Should I just chop my hair off?

[TiffanieJean]

I have been having some issues lately. I had a lot of hair fall out in the last month. I think it's because of a bad reaction to either Avocado or Rosemary Oil in hair masks... When I mean a lot, it's a noticeable difference. 300ish hairs at once 2 different times. Plus heavy shedding in between. I clerified and have switched to Mill Creek's Biotin Shampoo and Avalon's Biotin Conditioner (PH balanced). The shedding has decreased a lot. Better than normal right now.

THEN, yesterday I was looking at the back of my hair and pulled up the top 2/3's to see what was going on with the back. Since I have lost so much hair, there was this weird lump that was more noticeable than before. I thought it was just a bump from wearing my hair up when I sleep. Come to find out, there is a fairly large section of breakage that is the length of where I put my hair up. I think I have been in denial about it, but it was pretty shocking to see how much hair is broken in that section and then look at how long it's going to take to grow it back out to match the rest of my hair... I've been sleeping with it up for the last 5 months. I just can't do that anymore...

So, I'm finally a few months from hip length hair, and all of a sudden I have these huge setbacks. I'm considering cutting my hair to shoulder length... :-( I really don't want to, but maybe it would be better in the long run? I havn't had hair that short since I was a kid, and I hated it then. Would you just keep growing and trimming until the breakage grew out?

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q501/Vicarious-Me/Hair%20issues/DSC08973.jpg

This is a picture of my hair down. It doesn't look that bad. The top 2/3's of my hair are in good condition, so I don't think I could bring myself to cut it... Too much.

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q501/Vicarious-Me/Hair%20issues/DSC09020.jpg

BUT, the bottom layer it tore up...


http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q501/Vicarious-Me/Hair%20issues/DSC09034.jpg

I tried to pull out most of the damaged section... It was really hard to get a good picture.

[gonzobird]

From your albums,your hair is beautiful. I'm sure you still have a thick thick mane. If you think its that bad post some pictures, but i bet its still beautiful.

[jeanniet]

Can you post pictures so we can see what you're talking about? The damage may not be that obvious, and if that's the case, I wouldn't cut. Sometimes what we see isn't what everyone else sees.

How do you put your hair up when you sleep? Generally putting it up isn't going to cause this kind of damage, but maybe the way it's being pinned or whatever is doing it. I put my hair up in a silk beanie and haven't had any damage at all. If I leave my hair loose it just tangles too much.

[frogs]

I would suggest to maintain! Or at least wait for two weeks and think about it(the golden rule, haha.)
If you trim off maybe half an inch every month and maintain at your length you will get rid of the damage (it might take a while but hey, growing from shoulder will take about the same amount of time, i figure!) and still have your length :)While you maintain you could baby your hair loads and maybe the the damage will, if not decrease, hopefully not get worse either. It is your hair and your decision, so if you wanna cut you really should, just be absolutely sure about it and aware that it will take a long time to get back to where you are now!
And i have to say, judging from your album.... your hair looks stunning. Absolutely beautiful!! :)

[lapushka]

Would you just keep growing and trimming until the breakage grew out?

Cutting your hair to shoulder isn't going to do anything about the breakage. It's not going to cure it. It's not going to make it go away. It's going to be as noticeable to you with shorter hair than as with longer hair. So, that's no reason to cut it, really.

Give it two weeks, as frogs already suggested. Think about it some more.

[TiffanieJean]

Can you post pictures so we can see what you're talking about? The damage may not be that obvious, and if that's the case, I wouldn't cut. Sometimes what we see isn't what everyone else sees.

How do you put your hair up when you sleep? Generally putting it up isn't going to cause this kind of damage, but maybe the way it's being pinned or whatever is doing it. I put my hair up in a silk beanie and haven't had any damage at all. If I leave my hair loose it just tangles too much.

