Is it possible to have no split ends?

[Turtlesorgtfo]

I am finally reaching my goal length of mid back/waist, except my split ends are DRIVING ME MAD.

I have been trying to grow out some layers for about a year now and I feel like that's where all the split ends are. I don't really see any on the tips of my full length, but I see a whole gathering of the evil buggers around mid length of my hair. A "hair stylist" hacked at my layers with thinning scissors and I feel like the damage is from that -- and a year later I'm still dealing with it, yay.

Or maybe I'm just blowing things out of proportion and split ends are an uncontrollable evil. I don't use heat, do oil masks weekly and I am (more or less) very gentle and careful with my hair. I would say my hair is rather healthy, hydrated and strong -- except for these split ends at mid length.

I don't know if I should chop it all off and start anew or just deal with it as I slowly and painfully grow out these miserable layers. Any advice?? :confused:

[kuroi]

I don't think it possible to have no splits at all unless you very short hair. That's said it's possible to not have a lot of splits. I also have layers and those have the most splits. I do microtrim the bottom layers to prevent split from forming there and to slowly get rid of my layers while still gaining lenght. I also do search and destroy in my shorter layers to get rid of most splits however that is very time consuming. Micro trimming the layers is also a possibility. There are multiple self trimming methods. To name a few : spider moms under the chin method, feye's method and the compact method for layers.

[01]

I almost don't have splits. I only have one or two on the whole head. For last few years I was on WO (chamomile tea and mixes), heavy oiling and horn comb. Now switching to hardcore WO, no oiling and fingercombing. No new splits so far. In the past (shampoo and no condish, hot water and yanking plastic fine tooth comb through my hair) I had splits literally everywhere. So it is possible... from zero to hero xP. Oh, my hair are almost waist. Damn, I almost wrote they're mid-back, but took a moment to measure and they're almost-almost waist (stretched).

[Nique1202]

It depends on how much damage the hair has taken, and how the individual hair structure shows that damage. Some people's hair will never split, but might break off or show damage as white dots instead. Some hair splits if the breeze blows the wrong way.

However the damage got there, the only way to get rid of it is to trim it out. Whether you want to maintain where you are with monthly trims or a bigger trim every few months, or if you want to chop it all off, for the splits to stop you'll have to trim up to the less-damaged hair eventually. And even then, if your hair is particularly prone to splits or your routine is particularly damaging to begin with, you may still have some split ends at some point.

I wouldn't give up on your goal length just yet if it's making you happy. Try small trims for a while. If it's still bothering you later, you can always chop it then.

[01]

Oh yeah, about cutting... I chopped all my hair off from mid-back to bob twice. When I saw my sickly ends I just had to chop... After these two times now they're almost perfect and I joined 'no trimming', I think I won't cut until I reach terminal unless I'll really, really have to.

[spidermom]

It's impossible in my hair. I take as good of care of my hair as I'm willing to do (no complicated routines or giving up regular shampooing for me!), but I still find a multitude of split ends every time I look for them. Almost every time I've done a major cut back in the past 15 years has been because I short-circuited on the issue of too many split ends. I'm trying to learn to accept the fact that I'm going to have them and let my hair grow anyway, but it's hard.

[lapushka]

I haven't had splits in my ends for years, and that was even with 2 years of no-trimming (November 2013 - January 2016). I don't have them now either, at classic length, last time I trimmed was February of this year. I might be trimming June 31st, don't know yet, for the half-year no-trimming challenge. We'll see. I generally don't have split ends, never used to have them but when my hair was severely damaged from heat styling and perming. Then I had them, yes. Now? Nope.

[meteor]

I am finally reaching my goal length of mid back/waist, except my split ends are DRIVING ME MAD.

I have been trying to grow out some layers for about a year now and I feel like that's where all the split ends are. I don't really see any on the tips of my full length, but I see a whole gathering of the evil buggers around mid length of my hair. A "hair stylist" hacked at my layers with thinning scissors and I feel like the damage is from that -- and a year later I'm still dealing with it, yay.

Or maybe I'm just blowing things out of proportion and split ends are an uncontrollable evil. I don't use heat, do oil masks weekly and I am (more or less) very gentle and careful with my hair. I would say my hair is rather healthy, hydrated and strong -- except for these split ends at mid length.

