I'm in the process of growing out my hair, its about 3 1/2 inches or so from my shoulders. I want it to be  long enough to cover my breasts. It used to be poker straight (no body at all :'''(  !!!)
But then I got a perm so now its nice and wavy. Maintaining it is hard but I think its worth it!!! My hair is a little fine(... I don't mean thin or balding) so I'm worried that it might start looking stringy or something if it gets too long! Especially with the perm. Even though I like the new found body and texture I'm worried about damage if I keep it up long term. Any suggestions? I need help!!

(Right now I'm taking silica to hopefully help it to get thicker when it grows in "nu-life/nubeauty silica"; has anyone used this product before and had good results)

Yes I have had Silica before, and it really helped!  made my hair grow almost twice as fast, and really nice and thick and healthy!   

i just some yesterday at sunflower its a company called michaels i heard it was good, the ones i bought are tablets. i also i would hear arguments about ppl using hair growth pills and how they dont work. i guess if they dont work then u would need to look at the ingredients cuz that plays a huge role as to why it dont work.

perms do cause damage. 
Be easy, and look to root perms rather than always getting a full perm, like coloring roots only rather than all new coloring.
(does that make sense?)

Some people are Ok with the trade off of some damage/ more care and the texture/ curl/body.
I've had a few perms, and I know that neat texture you are writing about.
i loved it, but I wanted length more, obviously.
I remember my hair drank conditioner and moisturizing treatments.
Knowing what I do now, I would have used a lightweight leave in conditioner (basically very dilute conditioner) to seal some moisture in.


for growth, you ave to let it go a bit, through the difficult stages, of which there seem to be many, but in the range you mention, you are past one, and have the  almost long enough to pin up but not yet place.
On the long hair board I frequent, we have a two week rule: think you want to cut, wait and think for two weeks.
This lets whims pass by. It's saved my length, though I could do with an evening up trim.

length= growth - damage   

She's had 2 years - I'm sure it's grown out by now 



Which reminds me. Tomorrow I get scissors and chop chop chop. Almost to shoulders now and hate it. Nay my mother will not be happy but this is about seizing back my autonomy !