Lots of breakage & splits for months -- do I need a trim? :(

[ladylovecraft]

Hello ladies,

I've been growing my hair for about 7-8 years, starting from an (unwilling) pixie. I take what I consider to be decent care of my hair: no heat, only henna, SLS-free shampoo 2-3x per week, sleeping with it braided, only cold water washes, etc. I use a tangle teezer brush once daily. I've had a few small trims over the years, but never anything anyone else could notice. However, over the past year, I've noticed a LOT of breakage & splits in my hair before. I used to S&D, and would occasionally find a small split here or there, but they were few and not too drastic. Recently, however, I have a seemingly endless amount of splits & breakage, some are DEEP and really disturbing looking. :( I S&D for hours and hours, (using a hair-only shear) but they never seem to improve.

I had a roughly 4-6 month period of some neglect -- not sleeping with it braided, getting it tangled, even using a lightening/minor bleaching treatment toward the ends once. I moved as well, and the water here is very high in chlorine content (which my hair seems very very sensitive to). I'm not sure if I'm just not taking quite as good care of it as I did previously, or it's just gone without a trim too long, or that period did too much damage.

Do you think I need to just bite the bullet and go for a bigger trim? I've been hovering around tailbone for a while, and though I've done some minor trims, it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm not sure how much to take off, but a couple inches seems likely if I'm to get past the damage.

[Majorane]

I refuse to cut out all the damage. I have been at APL for three years, growing out bad hair, and then I have been hovering between apl-bsl for a year and a half or so, cutting out more damage. Sadly, I now have more splits than I had going in this whole experiment (although I now have a pretty good idea where they came from). If I wanted to become split free I'd have to cut back to bob and grow it out AGAIN. Am not gonna do that! I S&D now whenever I feel like it (hardly ever) and I try to ignore the splits and I'm gonna grow. I know there's more people doing that.

So, no, if you don't want to you don't HAVE to cut off your damage. Many will say it's the smart thing to do, but if you don't want to you don't have to. Especia''y if your hair still looks nice. We have somewhat similar hairtypes, on my fine hair the splits barely show. If that is the case for you as well, why cut? If you don't want?

[elsieivy]

If there are so many splits that you aren't gaining length anymore then I would personally cut. If it is still growing pretty well and looks good overall then I wouldn't cut too much. Maybe just microtrim more often?

[Nique1202]

I think that neglectful period, especially with the bleach on the ends, probably did more damage than you thought it would. Once that damage is trimmed out, whether you take it all off at once or maintain where you are and trim 1/4 or 1/2 inch a month, you'll probably have fewer problems with splits and broken bits.

The thing about letting splits be is that the split can and will travel up the hair shaft. I've found a split end that I honestly couldn't tell from separate hairs at the end during S&D, because the split had traveled so the bottom 3 inches of the hair was in two separate half-strands. I only realized something was wrong because one side was kind of kinky and rough, which isn't my regular hair texture.

[Agnes Hannah]

Hi Ladylovecraft, you didn't say how you wear your hair, if it is up or down. I always wear mine up because mine is so fine and damages easily, forks and ficcares are good and I have only recently been able to use a stick. I also use a silk sleepcap which helps with protection, and a silk pillow case for added insurance! After washing I condition twice, and use coconut oil on the damp ends as a leave in. My trimming regime is 0.5cm every three months as my ends are very fine, but I want to keep growing until tailbone at least. I'm currently at Hip.All these things have helped me to grow and I have damaged ends from old box dyes. I guess a small trim would help,nothing too extreme, and protect the fragile ends in a way that suits your hairtype. Some folks here do an S&D nearly everyday. Good Luck

[ladylovecraft]

I have been pretty bad recently about wearing my hair down too often. It's almost always up at work, because I'm a nurse and I don't want my hair getting pulled/dipped in something gross, but it's usually down when I'm at home. I'll likely make a smallish trim, maybe an inch-2 inches max, and then just try to baby it and keep it up. I really hate the way I look with it up, though, so I'm investing in wigs to wear on non-work days so I can protect my hair and still feel pretty.

[Majorane]

Might I be so bold as to ask why you don't like your look with your hair up? Admittedly I like myself more when I have my hair down or in a half-up. But if I hated the way I looked with my hair up I'd not wear it up, despite the damage. Of course this is a personal choice. But maybe a bit of bangs could help you feel nicer about yourself with your hair up (as it did for me) or we could give you some advise about fake bangs or different do's? Like segmented ponytails with soft elastics, or side loose danging braids (elven style) or pigtailbraids or looser pinned sidecomb schwoops or or or...?