I don't know if I should chop it all off and start anew or just deal with it as I slowly and painfully grow out these miserable layers. Any advice?? :confused:

First of all, yes, I think it's possible to have no split ends, especially if you avoid damage, wear & tear, protect your hair in every way. It reduces the probability of splitting, but doesn't guarantee anything, as it's down to individual hair (e.g. how fine the strands are, etc). Frequent trimming and S&D'ing helps remove the problems that are already there, but I'd focus on prevention.

I had the same situation of splits on shorter layers back when I had layers. I think it was made worse by the fact that the short layers were concentrated on my face-framing, temple and canopy hair, which is naturally finer and more exposed to the elements... so those exposed ends got more wear & tear, UV damage, etc... I feel like the same exposure may be less problematic for one length somehow :confused:, but I'm totally guessing, I'd need to understand the mechanics of the length of the fiber vs. its end/tip to be more clear... I feel that shape of a cut might have something to do with abrasion that leads to split end formation. It's almost like a pineapple's surface versus egg's surface, the former being "choppy", the latter - smooth, though the comparison is a bit silly.

As for what to do...
Unfortunately, nothing can hold split ends permanently together, so I'd just S&D or micro-trim them and focus on prevention from now on.
I think that slathering a drop or two of oil on braid tassel every other night or so or spreading a bit of oil on ends before bunning the hair for the day can help reduce the formation of new split ends - I'd recommend mineral oil, for example:
"Treatments using oils reduced the formation of split ends in the hair compared to reference. Tresses treated with Brazilian nut and mineral oils gave the lowest formation of split ends which was around 4 split ends per gram of hair." (Brazilian oils and butters: the effect of different fatty acid chain composition on human hair physiochemical properties: http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2009/cc060n02/p00273-p00280.pdf)

Also, I'd try keeping hair up as much as possible to reduce wear and tear, protecting hair with hats/buffs/scarves when it's sunny or windy out, sleeping on silky smooth materials (bonnet/scarf/pillowcase) and making sure your tools (combs, etc) are seamless and snag-free (you can run nylon pantyhose on edges to check for snags).

Also products with PEC complex (anionic PVM/MA copolymer and cationic Polyquaternium-28 on ingredients lists) might help very temporarily "seal" split ends: Semi-permanent split end mending with a polyelectrolyte complex - http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2007/cc058n04/p00451-p00476.pdf, http://thebeautybrains.com/2012/02/hair-repair-new-technology-really-works/. But nothing can help permanently with this, so I'd focus on prevention of split ends with things like oils and silicones and proteins (they provide some temporary patch-repair, coating effect for past damage: e.g. chipped cuticle, etc).

Wearing hair up more, preferably in simple, low-manipulation updos, is going to be super-helpful, reducing all that abrasion from friction, extra detangling, wear & tear...
The same applies to protecting hair from rough surfaces during sleep (I'd recommend replacing them with silky smooth materials if possible) and avoiding all rough, snaggy tools.
Personally, I stopped getting split ends simply when I gave up on a dense brush (I use a wide-tooth comb and fingers only instead), became much gentler with handling and started wearing hair up. I used to get split ends on BSL hair, now at 52'' (mid-thigh) I haven't seen one in years.
And if you check out studies on how split ends are formed (it's sometimes done in labs just to test treatments), it almost invariably involves repetitive combing (*), so be particularly careful with all detangling tools and techniques and all forms of mechanical manipulation.

* The mechanics of fracture of human hair: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18503441
Semi-permanent split end mending with a polyelectrolyte complex: http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2007/cc058n04/p00451-p00476.pdf
Mechanism of split-end formation in human head hair: http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1997/cc048n02/p00123-p00126.pdf

[sarahthegemini]

I don't have any split ends. Not that I can see anyway. My hair isn't really long though, it's between BL and WL.

[Shepherdess]

I have the same problem, and also can relate a lot to Spidermom. I have struggled with horrible splits in my hair for years, even with gentle care, trims (in the past) and extensive S&D, avoidance of sulfate or cones, using sharp professional type of scissors, and such, the splits still start forming again it seems. Before it was not as much an issue for me since my hair grew faster, though now that I have been going through a bit of a stall in growth (no more length since September 2015) it doesn't help. I think that my hair might be extremely susceptible to swelling, fraying and splitting. I have tried a lot of things, and still it just seems to split easily, though it also has only been about 4-5 years (I think), since I started trying to grow it longer, and I have made some mistakes in my hair care too in the past, so maybe those things made my hair more susceptible, so right now I am doing a few more experiments to see if they help (seamless comb, more frequent conditioning and oils, and so forth). I know sometimes as the hair gets longer and older, just that can make it more susceptible to damage than the newer growth (I think). Reading through comments on those with no splits, I think that is amazing!! I hope my hair can be more like that someday if it is possible!

