Quick Answer
Yes, stopping hair coloring can help thicken hair over time in some cases. When hair is repeatedly bleached or colored, the harsh chemicals cause damage to the hair strands, weakening them and potentially causing breakage or thinning. Taking a break from coloring allows the hair to recover and return to a healthier, thicker state for many people. However, for those with pattern baldness or hair loss disorders, stopping coloring won’t reverse or cure the underlying condition.
The Effects of Hair Coloring on Hair Thickness
Hair coloring, especially bleaching and lightening, uses powerful chemicals that penetrate and alter the hair strand structure. This causes:
- Weakening of the protein bonds in hair
- Lipid and moisture loss leading to dry, brittle hair prone to breakage
- Cuticle damage, allowing more water loss
- Breakage of disulfide bonds in hair keratin
With repeated coloring treatments over months or years, this damage can accumulate and take a major toll on your hair health and thickness. The most obvious result is visibly thinner looking hair, as more hairs snap and break off at the scalp or along the lengths.
Hair is most vulnerable to damage when wet, so swimming, showering, brushing, and washing damaged hair leads to increased breakage over time. Heat styling weakens hair further. All this contributes to thinning locks.
How Hair Can Recover Thickness After Stopping Coloring
Luckily, for many people, hair has the ability to regenerate and restore some of its strength and thickness when coloring stops. Here’s why:
- Hair growth cycles restart – When hair isn’t assaulted by chemicals every 4-6 weeks, growth cycles normalize.
- New regrowth is undamaged – Newly growing hair emerges from the scalp in better condition, without residual chemical damage.
- Breakage is reduced – With weaker damaged hairs snapping off, thicker hairs remain.
- Locks have time to heal – When the coloring stress ends, hair can partially rebuild bonds and protein strength.
Letting your natural color grow in and trimming away split ends allows fresh, healthy hair to take the place of thin damaged strands. For some, this regime can restore former thickness.
Many people don’t realize how damaging repeat coloring is until they take a break and feel their hair improve. Laying off harsh chemicals for 6 months or longer may reveal that hair dye was a major culprit of thinning.
Factors That Affect Whether Hair Will Become Thicker
Several factors influence whether stopping coloring will improve hair thickness for you:
1. Underlying Reasons for Thinning
If a disorder like alopecia, hormonal imbalance, or autoimmune disease causes your hair loss, ending coloring won’t cure or reverse the problem.
While minimizing damage is wise, you’ll need to address the root causes with a doctor to spur regrowth.
In male or female pattern baldness, genetics dictate hair follicle loss over time. Dyeing won’t cause this type of hair loss, but stopping won’t restore what follicles have shut down. Minoxidil, finasteride, hair transplants or PRP therapy are more effective treatments.
However, if thinning results from harsh overprocessing of healthy hair, a coloring break can absolutely help. Time off lets hair rebuild strength and thickness.
2. Extent of Damage
If your hair feels gummy and elastic, looks fractured at ends, or breaks off easily, extreme structural damage has occurred. The protective cuticle layer is compromised. Hair may have lost 40-50% of protein content through chemical damage.
While a long rest can improve this, recovery will be limited compared to hair in better shape. The length you colored and level of bleaching also impacts damage severity.
Milder damage just weakens hair, which can still heal with time. But with intense, long-term processing, some structural changes to the hair are permanent. Still, stopping further damage makes a big difference.
3. Your Aftercare Regimen
How you care for hair after stopping coloring also plays a key role. To recover thickness, be gentle and avoid:
- Harsh shampoos – Use a mild, moisturizing formula.
- Hot water washing – Lukewarm water only.
- Daily washing – Shampoo just 2-3 times a week.
- Brushing wet hair – Detangle gently while conditioned.
- Heat styling – Let hair air dry; limit blowdrying and ironing.
- Other chemical processing – Hold off on perms, relaxers, etc while hair is recovering.
Regular trims every 6-8 weeks remove split ends and allow healthy hair to keep growing in thicker. Deep condition weekly to restore moisture. Oils, masks and proteins strengthen hair against breakage.
4. Your Age
The younger you are while coloring excessively, the higher your risk of damage. Youthful hair in the anagen (growth) phase is most vulnerable to chemical disruption of the protein and cell structures.
As we age, hair produces less melanin and more strands switch to the catagen (transitional) and telogen (resting) phases. This means lower chemical penetration, so aged hair may avoid severe structural damage.
Younger users see thicker regrowth after stopping coloring treatments. But there are always exceptions based on unique hair conditions.
