What is the normal
Posted by Nova on March 17, 2001 at 18:08:28: Previous Next
(average) terminal lenght for hair? Is mens hair different terminal lenghts than womens? Is there ABSOLUTELY nothing you can do to make your hair grow longer?
John
Re: What is the normal
Posted by Bill on March 18, 2001 at 00:39:34: Previous Next
In Reply to: What is the normal posted by Nova on March 17, 2001 at 18:08:28:
: (average) terminal lenght for hair? Is mens hair different terminal lenghts than womens? Is there ABSOLUTELY nothing you can do to make your hair grow longer?
Wow, you're really caught up in this! :-)
Nova, it varies a lot. A few men can grow it to their knees when young; some men with a bad case of approaching male-pattern-baldness (MPB) are looking at inches. But in general:
Women do appear to get longer terminal lengths than we do, though I've never seen an actual survey. What's most likely is that they are similar to men at the long end of things, but they have a higher distribution of people at that end, and less at the shorter end. They aren't hit so hard with MPB, of course, and that may explain a lot of it.
Hair is there to keep our heads protected from the elements, of course, and one could argue, taking a Darwinistic view of it, that people who don't grow beards could benefit more from a longer mane to wrap aroung their necks on cold nights. Could this explain why Asian and American Indian men, who often have scant beards, also grow longer manes? Interesting thought....
Re: What is the normal
Posted by A. MICHELSON on March 18, 2001 at 11:56:44: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: What is the normal posted by Bill on March 18, 2001 at 00:39:34:
:
Curly hair is as long as straight. But since it does not grow in a straight line, it does not grow as farther, so it seems to have less length.
: Women do appear to get longer terminal lengths than we do, …
: … and one could argue, taking a Darwinistic view of it, that people who don't grow beards could benefit more from a longer mane to wrap aroung their necks on cold nights. Could this explain why Asian and American Indian men, who often have scant beards, also grow longer manes? Interesting thought....
Maybe it's because Asians and American Indians have less male hormones?
Re: What is the normal
Posted by Bill on March 18, 2001 at 20:29:40: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: What is the normal posted by A. MICHELSON on March 18, 2001 at 11:56:44:
: :
: Curly hair is as long as straight. But since it does not grow in a straight line, it does not grow as farther, so it seems to have less length.
What makes hair curly is an oval shaped cross section instead of circular, for the hair shaft. One dimension is narrower. This means the hair will dry out easier. It will also be weaker to begin with simply because it is narrower. The curls will also subject it to more stress while combing and detangling it.
All that adds up to more damage, and curly hair, besides growing around in circles and not traveling so far, may also simply wear out and break before it gets to terminal length.
On the other hand, curly hair provides far better insulation! So from a survival standpoint, a man doesn't need so much of it. :-)
Re: What is the normal?
Posted by A. Michelson on March 23, 2001 at 20:26:41: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: What is the normal posted by A. MICHELSON on March 18, 2001 at 11:56:44:
: :
: Curly hair is as long as straight. But since it does not grow in a straight line, it does not grow as farther, so it seems to have less length.
: : … and one could argue, taking a Darwinistic view of it, that people who don't grow beards could benefit more from a longer mane to wrap aroung their necks on cold nights. Could this explain why Asian and American Indian men, who often have scant beards, also grow longer manes? Interesting thought....
Maybe, it's because Asians and American Indians have STRAIGHT hair, and therefore have longer terminal lengths?
Re: What is the normal
Posted by StanleyBey on March 22, 2001 at 07:29:43: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: What is the normal posted by Bill on March 18, 2001 at 00:39:34:
: : (average) terminal lenght for hair? Is mens hair different terminal lenghts than womens? Is there ABSOLUTELY nothing you can do to make your hair grow longer?
: Wow, you're really caught up in this! :-)
: Nova, it varies a lot. A few men can grow it to their knees when young; some men with a bad case of approaching male-pattern-baldness (MPB) are looking at inches. But in general:
: Women do appear to get longer terminal lengths than we do, though I've never seen an actual survey. What's most likely is that they are similar to men at the long end of things, but they have a higher distribution of people at that end, and less at the shorter end. They aren't hit so hard with MPB, of course, and that may explain a lot of it.
The best way to determine whether women really have longer growth than men would be if a study was done on twins (one male, one female) in which the male had no MPB. If this brother and sister pair had their hair cut the same length and then just grew it, it would determine pretty well if there is a difference between the sexes. I wonder is such a study has ever been done??
Re: What is the normal
Posted by Bill on March 22, 2001 at 09:56:25: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: What is the normal posted by StanleyBey on March 22, 2001 at 07:29:43:
: The best way to determine whether women really have longer growth than men would be if a study was done on twins (one male, one female) in which the male had no MPB. If this brother and sister pair had their hair cut the same length and then just grew it, it would determine pretty well if there is a difference between the sexes.
Problem with that is identical twins are always the same sex. ;-)
So called "fraternal" twins, which include all mixed-sex pairs, are really nothing more than ordinary brothers and sisters born at the same time. Genetically, they are related just the same amount to each other as they are to all their other brothers and sisters.
Re: What is the normal
Posted by wolfgang on March 18, 2001 at 05:10:04: Previous Next
In Reply to: What is the normal posted by Nova on March 17, 2001 at 18:08:28:
I heard fantastic stories about hair vitamins. One thing that was mentioned on this board is "Mega Hair". I personally don't know if it helps but I plan to use it sometimes why my hair is in danger to be catched off by the usual men's hair loss problems. I don't know if the vitamins working for women also work for men. From Mega hair I heard it works in both cases.
wolfgang