[Anje]

For some people it's possible, but I think the nature of your hair is a factor. Some people have hair that shows damage in ways other than splits.

If your hair splits (mine does too), I think it's possible to get them to a low number, with good care and good scissors. I try to keep them at bay with S&D, then I keep my hair from tangling as much as possible by wearing it up or braided most of the time. Detangle carefully and gently, using fingers when a snag is encountered. I keep my hair well-moisturized and don't really do any chemical treatments. I limit heat-styling to occasional blowdrying on the warm (not hot) setting, and that's about it. Finally, I've been at this for a long, long time, so all my hair has been treated this way since it emerged from my head, which greatly helps. All told, my close-to-fingertip-length hair probably has less than 1% of the ends split. I consider that about as good as it's going to get for me.

ETA: In all honesty, if you've got a lot of splits in a shorter layer of the hair, it doesn't hurt to section that layer off and give it a trim. I've done that once or twice with my growing-out bangs. If it's more diffuse, your options are limited to living with it, chopping your hair short, or lots and lots of slow snipping out the splits one by one. That last one can be done, at least to the point where it makes a substantial difference, but it's definitely a process.

[lithostoic]

I'm past APL and have zero splits.

[Deborah]

I never had a lot of splits, but since I stopped blowing my hair dry, and instead just letting it air dry, I don't have any. My hair is about hip length right now.

[Groovy Granny]

I have no splits; never had even them ....even when I had layers ......or didn't trim for 6+ months at a time when I was growing them out.

My Hip length hair is fine and wispy, silver/white with some residual dark.

I wear it down in cooler temps and do a warm/cool blow dry to my scalp.

[Turtlesorgtfo]

Wow looks like we've all got some opinions on these nasty buggers! ;)

Thanks meteor for your detailed post. I do most of what you mentioned, and use a dab of coconut oil on my ends every day. But, I'd be interested in working in some new oils to get a maximum of benefits -- maybe I'll give that brazilian nut a try. :) I also recently had a baby so tying my hair up is definitely a must with those grabby hands -- ouch! But I was thinking of wrapping my hair in a silk scarf at night to protect it from my pillow case.

I like to go nuts with the S&D method -- it gives so much satisfaction. But, even though I bought hair cutting scissors, I'm still worried they're not sharp enough and that I'm just ruining my ends further. :( I'm going to do what Nique1202 said... small trims (especially on the layers) and see if that helps me feel better about it. Also, holla to a fellow Canadian! :)

I'm so jealous of the ladies with no (or few) split ends! :'(

[Cg]

meteor, thanks for the helpful, informative links.

My hair has shown fewer and fewer splits as I've followed a lot of the advice here on LHC. It does take time to delete every problem end but is well worth it. The difference between my hair now (2-3 splits per week) and just a few months ago (too depressing even to count) is remarkable. Every little care tip you follow pays dividends even if you aren't ever 100% split-free.

[Groovy Granny]

I oil my ends (damp hair post shampoo); maybe that helps?

My satin pillowcase works good for me; I can't stand wearing caps :p

Congrats on your baby :)

[missmagoo]

I cannot imagine my hair being split free. It's fine and wavy, and it seems like that's a recipe for splits. I s&D the worst of them, but for now I'm leaving them alone. For me It's my underlayer that has the most.

[Wusel]

I haven't had splits in my ends for years, and that was even with 2 years of no-trimming (November 2013 - January 2016).

Same here. Didn't cut since 19 months and not even one split end.
I never have splits.

[stachelbeere]

catnip hair rinses are supposed to be effective :flower:

[lapushka]

Same here. Didn't cut since 19 months and not even one split end.
I never have splits.

Odd; we both have iii hair, F iii hair, but still iii. Maybe it's the bulk of it, maybe we don't notice :p or it might be that the sheer thickness of it prevents splits - which would be odd!

