Breakage.

[H o n є y ❤]

Hey guys! When I manipulate my hair I usually see some sort of broken hairs (along with shed hair) in the sink. My shed hair outnumbers the broken hairs substantially but I still see broken hairs in the sink darn near every time I do my hair. Does anyone else experience this? Is this normal? Is breakage inevitable? I've had this problem since I cut out my relaxer. I don't remember if I had experienced the same thing when I was relaxed because I paid no attention to my hair then.

I've stopped being so rough with my hair and I see less broken hairs than I used to but they're still there. My hair still seems to be growing nicely I think. I've reached APL but I want to take extra good care of my hair so that I can make BSL in a decent amount of time. I don't use any combs, brushes, etc. I only finger detangle or comb. I only wear my hair in wash no goes or in an updo. I have very curly hair.

[meteor]

I've stopped being so rough with my hair and I see less broken hairs than I used to but they're still there.

^ I think this is the answer to your question. If you can become even gentler on hair (especially while washing or detangling or manipulating or styling), you should see even less breakage.

For me, handling technique was critical for eliminating breakage: I threw out my brush, started using only seamless wide-tooth comb or fingers, sleeping on silky smooth materials, wearing hair up and, most importantly, being very careful and slow while detangling and washing hair - and now I see no breakage. It had to become a habit.

Also, if your hair is very fragile, I'd recommend looking into some protein treatment (at least, trying it and seeing if the hair responds well to it or not), and using some oils (either as an oil rinse - between shampoo and conditioner - or as a pre-poo treatment or as a regular leave-in serum on the ends before you go to bed or put hair up for the day...)

[H o n є y ❤]

Thanks! Thinking about it, I could definitely be more gentle during washing. My hair is fine and thin so maybe a couple protein treatments will help as well. I'd like to see no breakage. I am very excited to start my true healthy hair journey! :D

[lapushka]

First examine if there aren't white dots or split ends in your hair. If not... it sometimes still happens. How much time has it been since you cut out the relaxer? And did you get all of it everywhere? I would wonder about that.

I had some breakage a while ago, and caught it in time. The rinse-out oil method helped me out. I did this a couple of weeks in a row and the breakage was first as good as gone, then gone... and never returned. Now, I don't consistently do rinse-out oil (link is in my signature), but I feel it does help keep the ends well moisturized (I only use it on the ends, but it depends on how wavy/curly you are).

[Anje]

I tend to assume that some breakage is unavoidable with very curly, fine hair. I mean, I have kinda-fine hair that's not curly, and it still takes every opportunity to wrap around itself and form teeny knots that are easy to rip through with a comb if I'm not being super careful. Even so, if you're breaking it at way lower a rate than it's growing, you'll still gain length easily enough, so don't get discouraged!

I assume you're already lubricating your hair as much as possible when you handle it, to help the hairs slip past each other. For me, moisture in the form of humectant soaks that get rinsed out (SMTs and good conditioners for longer periods of time) is the other key thing to help keep the hair slippery and flexible enough that it can slide through tangles instead of getting hung up on them. Depending on your hair (and whether you've got leftover relaxer damage), you might need some protein, but I always felt like that made my hair more stiff and grabby and prone to forming and keeping knots.

Edit: I know some people with very curly hair have had good luck washing with their hair in a couple of braids, to keep the curls a bit stretched and to prevent tangling during the process. It might be worth considering, if you want to minimize the movement of the strands relative to each other.

[MINAKO]

I can only report the same about my own hair. My natural 2c texture was much more likely to expirience breakage than what i achieved now with smoothing treatments, my hair also seems to grow straighter the older i get and detangling ans styling to my preference got a whole lot easier. But not everyone wants to have their curls gone. I would dampen hair before handling it and add something that provides slip. As others mentioned, the first thing to lay off is most likely brushes or any kind and gently finger detangle or find a good quality comb that works for you.

[meteor]

Edit: I know some people with very curly hair have had good luck washing with their hair in a couple of braids, to keep the curls a bit stretched and to prevent tangling during the process. It might be worth considering, if you want to minimize the movement of the strands relative to each other.

I love washing in braids, too (though I'm not a curly). It's so great for reducing tangling and friction while washing dense or tangle-prone hair and it makes it easier to reach all scalp while washing, without flipping hair back and forth or moving hair (sections) too much! :crush: I think the key is to braid rather loosely, section hair conveniently (to make it easier to reach all scalp) and to start braiding low (e.g. from chin/shoulder down going from looser to tighter hold).

Scalp-only washes (when the scalp is oily or dirty but the length isn't) are also really great for reducing wear & tear, wet manipulation, etc...

Also, I completely forgot to mention silicones! They can help dramatically reduce tangling, add slip and protection - and all this will be helpful for reducing breakage while detangling or otherwise manipulating hair. I'd try a coney serum and/or a coney conditioner and see if that helps. :)

[MINAKO]

Not to derail the thread but since i never tried washing in braids i'm still trying to wrap my head aound it cause it doesn't appear to go well with anything i do in my current process which is basically co washing including brushing my scalp for exfoliation and gently combing the lengths to distribute the conditioner and get and lint and dirt out. I would be afraid that since i cant comb downwards i would have to rub the braids like crazy to get my hair clean which causes friction and my roots/base of the braid would probably be matted from the brushing. But maybe it wouldn't be bad at all, then again i have zero tangles when i wash my hair the normal way so i'm not sure if it makes even sense for me to expiriment.

[meteor]

Not to derail the thread but since i never tried washing in braids i'm still trying to wrap my head aound it cause it doesn't appear to go well with anything i do in my current process which is basically co washing including brushing my scalp for exfoliation and gently combing the lengths to distribute the conditioner and get and lint and dirt out. I would be afraid that since i cant comb downwards i would have to rub the braids like crazy to get my hair clean which causes friction and my roots/base of the braid would probably be matted from the brushing. But maybe it wouldn't be bad at all, then again i have zero tangles when i wash my hair the normal way so i'm not sure if it makes even sense for me to expiriment.

