Christians are familiar with the story of Samson and Delilah. That Biblical guy who had super powers because his hair wasn't cut with a razor from child birth till his female weakness cut his hair and he lost that super power. Wait!! I hope you do not think I am here to tell you bible stories, and also there are no scientific evidence associating hair to super power but then this is where I am going to. If we all decide to cut our hair, what is the longest it can get to?
Our hair, as tiny and silky as it may look is made up of three parts which are the cuticle, the cortex, and the medulla with the cuticle which is the outer layer of the cell made of shingle-like cells, then the cortex made of fibrous protein structures known as keratin, The cortex is responsible for the strength of the hair, In the cortex, melanin is found there and it determines the color of our hair based on the percentage. Medulla which isn't present in hairs that are blonde and fine is the middle layer of the hair, and it is usually found in thick hair or coarse hair.
To explain hair length, we also need to explain how it grows. Hair develops in the follicles and is formed at the base known as the hair bulb where hair cells multiply to create the hair shaft which pushes through the follicle outside. After explaining that, what would happen if the you do not cut it. First, cutting your hair will not make it grow longer or faster, it would only help to maintain healthy strands.
If we decide to leave our hair without cutting, we would surely grow split ends, but with shampoos and conditioners, this can be reduced but the most sustainable way of preventing split ends is getting a proper hair cut. Not all of us can be Xie Qiuping who won the Guinness world record for the longest hair with her hair sitting at 18 feet (5.4 meters) which she grew for 31 years, and in most cases, the length of hair is genetic but even at that, we have a limit to how long our hair can be.
This is because hair growth is divided into three phases which are the Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen where the Anagen phase is the growing phase where cells multiply depending on genes where its average growth in humans monthly is about half an inch. The Catagen phase is the next phase where the root of the hair is cut off from the circulatory system and so growth is stopped. At about three weeks, the living tissues in the hair would have died completely leading the final phase which is the Telogen phase where hair begins to fall-out (Not like someone undergoing Chemo). We would shed an average of 50 to 100 hairs daily and when it is more than this, then it can be associated with conditions associated with hair loss like Alopecia.
Before you start to think that your entire hair will fall off without a replacement, the body knows how to care for itself and so hairs always develop to replace the falling once which is why when some hair are in the Telogen phase, some are in the Catagen phase, and others are in the Anagen phase. The maximum length the hair can get to depends on the anagen phase which isn't continuous meaning that even if we do not cut our hairs, they will reach a point where they won't grow again.
Each part of our body where hair grows have different anagen phase which is why the hair on our pubic region can never be as long as that on our head if left without cutting them both. There is a point for all of us, both you and me when our hair will reach its maximum growth phase and fall out only to be replaced by another so there is no way our hair would continue to grow unending.
Post Reference
https://archive.vn/20130415220704/http://www.texascollaborative.org/hildasustaita/module%20files/topic2.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20110303132725/http://www.follicle.com/hair-structure-life-cycle.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-get-rid-of-split-ends
https://www.byrdie.com/how-often-should-you-cut-your-hair
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/understanding-hair-loss-basics#1
https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/grow-hair-faster
https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/05/why-does-hair-only-grow-to-a-certain-length/
https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/hair-loss/insider/shedding
https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/hair-care/scalp-treatments/question100.htm
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/5/2542
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3988237/
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/traits/hairtexture/
Image Reference
Image 1 || Pickpik || Woman with Black Long Hair Smiling
Image 2 || Flickr || Hair Loss