[kuroi]

I don't think it has to do with the thickness lapuska. I had iii before my shed (high ii now) but I didn't have any fewer splits. Maybe your just gifted with very strong hair that doesn't split easily. My hair splits pretty quickly so bad handling is very unforgiving in my case.

[kganihanova]

I doubt it. At least your little baby hairs would have some.

[mira-chan]

It depends on hair type, structure and treatment of the hair.

I have a coarse hair, wear it up almos all the time and have never used any heat on it. I don't get split ends until about classic length. That's the point at which the wear and tear of normal handling catches up to my hair. For some hair types that's sooner, for others it's later.

[Beborani]

I recall getting split ends on my hair (about same length as now, give or take a few inches) as a teen even though my hair was fairly well taken care of--oiled all the time, washed only with shikakai and braided. But there were two factors that may have contributed to splits--my mom combed my hair every day, gently and carefully but definitely. And she used to trim the ends with her rusty old sewing scissors. I blame one or both of those as I have minimal splits now. Occasionally I find a hair with a tiny split but most are not. I wear my hair down and up and am not big on protective styling though I do wear sleep cap and almost never comb except for one or two passes with conditioner after wash.

[hayheadsbird]

I have very very few, which when I thought about it surprised me, because I thought it was inevitable over time without regular trims. I don't heat style my hair often though now (about 2/3 times a year) and I used to more often. It's about 18 months since my last cut/trim and I normally wear it up. I think my unplanned benign neglect and switching to more natural washes in the last year has also been a factor for me, as I always remember having way more splits than I do now.

[Lavendersugar]

To say you have zero splits seems pretty optimistic. How do you know there's not one? I think shorter hair can say due to frequent cuts this but unless you can pull out and look at each hair it might be more like no splits that you see. In my humble opinion not being able to find them is a prize in itself. Just my grain of salt.

However, I do think you can elimate them to the point there's so few it's a needle in hair stack. ;)
Proper care of body and hair I would think would create a fairly invisible split end head of hair. Just be kind to your hair and things will fall into place.

[juliaxena]

Yes if you don't look at/for them :)

[emmadilemma]

(without sounding conceited) I don't have any split ends, but I've never really been prone to split ends anyway. when I S&D, I find one split end maybe once every three or four months. Then I started catnip tea rinses and I've basically eradicated them. I say, trim your split ends and start trying catnip treatments!

[chen bao jun]

I'm another one without splits. Once in a while, I find one or two. I used to think it was because I was shorter (APL) but now I'm mid back.

I've got coarse hair and TBH, there was a period for about 20 years during which I had a chemical treatment in my hair, blewdry it on high (once a week), flatironed it on like 450 degrees and curled the ends up with the curly on high heat. And I had APL hair with no splits, no problems.

ON the other hand, now that I am wearing my natural curly hair, SSKs drive me absolutely crazy. I can minimize but can't get rid of them. I end up S & D ing them because they made my ends impossible to detangle (even curly with conditioner), if they get too out of control. I love my curly hair and dislike the flat ironed look but have at times considered straightening more just becuase eliminates the miserable SSKs.

[Anje]

ON the other hand, now that I am wearing my natural curly hair, SSKs drive me absolutely crazy. I can minimize but can't get rid of them. I end up S & D ing them because they made my ends impossible to detangle (even curly with conditioner), if they get too out of control. I love my curly hair and dislike the flat ironed look but have at times considered straightening more just becuase eliminates the miserable SSKs.

I can only imagine.... my hair is nearly straight by comparison, and I get my share of SSKs. I can only guess how much more prone to them tightly curly hair would be!

Not sure it would make a difference for you, but I got a sizable increase in them when using silicone serum. It's like the increased slip encouraged the hairs to make tiny knots. Maybe I angered the fairies?

[Bergelmir]

I don't have issues with splitted ends and i think it's able to be avoided a big margin, even when long hair. Excessive combing certainly will not help the matter, although i stopped using a hairbrush for very long already because it's just no use on my stubborn and wild hair. So i just do my finger-combing, which can take 1 hour at times but i was managing to reduce the time it takes by a better sebum management. I guess finger combing is not much of a issue, not even when used a lot but brushes naturally may be a good tool for straight hair but not necessaily for those with wavy or even curly shape, it will even put way more load on those type of hair and may cause frizz-issues. A good conditioner can certainly help but i guess it can vary a lot regarding which one is most suitable, so everyone may have to find it out for themself.

[H o n є y ❤]

ON the other hand, now that I am wearing my natural curly hair, SSKs drive me absolutely crazy. I can minimize but can't get rid of them. I end up S & D ing them because they made my ends impossible to detangle (even curly with conditioner), if they get too out of control.
Girl, this is my life! With my new detangling techniques I have been able to reduce them significantly. However, I haven't been able to eliminate them completely. I still have to cut 1-2 off nearly everytime I handle my hair. Do you get SSK this often? I'm also not sure how split ends would look on curly/kinky hair. I may have them but may not know how to spot them.

[Beborani]

ON the other hand, now that I am wearing my natural curly hair, SSKs drive me absolutely crazy. I can minimize but can't get rid of them. I end up S & D ing them because they made my ends impossible to detangle (even curly with conditioner), if they get too out of control. I love my curly hair and dislike the flat ironed look but have at times considered straightening more just becuase eliminates the miserable SSKs.

i get those too. I never noticed them before lhc, not knowing such things exist but now that I do if I find them I can't leave them alone and cut. I suspect at least some of them are leftover knot from multistrand knots that have been 'deknotted' by gentle detangling with fingers in which case such knots would have been broken off while combing or brushing. Since I do neither, I am okay with some snipping as long as the rest of my hair look nice.

[chen bao jun]

Interesting to know so many others in the same boat, including Anje with 1c/2a F hair--about as opposite from mine as can be.

Yeah, Beborani, cutting them off is the only solution I really know. It I let them stay they pretty much act like velcro, attract other hairs and tangle everything up--just at the bottom of my hair, for a real mess. When I moisture they are minimized but never gone completely. they seem to start at a certain length. I had bangs for a long time and the bangs never got SSKs. Then I let them grow out and sometime a little below shoulder they had the same problem as the rest of the hair.

Once I read that they are related to split ends somehow, but I'm not sure how that can be?

I know people with tightly curly hair who have a head full of split ends, so it is very possible for that to happen. In fact, I know people who get both a bunch of split ends and also have SSKs, what fun. And no, they aren't mistreating their hair either, from what I can tell . Certianly not like I used to mistreat mine before LHC.

I have to agree with Beborani again, okay with some snipping so long as the rest of my hair looks nice. Which it does (since LHC).

[EdG]

I don't get split ends. My ends tend to break off cleanly rather than split.
Ed

[Deborah]

What are SSKs? I don't know this term.

[EdG]

What are SSKs? I don't know this term.Single-strand knots.
Ed

[MINAKO]

Yes it is. I don't have any, never really did, like maybe i find less than a handful in an entire year and i'm a religious S&Der.
My hair would just break not looking any different as compared to when you cut it in case the strand is damaged. I used to have somewhat of a fairyknot problem but that stopped like a year ago. No splits here and i'm past classic.

[Shepherdess]

Interesting to know so many others in the same boat, including Anje with 1c/2a F hair--about as opposite from mine as can be.

Yeah, Beborani, cutting them off is the only solution I really know. It I let them stay they pretty much act like velcro, attract other hairs and tangle everything up--just at the bottom of my hair, for a real mess. When I moisture they are minimized but never gone completely. they seem to start at a certain length. I had bangs for a long time and the bangs never got SSKs. Then I let them grow out and sometime a little below shoulder they had the same problem as the rest of the hair.

Once I read that they are related to split ends somehow, but I'm not sure how that can be?

I know people with tightly curly hair who have a head full of split ends, so it is very possible for that to happen. In fact, I know people who get both a bunch of split ends and also have SSKs, what fun. And no, they aren't mistreating their hair either, from what I can tell . Certianly not like I used to mistreat mine before LHC.

I have to agree with Beborani again, okay with some snipping so long as the rest of my hair looks nice. Which it does (since LHC).
I get knots every now and then and it usually happens days when I leave my hair out to curl, so I can imagine how very tight curls must be even harder! Oftentimes if I am able to find a knot before it gets too tight, I can sometimes get it out, though I am near positive that it causes damage to the strand when this happens (seems to leave a crease/roughness in the strand that doesn't smooth out and later starts to split after a while). I find that anything that might create a crease in my hair always seems to lead to this, though my hair easily splits the way it is.

[Deborah]

Single-strand knots.
Ed

Thanks Ed!

