How Long Does It Take For Hair To Grow Back After Being Pulled Out

We all experiment and we all make mistakes. So when a friend of mine let her sister cut her hair, she made a gigantic mistake…

Why? Because her sister was nog a hairdresser, she just found it interesting to do it! She wanted to start with an electric shaver and before she knew it she pushed down too hard. What happened next was that a small portion of her hair was pulled out.

Now, the hair was growing back but as you might assume it was slower than she thought it would grow back. So, she asked me “how long does it take for hair to grow back after being pulled out?

You’ll find the answer below!

So, how long does it take for hair to grow back after being pulled out?

Growing your hair back after it has been pulled out can take a whopping 2 – 6 years for a full recovery. Not the answer you might want to hear, but this is the sad truth. Now, I know that sounds like a long time (which it is), but you have to keep in mind that your hair only grows about 1 inch every month.

So, depending on how long your hair is, it’s going to take to 2 – 6 years. (If you’re a boy with a lot less long hair, the recovery time can be a couple of months!)

The structure of the hair and why it takes longer to grow back

I know that the above answer might not be what you wanted to hear, but let’s dive a little deeper into the structure of the hair and which phases of growth there are. 

When we look at the structure of the hair, we find that each strand of hair consists of three layers. 

Medulla – This is the innermost layer. Fun to know is the fact that this layer is only present in larger and thicker hair.

Cortex – The cortex layer is the layer that is responsible for the texture and the color of your hair.

Cuticle – You might’ve heard of this from friends or on commercials… The cuticle layer is a thin protective layer and this layer is colorless.

Now that you know what layers there are that form your hair, we are ready to dive into the normal hair growth cycle. This cycle is deeply programmed into the hair follicles and can be broken down into 3 stages.

Anagen – This is where the growth phase happens

The most important thing to know is the fact that this stage can last from 2 to 5 years and your hair is in this stage 85% of the time. Your hair grows about 10 cm per year. So, now you know why it takes years for your hair to grow back. It is just a matter of length!

Catagen – The phase where the transition from the follicle happens

In the Catagen phase, the hair follicle shrinks about 1/6 of its normal size and the lower part of the follicle is absorbed by the body. That is why they call it the transitional phase. Your hair will stay in this phase for about 2 to 5 weeks and your hair stops growing for that period of time.

Telogen – This is the resting phase

What happens in this phase? In this phase, the bulb of the hair shaft moves closer to the surface of the skin, and this causes the hair to loosen. After the hair loosens up it is shed and at the end of this phase, the follicle just begins a new growth cycle. Important to know is that 15% of your hair is at this stage at any one time. Don’t freak out… This doesn’t mean that your hair is never growing out like it used to be!

You just have to remember that your hair sheds and regrows hair every day! It is just the circle of life (the circle of life for your hair). It grows, it rests, it falls out and it begins again. 

Fun to know is the fact that this happens with 50 to 100 hairs daily! Scared of going bald? Don’t be… You have around 150.000 hair follicles on your head so it is just a tiny, tiny amount.

How fast will my hair regrow if it is pulled out?

I’m just going to scare you a bit here. Most of the time your hair will start to regrow after about a week or 2, but the possibility of your hair regrowing is really a bit up to chance. As I said, most likely it will just regrow and there is nothing to worry about, but your hair can be so damaged that there is a chance that your hair won’t grow back. 

As you might know (from other injuries), your body has an amazing way of repairing itself, and 9 times out of 10 it will do so like a charm even when it takes a lot of time. 

Now if the hair is pulled out but the root isn’t pulled, your hair will come into the resting phase and will slowly resume hair growth after it’s being pulled. 

If you pull your hair out and you pull the root with it, your hair is in the active phase which means that it is actively growing. 

Important to know is that you can also pull out the hair and only part of the root. This can cause damage to the hair follicle and is something you don’t want.

But, there is more… When your hair is pulled out and the whole follicle comes out (including a red tip), the blood supply and muscle have been detached and that is what we call permanent damage. So that’s when your hair won’t grow back.

Now, as I stated earlier, 9 times out of 10 the hair will grow back and there is nothing to worry about (except for it taking long!) But you have to be careful. You have to be careful of the fact that you don’t damage your hair permanently. Although the chances aren’t high, you just don’t want it.

What can I do to speed up the growth and recovery time of hair that is pulled out?

Now that you know that most likely your hair will grow back, you might want to know how to speed it up… While there aren’t magic pills to take to let your hair grow 10 cm in one month, there are some things that you can do to give good hair growth the best shot.

Below you’ll find a couple of things that you can do to give your body a better chance at growing back nice and healthy hair.

1 – Eat and drink the right foods

Speeding up hair growth and having amazing looking hair has not only to do with what you are doing on the outside (great products and things like that). It also has something to do with your inside and how you treat your body! 

You see, getting in enough minerals and vitamins is hugely important to hair growth. Dr. Francesca, an NYC-based dermatologist says that you can try to increase your protein intake with foods like fish, beans, nuts, and whole grains. 

You can also make it easy on yourself and use vegetable and fruit juices to make your hair look great.

2 – Vitamins for hair skin and nails

This is a follow-up on the section above. Supply yourself with a multivitamin that is labeled “For Hair, Skin, and Nails). This multivitamin contains important vitamins like biotin, and vitamin B and C. Those vitamins support the health of your hair!

3 – Go with essential oils

When I talk about essential oils, you might only think of the oils that smell so nice, but that is not their only purpose. 

There is a study that found that a daily dose of 400 milligrams of pumpkin seed oil can result in an increase in hair growth in men. These same men reported back in 24 weeks and the men who used pumpkin seed reported a 40% increase in hair count!

While this study is not about hair growth, why not give it a try? Getting 40% of new hair growth is also fantastic!

There’s another study that looked at treatments with saline, jojoba oil, 3 percent minoxidil, and 3 percent peppermint oil.

They did this study on mice and what they found was that the group that was given peppermint oil showed the most hair growth! This not only included hair growth, but also an increase in dermal thickness, follicle number, and follicle depth.

What are you waiting for? Go grab all the peppermint oil you can find :).

Another study found that Rosemary oil may be just as effective as minoxidil (the active ingredient in Rogaine) at restoring hair growth.

4 – Go easy with hair coloring

The last thing that I want you to know is that you should go easy on the hair coloring. Many people dye their hair, but when you have your hair has been pulled out and you want to let it grow back as fast as possible, coloring your hair isn’t the best idea.

You see, dyeing your hair is a chemical process that damages your hair. It damages and changes the texture of the hair with chemicals. These chemicals put stress on the hair and cause stress on the hair. This in turn can lead to hair loss and hair breakage. Not something you want when you try to grow back your hair.

Final thoughts

The thing that I want you to remember is that most of the time your hair grows back. If your hair is being pulled out by an electric razor, a fight at school (or somewhere else), you constantly plucking your hair, it most likely will return to its natural state. The only thing is that it can take a while for your hair to grow back.

2 to 5 years is a long time to regret some decisions you made! So, next time my friend has an idea where an electric shaver comes in, I’ll warn her just as I warn you now!

Don’t do stupid things if you want to enjoy your hair for a long time! It is worth it. I promise you that!