I haven't had a haircut since the end of February. Instead of growing long, it's growing out and now it looks like I have a giant bush on top of my head.

I used to get a cut every month. I have a full head of hair and no sign of balding at all.

Has anyone else's hair grown like this? How long until it started growing down instead of out? Did you at least get trims in the meantime to look cleaner?

lmfao I'd like to see an answer to this too, I have the same thing going on an it was in the beginning of march I last had my head shaved an up until that point kept it shaved for well over 2 years an now it's coming in so thick it's doing the same and growing incredibly fast too, so I guess there was some benefit to all of it. 

I started growing mine out 11 months ago from baldness. >.< So yeah, my hair doesn't rly look that long, nor does it look like it's progressed much within the last few months. I think it's because it's rly thick lolz. Still, according to the internet, it's growing at a normal/slightly faster rate. Right now it's 6 inches, and everywhere I read says on average, hair grows 6 inches a year.

I was also shaved smooth because I finally came out (sort of a last ditch effort to fight GID).

I didn't cut my hair for almost three years, but looking back I'd suggest you have it trimmed periodically so it looks neater.  Mine ended up very straggly at the ends before I finally gave in and had it trimmed.  I know it is hard to cut the hair you have finally let yourself grow, but keeping it neat will help you look even better than getting the absolute longest length possible.

Quote from: Ashley_C on May 20, 2012, 04:46:33 PM
I haven't had a haircut since the end of February. Instead of growing long, it's growing out and now it looks like I have a giant bush on top of my head.

I used to get a cut every month. I have a full head of hair and no sign of balding at all.

Has anyone else's hair grown like this? How long until it started growing down instead of out? Did you at least get trims in the meantime to look cleaner?

If your hair isn't naturally bushy, or frizzy, it may just be a matter of changing your hair care regime to get it to be more manageable.

Maybe this will be of interest:

http://www.haircareguide.com/tips.htm

Hehehe...I can relate to you ladies about the hair dilemma.  My hair is just now starting to grow again after getting it cut about 5 weeks ago.  I only had about 4.5 months of growth, then had it chopled to about 1.5" long-for like the laaaaaast time ever.

It wasn't something I wanted to do, but I had a reason for it.

Anyway, when it grows to a certain length, it gets all poofy and sort of turns into an afro, lol!

The last time my hair stylist thinned it to reduce the bulk but that was a bad Idea.  It was better before the thinning (I have one, thick, full head of hair).

You all may see extra growth between now and mid-fall as well.  My hair is now growing like a weed...roughly 2-3x faster than the winter months.

I would love to know however, how to style hair so it looks better while growing it out.

It's definitely an awkward stage to be in. 
I'm coming up on 2yrs of growth, and its past my shoulders now.
I think once I was able to put it into a tail things felt much, much better and easier.
I agree with Jen though, regular trims will help ease things along...speaking of which I need one!

Hair grows at the average rate of half an inch per month. This is affected by a number of factors (health, nutrition, genetics, hormones etc). The length in which the strand starts to fall depends on a few of factors. Among these, are the diameter of the hair strand (more coarse hair will take longer to fall) and the wave pattern (curly, wavy, hair will fall quicker).

I have bone straight, medium to coarse hair.  It took about 8 months until my hair started falling down instead of sticking straight up. The entire time, I was just patient with it. No trims and hardly any styling. In fact, I started growing my hair out in Sept 2010, and didn't get a haircut until October 2011. When I got a haircut, it still didn't look all that feminine. It wasn't until about January that I finally was looking like I have feminine looking hair length, and my hair grows fairly rapidly.

Anyways, my advice is to just let it grow out. You are going to be so frustrated with it, especially over the next 6-8 months. But it'll be sooo worth it when your hair is helping you pass and you can be all proud that it's yours, and do your own styling and cutting with it that you want!

