isn't enough for me to spend my money on them.

I'm taking supplements because my nutrition doesn't give me all vitamins and minerals I need. I don't eat fruit and veg since about 2013 (besides avocados), so, I think I need some supplementation. I also have light urticaria which means that I can't enjoy sun and build Vitamin D, so, I get it from my dermatologist since years.

[Joules]

Nothing. What really helped me gain length was good hair care that prevented breakage and splits. I do believe that vitamin supplements improved my hair in general (like, made the strands themselves stronger), but as for speeding up growth, no. I tried quite a lot, some things just didn't work, some made me gain a lot of weight, like high doses of biotin. Even head massages didn't work and I need massages, I have circulatory issues in my head and neck, it was my best bet and it failed me

Sooooo yeah, I'm super skeptical and I don't believe there's anything that can speed up growth. At least in the DIY realm. Maybe there are strong hormonal treatments that work. Other than that, anyone who claimed something made their hair grow faster already had fast-growing hair or hair that grows in spurts. Or they had a vitamin deficiency or some sort of an underlying condition, taking supplements improved it and therefore improved growth.

[Wusel]

Nothing. What really helped me gain length was good hair care that prevented breakage and splits. I do believe that vitamin supplements improved my hair in general (like, made the strands themselves stronger), but as for speeding up growth, no. I tried quite a lot, some things just didn't work, some made me gain a lot of weight, like high doses of biotin. Even head massages didn't work and I need massages, I have circulatory issues in my head and neck, it was my best bet and it failed me

Sooooo yeah, I'm super skeptical and I don't believe there's anything that can speed up growth. At least in the DIY realm. Maybe there are strong hormonal treatments that work. Other than that, anyone who claimed something made their hair grow faster already had fast-growing hair or hair that grows in spurts. Or they had a vitamin deficiency or some sort of an underlying condition, taking supplements improved it and therefore improved growth.

Yes... biotin made me gain weight too in the first 6 months or so. 5 kilos. I went from 54 to 59. I got it from the dermatologist because I had such a huge shed in the beginning of last year that I had big bald spots all over my head and half of the hair I usually have. She looked at my head and said: "Well, I see bald spots, we'll have to do something about that as fast as possible." That was the scariest thing someone ever said to me... . So, I started taking the biotin and after about 5 months the shedding stopped and I had gained the 5 kilos. But now I'm losing it again, without doing anything for it. I'm at 56,5 now. I was at the doctor yesterday and he weighed me. So, I think the gaining from biotin might be temporary only and the pounds disappear when your body gets used to it.
I'm sceptical too but I also believe in autosuggestion. That if you believe that something would work it will.
I see that you love sulphates and silicones. Same for my hair. When I go without for longer than a month my hair and scalp freak out.

[OhSuzi]

I strongly believe there is no fancy quick fix.
Eat reasonably healthily & it'll just grow at the rate its supposed to - my friends at uni attempted to live on nothing but baked beans and noodles with butter in attempt to save money, til their skin got terrible and their hair started to fall out!
Getting pregnant can make it grow more & appear more luscious, but then you tend to have serious shedding afterwards.

Benign Neglect do barely anything to it or yourself at all!
Eat reasonably healthy normal diet – everything in moderation.
Get out side in the sunshine & be mildly active.
Don’t got to the hair dressers every 5 minutes.
Don’t dye / bleach your hair or add chemicals for straightning / perming / rinsing out previous colours etc.
Don’t use straightners & mega strong heat tools on it. If you’re going to use a hair dryer use it with cool air.
Get a decent brush / gentle wide tooth comb / brush.
Don’t over brush it. Be gentle when you do & brush the bottom tangles out first and work your way up the hair rather than starting at the top to cause mega tangles and breaks at the bottom.
Find a shampoo/condition wash routine that works for you – if possible stretch your washes.
Wear your hair in protective styles braids / buns.
PATIENCE
It took Two and a half years (with one 4 inch hair chop to even out the layers) for my hair from pixie crop to arm pit length– which I now consider the beginnings of long & Ill just keep growing.

All boring but true, you can try tipping your head upside down and wearing avocado on your head every night and swallowing a whole load of vitamins & biotin that gives you spots, you probably don’t need and will end up peeing back out – but as far as Im concerned that’s time & money wasted and so much effort for something that would happen all the same if you just stick your hair up and forget about it.

If you have a really short terminal hair length or a specific condition / health issue that’s stopping your hair from growing, I guess speak to a professional or other people going through the same thing as they may be able to help more.
But for most people it just happens. There are days when you wish it would happen faster, days when you worry that’s its not growing, when your bored of the colour, when you see some one with a snazzy short cool hair do & youre tempted to chop – but they pass & you forget about your hair again for a bit and before you know it – you’ll be trapping your hair in hand bag straps and eating it in you dinner like the rest of us!

[Joules]

Yes... biotin made me gain weight too in the first 6 months or so. 5 kilos. I went from 54 to 59. I got it from the dermatologist because I had such a huge shed in the beginning of last year that I had big bald spots all over my head and half of the hair I usually have. She looked at my head and said: "Well, I see bald spots, we'll have to do something about that as fast as possible." That was the scariest thing someone ever said to me... . So, I started taking the biotin and after about 5 months the shedding stopped and I had gained the 5 kilos. But now I'm losing it again, without doing anything for it. I'm at 56,5 now. I was at the doctor yesterday and he weighed me. So, I think the gaining from biotin might be temporary only and the pounds disappear when your body gets used to it.
I'm sceptical too but I also believe in autosuggestion. That if you believe that something would work it will.
I see that you love sulphates and silicones. Same for my hair. When I go without for longer than a month my hair and scalp freak out.

You're lucky, my weight never went away on its own it just shows that whatever biotin gave me wasn't a temporary side-effect at all

Sulfates helped my hair a lot! I was sulfate and silicone-free for 8 years, and I was experiencing hard water and product buildup without even realising it. It was damaging my ends and causing breakage. Who could have guessed that I had to use sulfates in order to make my hair less dry? My scalp suffered quite a lot on a sulfate-free routine too. So yeah, I'm a big believer in chemicals

OhSuzi, you reminded me of this timeless classic:

[OhSuzi]

funny cause its true!

[Joules]

funny cause its true!

it's the only thing that works for everyone without fail