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View Full Version : Breakage from my braid? Freaking out!



WhimsicalWillow
May 16th, 2015, 09:45 PM
Hi all! So my hair is fine and about 3 inches in ponytail circumference and a tiny bit below BSL. Today, after undoing my night braid (I've been braiding every night for the past couple of weeks after reading some advice on here) I noticed that I had some "short" pieces of thicker strands of hair that are almost chin length that were sticking up, away from the rest of my hair. As I touched them and felt all the way down the strand, I noticed that it actually was not "short" since the length of it came all the way down to the same length as the rest of my hair at BSL.... however, the strand appeared short since it was thick at the top and so translucent and "invisible" all the way down below.... Is this breakage from my braid? I asked my husband and he said that hair grows at different lengths, not to worry, or that maybe it was shedding but I am not sure! I am panicking over here.... I LOVE the waves the braids have been giving me but now I'm just scared.

gthlvrmx
May 16th, 2015, 09:53 PM
So you mean the hair looked tapered? New hairs are usually tapered so it might be new hair that grew out to BSL. But there are also damaged hair or splits that look tapered. If you grab a baby hair that is brand new on your head and compare it to your hair you are worrying about, then you can see the difference. https://thenaturalmane.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/hair-chart-hair-update-march-9-2010.jpg
That chart I linked has a quick chart with the tapered hair if that's what you found on you.
Braids shouldn't cause too much damage as long as you place the elastic in different spots when you tie it off. Even then, braids still have parts where the hair is rubbing on some other material. If you are worried, maybe you can bun the braid on top of your head? I used to do that actually and it was great for lazy days :)

If it's only 1 hair though out of thousands you have, maybe it's nothing to worry about. Have you found more of them? Have you noticed broken pieces of hair on your pillow or in your brush/comb? I think tapered hair that came about from damage means that one part of it broke off already, leaving behind a thin end.

Arwenlily
May 16th, 2015, 10:24 PM
Do you mean that you have clumps of hair that appear thicker at the top and thinner at bottom making the ends look "translucent"? If this is the case, then are some hairs shorter in that clump towards the top and are some hairs longer towards the bottom?

I'm not sure if I'm describing this accurately but if this is what is going on for you, I'm dealing with this too. If I look at a formed curl, I have some strands that are shorter in that clump and some that are longer, but only a few, making the ends look sparse. I don't know what made this happened. Breakage or just some new growth mixed with old?

divinedobbie
May 17th, 2015, 08:35 AM
That's probably just normal taper, unless you've noticed a lot of broken hairs on your pillow or that the taper is most prominent where you tie your braid off, I don't think it's the braid that's causing this.

lapushka
May 17th, 2015, 08:48 AM
It doesn't sound to me like it's the braid either. Is this "different" from your normal sheds? Or are you just now paying attention to all of it.