Please Advise

[Poetic]

My hair is finally trying to recover from the damage it has suffered. The original texture is returning, though still I have quite a bit of 3c texture, whereas I previously had more 3b texture. The problem is now that I can truly see my hair for what it is, length and all, I can see the damage done.:(

My hair reaches maybe waist-length in the back and just below brastrap length in the front. This would be okay (this including the fact that it was previously at tailbone length before the matting problem and all). However, there are sections in the top, about three in total that are truly broken off, quite short I mean. It makes these sections in my hair appear so thin, and when left loose, the hair sticks out. :mad:

I was wondering, for you who have suffered this type of damage, did you find it better to cut the hair off, and start over with even hair? Or did you find that left alone, the hair caught up to the rest after a time?:confused::confused:

I wish I could show pictures, but I don't have a camera. Anyway, thank you for reading this. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.:)

[FrannyG]

If it were me, I would trim off 1 inch. Then see how your hair looks and feels. Then reevaluate after two weeks.

I admit that I've cut off 6 inches one time and 5 inches another of damage, but I think that's way too radical for most people.

I think if cut off an inch now, and then do regular, small trims, while still allowing your hair to grow, you might find that you're happier than if you do a big chop.

Good luck with it. :blossom:

[Islandgrrl]

I had some serious damage at the nape of my neck - tons of breakage from where my swim cap rubbed against my hair. I had way too much hair that was just about an inch long and stuck out dreadfully when my hair was up.

My solution was to do nothing. I just let those hairs grow back (and not wear the ****ing swim cap again). They all now tuck nicely into my updos (finally). I figured that since hair is constantly falling out and being reborn as baby hairs, I'll always have *some* hair sticking out, so why not just leave it alone and let the thickness come back? It was that or cut my hair back to an inch long and I was totally not having any of that!

So if it were me, I'd just artfully arrange the long hair to camouflage the short sticky-outy parts until they are long enough to blend in better.

I think that's way better than cutting everything off and starting totally over. Especially when you've lost so much already.

[DragonLady]

However, there are sections in the top, about three in total that are truly broken off, quite short I mean. It makes these sections in my hair appear so thin, and when left loose, the hair sticks out.

My guess is they'll blend back in pretty quickly. Maybe just do half-ups to kinda cover them 'till they're long enough to lay down again?

[Arctic_Mama]

Oh gosh, I have had horrible breakage from mechanical damage and tangles... I will NEVER do the curly hair routine again, I NEED to comb and wash regularly, my hair is too fragile to withstand the snarls of not disturbing the curls.

I second just trimming a bit, maybe two inches TOPS, and seeing how it feels. Sometimes just getting off any ratty ends is enough - I find my ends are what cause most of my tangles and cleaning those use helps with snags further up my hair. Also you can reduce the damage gradually, and not feel like you're losing immense amounts of length.

I would bet that the broken parts will blend back in soon. Make sure you do careful S&S on them - if they're broken you want to cut then cleanly so they're persuaded to grow before they split again, you know?

Good luck and I am sorry about your damaged hair :( That can be SO frustrating and I really feel for you.

[Poetic]

I will take the advice given and maybe cut an inch or two off. I am trying to wear my hair up for a year. When I look at it, I want to cry . . . so I am hoping keeping it out of view will allow it to grow until the damage is not so apparent.:rolleyes: