HI, I am a 19 year old African American female. I used to have long hair. But when I was a eleven I got my first perm. I didn;t need one b/c I had good hair. But i wanted one because everyone else had one. Although my hair was long, my mom never let me wear it down so i felt like what was the use of me having long hair if i couldn't wear it down. My first perm was a PCJ , it took my hair out tramendously. By the time I was 12, my hair was only shoulder lenght. I decided to get some weave braids and my aunti burned the ends of my real hair and my hair became very uneven. So, my mother made me get a short hair cut promising that my hair would grow back soon enough. unfortunately, 7 years later and my hair is still not that long. It is almost shoulder lenght. After a perm, I can feel the ends of my hair barely touching my back. I am so upset, what must i do? I was told that I should grow my perm out and by doing that I would have to get a short haircut all over again.