I normally sleep with it up in a cinnamon bun or sock bun (I think the sock bun might be the main cause). Sometimes I get lazy and leave a loose ponytail and then pin it up, or just throw it up in any way I can. My hair is really fine, so when I have to use 5+ bobby pins or a few sectioning clips to keep it from sliding around and pulling hair out through thee night. I'll have to look into silk scarves or something.. My hair tangles pretty bad too.


I would suggest to maintain! Or at least wait for two weeks and think about it(the golden rule, haha.)
If you trim off maybe half an inch every month and maintain at your length you will get rid of the damage (it might take a while but hey, growing from shoulder will take about the same amount of time, i figure!) and still have your length :)While you maintain you could baby your hair loads and maybe the the damage will, if not decrease, hopefully not get worse either. It is your hair and your decision, so if you wanna cut you really should, just be absolutely sure about it and aware that it will take a long time to get back to where you are now!
And i have to say, judging from your album.... your hair looks stunning. Absolutely beautiful!! :)


From your albums,your hair is beautiful. I'm sure you still have a thick thick mane. If you think its that bad post some pictures, but i bet its still beautiful.


Thank you ladies for the very nice comments. I think I need to be talked down a little, and it's working... lol I don't want to cut my hair that short, I just feel like because all of the damage is in the middle of my head and so far up, growing it out is going to take a ridiculous amountof time... It's so frustrating!

I'll post pic's ASAP. Probably tomorrow morning, because my little guy is going to wake up soon.

[Fantak]

You have such beautiful hair please don't cut it!

Lapushka is right it is now long with (probably) unnoticeable breakage if you cut it it will be short with (probably) more noticeable breakage since there won't be much hair to cover it.

I agree with everyone who said to maintain at your current or goal length. Eventually it will grow to the ends :)

[ladonna]

I would let grow like growing out layers, and use braid waves it the breakage needs to be disguised.

[Madora]

If I were you, I'd avoid anything that required a ponytail holder. If you used ponytails of any kind when wearing your hair up, I bet you dollars to donuts that the ponytail holder is accountable for your hair loss.

You can continue to just let it grow and trim as needed..but it will require patience until those short bits gain greater length.

[Anje]

I'm a big fan of wearing hair loose inside a satin or silk sleep bonnet at night. This allows the follicles to rest, possibly after having the hair pulled up and contained all day, and it doesn't require the hair to be secured in any way. No lumps either, and I have no tangles in the morning.

The trick is not to give up after the first night when you wake up to discover that you managed to take the thing off and fling it across the room during the night. I'd say it takes a week or two to teach yourself to leave it on.

I had a big section of ponytail breakage not long before I started coming to LHC, too. Don't cut, just swear off anything that starts with a ponytail, for a year or two. Learn to style your hair without one. It does get better.

[jacqueline101]

I wouldn't chop a lot I'd trim a little and let the damage grow out avoid pony tails and elastic holders.

[Deborah]

Your hair looks quite pretty to me. I think you would find a cut to shoulder length just too much. Maybe cut to waist. I bet that would thicken up the ends for you, and would look quite nice.

[torrilin]

Ponytail breakage is really common if you have fine hair. I've never had a problem, but I almost never wear a ponytail based style two days in a row. I always rotate my style and location to minimize stress on the hair. Something as simple as a braid one day, a bun the next, and a ponytail the third is enough to prevent breakage on my hair. There are a lot of other super-easy options even if you're hairstyle impaired.

As everyone else says, this is no reason to cut.

The other thing besides repetition is tightness. If your hairdo is giving you a free facelift, it's tight enough to cause things like breakage and (horrors) balding. Don't do that. Part of why I've always been rabid about rotating styles is because my hair is so fine I'd get very strict warnings from hairstylists about too tight or too repeated hairdos even at 10 or 12. Traction alopecia was their main fear, and as someone with fine hair and average thickness, I would easily look like I was going bald ANYWAY. It's a normal fine hair thing to look a bit bald with your hair up, so they were very worried that I could start to go bald and not notice.

[Silverbrumby]

Tell yourself you have a few layers to grow out. Look in the mirror and if your hair looks fine from behind then leave it it and grow to hip. Maintain at hip until you feel ready to move and/or you're fine with how it looks.

Braids might be your friend for night time sleeping. I found sock buns to be really hard on my hair.

[Egana]

so so so beautiful! love the color, the length, and the texture!

do you often get the urge to chop? every couple of months, I look for the scissors. It is a challenge to leave it alone, kwim?

I agree that babying it will be similar to growing from shoulder - enjoy the healthy ones (the majority) and baby the broken ones. I think that will make you more happy than if you chop and regret?


good luck either way! For what its worth, I think it would look fabulous at shoulder length!


Megan

[TiffanieJean]

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..







I added pictures.


so so so beautiful! love the color, the length, and the texture!

do you often get the urge to chop? every couple of months, I look for the scissors. It is a challenge to leave it alone, kwim?

I agree that babying it will be similar to growing from shoulder - enjoy the healthy ones (the majority) and baby the broken ones. I think that will make you more happy than if you chop and regret?


good luck either way! For what its worth, I think it would look fabulous at shoulder length!


Megan

I don't want to cut it at all. I get the urge to trim too often so my ends will stay nice, but I really want TB length hair. Hip length will be good enough. I've calmed down a little since yesterday. I was just really down on my hair... I don't think I could ever cut it past BS length, or I would definitely regret it. The 2 week rule is a good one! lol

[TiffanieJean]

You have such beautiful hair please don't cut it!

Lapushka is right it is now long with (probably) unnoticeable breakage if you cut it it will be short with (probably) more noticeable breakage since there won't be much hair to cover it.

I agree with everyone who said to maintain at your current or goal length. Eventually it will grow to the ends :)

Thank you for commenting. I added a few pictures. It's not really noticeable when I wear my hair down. I think I was just shocked by how much hair had broken before I recognized the issue. I was really down on my hair yesterday... I couldn’t cut it to shoulder length because I have gotten it within a few inches of my goal now. I would definitely regret it, but I might need to do a good trim. The bottom layer looks pretty horrible...

[TiffanieJean]

If I were you, I'd avoid anything that required a ponytail holder. If you used ponytails of any kind when wearing your hair up, I bet you dollars to donuts that the ponytail holder is accountable for your hair loss.

You can continue to just let it grow and trim as needed..but it will require patience until those short bits gain greater length.


Ponytail breakage is really common if you have fine hair. I've never had a problem, but I almost never wear a ponytail based style two days in a row. I always rotate my style and location to minimize stress on the hair. Something as simple as a braid one day, a bun the next, and a ponytail the third is enough to prevent breakage on my hair. There are a lot of other super-easy options even if you're hairstyle impaired.

As everyone else says, this is no reason to cut.

The other thing besides repetition is tightness. If your hairdo is giving you a free facelift, it's tight enough to cause things like breakage and (horrors) balding. Don't do that. Part of why I've always been rabid about rotating styles is because my hair is so fine I'd get very strict warnings from hairstylists about too tight or too repeated hairdos even at 10 or 12. Traction alopecia was their main fear, and as someone with fine hair and average thickness, I would easily look like I was going bald ANYWAY. It's a normal fine hair thing to look a bit bald with your hair up, so they were very worried that I could start to go bald and not notice.

It's 100% the ponytail holders... I'm very cautious of wearing my hair up for the same reason torrilin. All of the breakage is right at the length of where I put it up. My hair does not like to stay in braids, or I would wear those more often. I will have to work on my braiding skills. I have to wear my hair up for most of the day because my son is only 2 1/2. It just gets in the way too much if I don't.

[whylime13]

I don't have fine hair, but I recently had to swear off ponytails due to some major breakage and I've found that EZ combs (butterfly combs, double hair combs, whatever you call them) have been a really helpful replacement go to style for me, and have been a lot nicer to my hair than my old pony holders.

