Microdamage on my ends, despite no splits?

[Slug Yoga]

Hey guys, here's the deal... I see almost no split ends in my hair. Like I can look through my hair and eventually maybe find one, but by the time I find scissors I've lost it. It's virgin, never been dyed, blowdried, etc., and I'm pretty careful with it. I wash maybe a couple times a week, usually CO, don't wear it down, etc. But I am starting to wonder if maybe my ends are a bit damaged, or if it's something else, or my imagination, and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts, experience, or advice.

When I run my fingers over my braid tassel, it feels uneven, for lack of a better word. Like if you were to run your fingers over the main length of your hair, all those fibers would be continuous and it would feel smooth. But my ends feel a bit rough.

I wondered if maybe part of what I was feeling was just the different lengths of my hair, all the tiny bumps of hair shafts ending at different places. It's been growing out for a couple years and hasn't been cut for a while, and my hairs would not all be exactly at the same length, like they would be if I had trimmed recently.

And when I comb my hair and pull sheds out, they seem to snag a bit on the last inch or so, as if the hair there is rougher. Does that make sense?

My ends have felt dry or crunchy to me for a while, maybe since last year or so, and I usually oil them (with coconut oil, lately), which does seem to help.

So anyway, I was wondering what people thought might be causing this--like is my hair worn or damaged at the ends (even if I don't really see evidence of splits), too dry, something else?

And also, what should I do about it, besides continuing to be careful and oil? I don't plan to cut it for a while, since I don't want to lose length--maybe some trimming after a year or more of growing.

Thanks a lot, guys! :)

[FrannyG]

Do you think you might be due for a clarifying? Whether you use cones or not, you do get buildup on your hair. When my ends start to feel that way, I find clarifying often helps.

If not, I suggest a very tiny trim. A half inch can make a world of difference.

[spidermom]

When I've had damage in the past, I could feel a definite texture difference if I would take a pinch of hair between thumb and finger and slide down it. But I'd been heat styling in the past. I'd say try clarifying first, then a moisture treatment. If you can still feel that change in texture from smooth to rough, consider extra treatment to that area or trim it off.

[rapunzhell13]

Do you think you might be due for a clarifying? Whether you use cones or not, you do get buildup on your hair. When my ends start to feel that way, I find clarifying often helps.

If not, I suggest a very tiny trim. A half inch can make a world of difference.

I second the very tiny trim. It made mine feel so much better, I could hardly believe it!

[Arctic_Mama]

Even without splits the shaft does indeed wear. I will glomp on the trim train and have much the same problem - I'm getting a trim in two weeks or so and I know, from past experience, even a 1/4 inch makes a WORLD of difference!

[Arctic]

Damage comes in many different shapes and forms and as someone else said, hair always also weathers from ordinary everyday life.

I personally have very little spit ends. What I have more are end that have been broken and there is visible white dot at the very tip of the hair. I snip these off. I sometimes find faery knots where one hairstrand has formed a knot, some hairs that are bent sharply in unnatural angles, and generally some rough ends. I snip these all off. This will help my hair to tangle less and the rough, bent etc hair won't cause friction with healthy hairs.

Some of my hairs are coarse and thicker right from the root, these hairs I leave alone, they just grow like that naturally.

I echo everyone else, clarifying and if that doesn't help, a small trim will do wonders!

[FrannyG]

Eek! In my earlier post I suggested clarifying, but I neglected to say the most important thing! After clarifying, make sure you do a nice deep moisture treatment, such as an SMT.

If that doesn't work, then a tiny trim is definitely in order. :)

[DarkChocolate]

I have little bent ends instead of splits. I just trim those off. Sometimes my bent ends are bent like three or four times and each bend is separated by a white dot.

[Slug Yoga]

Thanks guys! I am going to try a clarifying shampoo, and then see how my hair is. I also recently got a shower filter, which I am planning to install (there is hard water in my area, which doubtless would contribute to buildup.)