[Arctic]

My hair is not the easily splitting kind. I did have some splits when I came to LHC but bettering my hair care practices has practically elimnated them. Since I started to grow from pixie I have found 2 splits, I think. This being said, my hair has never been longer than almost BSL and I trim often.

My ends are not damage-proof though, they just show it in other ways than by actually splitting. Trimming keeps it all under control and gentle-ish care prevents them from happening that much in the first place.

I am most likely getting general weathering, right angles and bent ends, fairy knots (depends on which conditioner I use), breakage which leads to a blunt-ish end that glows white (this hasn't been a problem now but was before, when I grew out henna), crinckles when I get too much protein from products (this can led to breakage too).

[Goddessa]

I'm not prone to SSK's or split ends(rarely see them), but what I do get is hair that looks almost bent at the ends, either a single bend or it is about 1cm of very crinkley end with no splits, and nothing but trimming them off seems to help. Not sure what to call that?

[school of fish]

I'm not prone to SSK's or split ends(rarely see them), but what I do get is hair that looks almost bent at the ends, either a single bend or it is about 1cm of very crinkley end with no splits, and nothing but trimming them off seems to help. Not sure what to call that?

Ah yes, I used to have those bent ends too! In my case it was my hair telling me my routine needed changing - at the time I was bordering on overprotein and it was crying out for moisture. Adjusting the routine to a light-but-regular dose of moisture eradicated the bent ends for good :)

I still get splits though, and certainly will while I still have damage to grow out (several inches yet). My best line of defence is monthly microtrimming, moderate S&D, and a modified CO wash routine. That keeps the splits and white dots within reason.

It'll be a while yet before I know how split-prone my hair is once my old damage is grown out - still a couple years away from that ;)

[01]

breakage which leads to a blunt-ish end that glows white
Ok, so, since I stopped oiling my hair I started getting these white ends... aaaahh I hope they won't split. Maybe I should've been at least keeping up with oiling my ends. But your ends just stay white like that, they don't split?

[Arctic]

Ok, so, since I stopped oiling my hair I started getting these white ends... aaaahh I hope they won't split. Maybe I should've been at least keeping up with oiling my ends. But your ends just stay white like that, they don't split?

Yes, that's been my experience. They stay like that and feel slightly rough to the touch. When I had bad breakage when I grew out henna and had used too much protein in my products, these ends became more familiar to me than I'd care to know, ha ha. Now that those days are long gone, I still sometimes see few (because I am not treating my hair like an antique lace) and if I have scissors near I snip them off. I have never noticed any actual harm from them, but they are a) ugly and very visible in photos and b) I think of them as an indicator that there has been breakage and if it's more than just one hair here and there, my hair is maybe in need of more attention (usually moisture).

But apparently some people get similar white tip when their hair has been recently cut with sharp scissors, and some on the other hand say they get these type of ends when hair is cut with dull scissors. In the latter 2 cases the tip would be level with the hemline (if we are talking about normal trim and not S&D), but if it's breakage it would be higher up. I guess it's very individual.

[01]

Oh, ok. Interesting. I grow out henna, actually. So it can be from too much henna? I used to henna my nails too for a while... at first it was great, my nails were stronger and thicker... but at some point it was too much and they dried out and split. Problems stopped when I grown out/cut out remaining henna. So maybe that's something like that but on hair?

[Arctic]

In my case the spot where henna stopped and my virgin hair started seemed to be a weak spot and I got tons of breakage there. I think the hennaed part of the hairs were more rigid or something. I also had unintentionally used too much protein at the same time - I didn't understand protein-moisture balance back then - and this probably made the problem worse manifold. Excessive protein made my ends very stiff and crinckly and (and velcro-like) which made them breaking off too.

I have to say that it seems like my case was a rare one, I have almost never heared anyone else have such breakage from growing out henna. But of course if it happens to one person, it can happen to others too.

That's very interesting about your nails!

Maybe start more intensive moisturising, go back to oiling, and try not to manipulate your hair too much (gentle handling, protective hair styles...). If your hair situation is similar to mine, you'd need to get more moisture in the hair, stop using protein products (at least untill back in balance). This is why I often preech about the importance of moisture here, because I experience it first hand how not having it balanced can lead to lot of problems. I hope you don't have same intensivity of breakage as I had back then, it was really horrible.

(On the other hand, if you have old damage in your hair, like bleach or hot tool damage, this hair might need extra proteins, and might break without.)