Maybe that can work for you during the day time, won't help at night though

[whiteorchid]

I'm glad you're not going to cut it shoulder length! It really sounded like something you'd regret, and I bet the breakage isn't noticeable to other people the way it is to you. From what I can see, you have lovely hair!

[Iolanthe13]

Well hello hair twin! Your hair looks like mine would if I hadn't abused it with chemical dyes and heat-styling, so I hope you realise that some of us would just about kill for your gorgeous locks :)

Regarding the breakage, are you quite certain all of the shorter hairs are breakage? For some people, the bottom layer just has a shorter terminal length. It's also possible some of that chunk is new growth from an old shed. If you're self-conscious about it, maybe you could just avoid half-ups until the shorter bits blend in more? I think cutting would set you back unnecessarily. If you really feel you need a cut, just a few inches might make more difference than you would expect.

[torrilin]

OK, looking at the pictures, that isn't ponytail breakage. It looks like a different standard fine hair problem. Sometimes, the chunk of hair at the nape of your neck will tend to form dreadlocks. The more your hair rubs against chairs, pillows, clothing, purse straps, backpacks etc the more tightly your hair will tend to dreadlock.

The only real cure is to take care to prevent tangle formation, and to prevent the tangles from worsening into dreadlocks. The more your hair tangles, the more you have to untangle, and the more you have to untangle the more wear and tear on your hair.

In short, ugh.

For my personal version of this, hairstyles based on twin braids work best at prevention. Wearing my hair down is the absolute worst.

[lapushka]

I wouldn't give up on that bottom layer. Lots of TLC, the curly girl method (no brushing, wide tooth comb/conditioner only, etc.) will help lots in this case, I think.

I see no reason to cut it shorter.

[aspartame gram]

I'm so sorry this happened! But there are things you can do that do not require you having to cut your hair. ^_^

Have you tried the dutch braid? It's the reverse of the french braid, and actually keeps your hair in place unlike the french braid. I'm able to do it and would braid my hair before bed. It helps a lot with tangles and breakage. I'm not certain if the shedding was due to the ponytail and sock bun, or if it was because of the hair masks you used. Definitely stay away from the two oils as they are suspect.

Your hair is beautiful, and this is just a minor setback. Trim a little and wait for it to grow to your waist and then tailbone. I can't tell that your hair has had any shedding or breakage, at least not when it's all down. Don't worry, hair grows. :D

[jojo]

Your hair looks pretty good to me, I'd avoid elastics at all cost and go for a hair stick instead. You may just be going through a heavy she'd, me too at the moment but I do this time of year, it's normal for me, maybe you too? I hardly shed anything the rest of the year and I'm just not used to finding shed hairs, it kind of freaks me out when I see them so do understand, hang in there and don't do anything drastic, give it a few months and see if it settles down, if it doesn't get some bloods done to rule out any medical condition.

[Mesmerise]

Your hair is pretty! Yes, there may be some damage/breakage, but it's only visible if you lift your hair up. I would be more inclined to just keep growing and trimming. Obviously you need to look at how you're wearing your hair overnight, and be extra careful with it, but I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater and chop it all off!

[elea]

i am not scared of scisors but... i would leave it catching-up.
nothing you can do about what is broken and there is plenty there to hide it.
i would change the way i sleep in my hair mind.
very thin here, heavily layered and it curls so... braid to the right, braid to the lefts, middle, top etc... and woop-woop no dreads when i wake *:O)
if i need to leave it long for something that day... big fat barette, never at the same place.
actually, i used to always sleep in one and never had trouble (but i had to change where it is on my head)

[catamonica]

Your hair is beautiful! Don't chop it. I would just trim & maintain it. Wear your hair in a braid. When you go to sleep. I wear a braid or a low braided bun, when I go to sleep. They are both comfortable.