In the meantime, go and get some pomade or something, spike it, flaten it, whatever. Own what you have and do what you can. Unless you just don't care what you look like in guy mode (I didn't, no harm in that either). However, take care of what you have by shampooing and conditioning it. If you don't take care of it, when it is nice and long it will be difficult to work with, it'll be less shiny (naturally), and it may break / split.

Quote from: Sephirah on May 20, 2012, 06:04:25 PM
If your hair isn't naturally bushy, or frizzy, it may just be a matter of changing your hair care regime to get it to be more manageable.

Maybe this will be of interest:

http://www.haircareguide.com/tips.htm

It's naturally bushy and it's getting curly on the sides. This is why I kept it somewhat short. It was never buzzed, though. More like styled on top and 3 razor on the sides and back.

I'm going to get it cleaned up soon. Just hope she doesn't chop it off to the way I normally cut it.

I also started with a shaved head in 2008.  It is now to my bra.  I need to get a trim, but I have MBD on top.

If you've worn short hair for a long time it will become trained to grow outward from the head. As it gets longer it will begin to grow in a downward direction, but it takes time. When the ends are heavier it will have to pull it down from the root and create a new growth angle. It's going to take more than 4 months, though. Stop worrying about your hair, give it some time and you'll look fine.

~ Lyric ~

The best advice I can give is start visiting a salon and develop a relationship with one of the stylists. You can find "friendlies" through support groups and their websites. It's best not to simply let your hair grow out, but trim it as it does. Part of the reason is simply a "tidy" look, another is that the general approach is to even the hair as it grows out, not layer it. It takes some time for the hair on top to reach "evenness" with the ones at the nape. As for control, which is what you are really talking about, it takes time for the hair to grow long enough to fall under it's own weight. The trimming does make it take longer to reach that, but you'll like the look better as you wait.

For me, my stylist was an early ally in my transition, as he had seen a number of TS clients and understood the hair issues we deal with, such as letting it grow and managing it before we are "out".

Quote from: Lyric on May 21, 2012, 08:48:58 AM
Stop worrying about your hair, give it some time and you'll look fine.

Not worried, just curious.

I'm not yet on hormones, but my wife suggested taking prenatal vitamins, (they have twice the amount of vitamins as regular multivitamins, like Centrum, for example), to assist with hair growth/texture. I've taken one pill a day for the past 144 days. My hair has become softer, more manageable, and has grown .5-1" since I started.

Quote from: Athena's Own on May 21, 2012, 11:30:13 PM
I'm not yet on hormones, but my wife suggested taking prenatal vitamins, (they have twice the amount of vitamins as regular multivitamins, like Centrum, for example), to assist with hair growth/texture. I've taken one pill a day for the past 144 days. My hair has become softer, more manageable, and has grown .5-1" since I started.

Never though about that. Anyone else done this?

It grows nails faster, but if I remember correctly from class... prenatal vitamins for hair is a myth. But my memory may be off...

Every time I try to grow hair I cave in when its starts that untidy phase, and get it lopped off

Quote from: Ashley_C on May 21, 2012, 11:45:48 PM
Never though about that. Anyone else done this?

Prenatal vitamins does help but what you need to take is Biotin, google it

Trust me, it helps your hair grow really fast, and nail too

I take prenatal vitamins with biotin together

In school they teach us that the following helps grow hair faster:

Biotin supplements (Essential in hair health / growth)
Protein (Since hair is made primarily out of keratin, and keratin is a protein)
Scalp Massage (Stimulates growth by increasing blood flow to the follicles dermal papilla)

I used to get it cut when it started getting in my eyes, then I finally gave up on a male appearance and bought an electric razor to keep it short all over. I have over two years of main growth now, plus two sets of six months of hormone hair (as I call it) from two different regimes of HRT!

Hormone hair is the worst....it looks silly and you can't get it cut off, because it will just grow back. You just have to wait until it is long enough not to be noticed as a separate layer.

It is a good idea to get it styled I think, once it gets long enough to get in your eyes. it can look a bit weird if it is all the same length, though not for any reason that i can describe. For me little bit off the ends makes the world of difference, especially if it is a bit dry.