5. Your Natural Hair Color
Those with dark brown or black hair have an advantage when it comes to resilience against damage from coloring and bleaching. Eumelanin pigment makes hair stronger and less porous than hair with low eumelanin.
People with naturally light brown, blonde or gray hair have mostly pheomelanin pigment. This makes hair weaker and very prone to damage from chemicals that lift and deposit color.
So for dark-haired users, a coloring break may restore more thickness compared to blonde users heavily lightening their hair. But results still vary person to person.
How Long It Takes Hair To Thicken
Don’t expect a dramatic thickness boost overnight after stopping coloring. It takes time for hair to recover and regenerate. Here’s a general timeline:
After 2-3 months
New undamaged roots visibly grow in, free of split ends. Less breakage and shedding may be noticeable.
After 5-6 months
1-2 inches of fresh roots thicken hair at the top. Breakage has decreased further. Continued gentle care minimizes damage to new growth.
After 9-12 months
Over half the length can be regrowth. Severely damaged ends are often trimmed away by this point. Clear difference in thickness and health between new growth and processed ends.
After 18-24 months
Nearly all hair from scalp to ends is fresh, undamaged growth. Full thickness potential is restored for many.
This assumes continued TLC for hair health, along with trims to cut off damage. Genetic disorders or poor aftercare give less thickening.
For some severely damaged by chemicals, over 2 years abstinence from coloring may still not regain former thickness. Improvement will plateau below optimal density. Still, what regrows is as healthy as possible.
Maximizing Hair Thickness After Stopping Coloring
To get the most out of a coloring break, optimize other factors for thicker hair regrowth:
- Eat a hair-healthy diet – Get enough protein, B vitamins, iron, zinc and omega-3s.
- Take biotin and collagen supplements
- Massage scalp 2-3 times a week to stimulate circulation
- Use thickening shampoos and volumizing products
- Apply argan, coconut or castor oil to nourish strands
- Avoid hairstyles that pull tightly on hair
- Reduce stress through yoga, meditation or exercise
- Get regular trims to prevent thinning split ends
- Consider topical or oral medications that combat hair loss
- Try laser light therapy to energize follicles
While your hair is recovering thickness, temporary cosmetic solutions like colored root powders, root sprays, volumizing sprays and fibers can disguise sparse areas.
Improving your overall hair health inside and out gives your hair the best shot at rebounding after years of chemical damage from dye. It takes diligence, but the boost in thickness can be very rewarding.
When to Consult a Dermatologist About Hair Thinning
See your dermatologist promptly if you notice increased shedding, gradual thinning or bald patches. A doctor can diagnose what factors are at play and give professional guidance on possible treatments to regrow hair.
Make an appointment if:
- Sudden excessive shedding occurs
- Bald areas appear
- You’re losing hair in clumps
- Scalp shows signs of redness, itching, burning or infection
- Hair loss spreads wider or fails to regrow within 6 months
Medical conditions that can cause hair loss include:
- Hormonal imbalances – Thyroid disorders, menopause, PCOS
- Immune disorders – Alopecia areata, Lichen planopilaris
- Infections – Folliculitis, ringworm
- Nutrient deficiencies – Iron, zinc
- Medical treatments – Chemotherapy
Early intervention is key to successfully halting and reversing hair loss. Delaying treatment risks permanent follicle damage.
Should I Resume Coloring After A Break?
After fully recovering thickness, you may wish to periodically color again – but proceed with caution:
- Limit treatments to every 10-12 weeks
- Avoid bleaching and opt for semi-permanent vegetable dyes
- Do a patch test for chemical allergies before each application
- Use nourishing hair masks and oils before and after coloring
- See a professional stylist who carefully applies dye
- Use lower volume developer; 10 vol. max
- Pick shades close to your natural color to minimize processing
Even with precautions, coloring inevitably causes some damage and leaves hair weaker to a degree. But minimizing harm lets you balance your goals for thicker hair and color maintenance.
Take another break from dye if you notice worsening texture, dryness, frizz, tangles, excess shedding or breakage. Your hair health comes first. Prioritize its needs, and optimize diet, supplements and scalp care too.
Conclusion
For those whose hair thinning results from repeated damage from coloring, stopping treatments often allows hair to gradually rebuild thickness over several months. But other underlying factors like pattern baldness won’t be reversed. Vigilant hair care and scalp health optimization boosts recovery. With reasonable expectations and patience, a coloring break can promote healthier, thicker hair.