[TiffanieJean]

I'm so sorry this happened! But there are things you can do that do not require you having to cut your hair. ^_^

Have you tried the dutch braid? It's the reverse of the french braid, and actually keeps your hair in place unlike the french braid. I'm able to do it and would braid my hair before bed. It helps a lot with tangles and breakage. I'm not certain if the shedding was due to the ponytail and sock bun, or if it was because of the hair masks you used. Definitely stay away from the two oils as they are suspect.

Your hair is beautiful, and this is just a minor setback. Trim a little and wait for it to grow to your waist and then tailbone. I can't tell that your hair has had any shedding or breakage, at least not when it's all down. Don't worry, hair grows. :D

I’m horrible at braiding my own hair, but I’m going to have to try harder. I’ve been wearing it in a low loose braid for the last 2 days. Time to look up Dutch Braid tutorials! Lol I’m going to look into getting a silk scarf too. Thank you for the nice hair comments =)

[TiffanieJean]

Your hair looks pretty good to me, I'd avoid elastics at all cost and go for a hair stick instead. You may just be going through a heavy she'd, me too at the moment but I do this time of year, it's normal for me, maybe you too? I hardly shed anything the rest of the year and I'm just not used to finding shed hairs, it kind of freaks me out when I see them so do understand, hang in there and don't do anything drastic, give it a few months and see if it settles down, if it doesn't get some bloods done to rule out any medical condition.

I have been looking for hair sticks for months... I'm going to have to buy them online. In the meantime, I think I'll try a pen or something. I think that is probably my best alternative to wearing it up in a scrunchie or elastic.

I do normally shed more at the beginning of fall. Living in Maine, it starts to get really dry - and so does my scalp. I assumed after I did the hair mask and shed a lot more than normal that it was because of the season change. After I did another hair mask the next week (my scalp was not as dry and I had been shedding a little more than normal the whole week) I got another massive hair ball and I knew something was wrong. It was easily double the normal heavy shedding amount... I did a post on here about it the other week and Madora pointed out that it could be a reaction. I didn’t consider that, but I really think she was right... I clarified and switched shampoo and conditioner and now the shedding has decreases substantially.

[TiffanieJean]

OK, looking at the pictures, that isn't ponytail breakage. It looks like a different standard fine hair problem. Sometimes, the chunk of hair at the nape of your neck will tend to form dreadlocks. The more your hair rubs against chairs, pillows, clothing, purse straps, backpacks etc the more tightly your hair will tend to dreadlock.

The only real cure is to take care to prevent tangle formation, and to prevent the tangles from worsening into dreadlocks. The more your hair tangles, the more you have to untangle, and the more you have to untangle the more wear and tear on your hair.

In short, ugh.

For my personal version of this, hairstyles based on twin braids work best at prevention. Wearing my hair down is the absolute worst.

That makes a lot of sense. I'll be extra cautious for now on. It might be that wearing my hair up at night exposed the bottom layer to rubbing on my pillow when I toss and turn most of the night (I don’t sleep well... lol). I'm sure that didn’t help. I have never had this problem before. Not to this extent anyways.

[TiffanieJean]

I'm a big fan of wearing hair loose inside a satin or silk sleep bonnet at night. This allows the follicles to rest, possibly after having the hair pulled up and contained all day, and it doesn't require the hair to be secured in any way. No lumps either, and I have no tangles in the morning.

The trick is not to give up after the first night when you wake up to discover that you managed to take the thing off and fling it across the room during the night. I'd say it takes a week or two to teach yourself to leave it on.

I had a big section of ponytail breakage not long before I started coming to LHC, too. Don't cut, just swear off anything that starts with a ponytail, for a year or two. Learn to style your hair without one. It does get better.

Do you know of any good tutorials or posts about sleeping with hair up in a bonnet? A how to kind of thing. I have never done it, but I think it might be the best option for me. Thank you for the suggestion :)

[Amber_Maiden]

I wouldn't chop it.