Extensions and Slower Hair Growth

Hairdresser applying hair extensions
Photo: Mary Berkasova/Shutterstock
Q: Will hair extensions make your hair grow slower? One of my friends had hair extensions, and it looks like her hair stopped growing. After removal of the extensions, her hair was shorter than ever before.
 
A: Usually, extensions are a good way to deal with the hair as you grow it out. However, if the extensions aren't properly installed, or aren't properly tended, you can experience damage, though this won't really cause the hair to look as though it hasn't grown, just that it looks less dense.
 
What may be the case for your friend is that her hair grows more slowly than normal, and since her extensions move downward as the new hair growth emerges from the scalp, the loss of length is the same.
 
Example: the extension is placed on hair that is six inches long, and attached at the scalp. The extension is ten inches in length, which makes the hair look as though it is four inches longer.
 
When the hair grows naturally, the extensions are removed after four months and the natural hair has grown two inches, but the extension is removed and the hair loses four inches of length. The appearance is that the hair hasn't really grown significantly because the difference in length is more dramatic than the increase in length from the extensions.
 
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See also:
 
Hair extensions
 
How fast hair grows
 
Will hair extensions make me go bald?
 
When you have extensions, does your hair still grow?