A-ha, you detangle while washing? :) In that case, the method I use is probably not the greatest, MINAKO. :flower: I'm one of those people who absolutely can't detangle hair in the shower - it's super-sticky when wet, so I can either pull out hair and re-tangle it together while messing with it, or just leave it completely alone (or covered with conditioner, like one big mass of hair) and focus on scrubbing the scalp instead. If I leave it alone until it's dry, tangles tend to fall out more easily on their own, somehow. But if I try to detangle it wet, I'll still be fighting with tangles the whole time, even while it's drying and then after it's dry - so instead, I just wait it out. I bet this stuff is pretty individual, driven by texture and structure of the hair, etc...

[Anje]

I shed like crazy if I try to detangle in the shower, and it's not really necessary for my texture. So braided washes worked OK for me, though I don't particularly care for the tangles I get at shoulder level from it. (Those probably have to do with my growing-out bangs.) My hair isn't thick or voluminous, though, so scalp access really isn't a big issue.


Also, I completely forgot to mention silicones! They can help dramatically reduce tangling, add slip and protection - and all this will be helpful for reducing breakage while detangling or otherwise manipulating hair. I'd try a coney serum and/or a coney conditioner and see if that helps. :)
Weirdly, silicones seem to increase tangling for me, in the medium term. It's like they increase the slip but encourage my hair to twist into strange new contortions, and I get WAY more fairy knots when I use serum. Some of it the increased tangling, I think I can attribute to the volatile silicones like cyclopentasiloxane causing my hair to dry out a bit. Amine-functionalized silicones haven't given me the same troubles.

[MINAKO]

I don't really detangle while washing cause my hair starts out pretty tangle free coming out of the bun from pree pooing. It doesn't really tangle when i wet it either. I just use the combing motion to clean it rather than moving hair around itself. All that conditioner takes away the dirt pretty well this way. Just kinda pat it on and then comb, rinse and repat ine more time. So by the time i'm done cleaning every last tangle that may have been hiding somewhere is definitely gone.

ETA i think my shedding is ok. Maybe its 3x more than on a non wash day but then the next two days i rarely loose any. I don't really get how excessive shedding would work any other way. It's not like anyone ever washed their head bald.

[H o n є y ❤]

I tend to assume that some breakage is unavoidable with very curly, fine hair. I mean, I have kinda-fine hair that's not curly, and it still takes every opportunity to wrap around itself and form teeny knots that are easy to rip through with a comb if I'm not being super careful. Even so, if you're breaking it at way lower a rate than it's growing, you'll still gain length easily enough, so don't get discouraged!

I assume you're already lubricating your hair as much as possible when you handle it, to help the hairs slip past each other. For me, moisture in the form of humectant soaks that get rinsed out (SMTs and good conditioners for longer periods of time) is the other key thing to help keep the hair slippery and flexible enough that it can slide through tangles instead of getting hung up on them. Depending on your hair (and whether you've got leftover relaxer damage), you might need some protein, but I always felt like that made my hair more stiff and grabby and prone to forming and keeping knots.

Edit: I know some people with very curly hair have had good luck washing with their hair in a couple of braids, to keep the curls a bit stretched and to prevent tangling during the process. It might be worth considering, if you want to minimize the movement of the strands relative to each other.
Thanks for the encouragement! As I said above, I might try some protein treatments but probably only on my ends. Although, if I continue to see breakage, I'll probably use it on my length too. Right now I think it may be my ends that are breaking because they are the most tangle prone. That's where all the shed hair ends up.


First examine if there aren't white dots or split ends in your hair. If not... it sometimes still happens. How much time has it been since you cut out the relaxer? And did you get all of it everywhere? I would wonder about that.

I had some breakage a while ago, and caught it in time. The rinse-out oil method helped me out. I did this a couple of weeks in a row and the breakage was first as good as gone, then gone... and never returned. Now, I don't consistently do rinse-out oil (link is in my signature), but I feel it does help keep the ends well moisturized (I only use it on the ends, but it depends on how wavy/curly you are).

It's been almost 11 months since I cut out the relaxer. All of the relaxed hairs are gone. I've never seen any white dots in my hair and I think with very curly hair it's hard to spot split ends so I will need to examine this closely. I will try the rinse-out oil method for my ends as I've only tried it once.

[lapushka]

It's been almost 11 months since I cut out the relaxer. All of the relaxed hairs are gone. I've never seen any white dots in my hair and I think with very curly hair it's hard to spot split ends so I will need to examine this closely. I will try the rinse-out oil method for my ends as I've only tried it once.

11 months and only now breakage... hmm, it is odd. But then, I had no idea where my breakage was coming from either. I hadn't changed my routine, my hair had gotten way longer, that was the only thing. Maybe the ends just decided to call it quits. IDK. :shrug:

[H o n є y ❤]

11 months and only now breakage... hmm, it is odd. But then, I had no idea where my breakage was coming from either. I hadn't changed my routine, my hair had gotten way longer, that was the only thing. Maybe the ends just decided to call it quits. IDK. :shrug:
Well, I did experience breakage before. In the beginning it was worse but it has gotten better now that I have a better hair care regimen. I'm wondering if there are other precautions I can take to minimize breakage even more or if it's unavoidable given that I have fine/thin tightly curly hair.

[lapushka]

Well, I did experience breakage before. In the beginning it was worse but it has gotten better now that I have a better hair care regimen. I'm wondering if there are other precautions I can take to minimize breakage even more or if it's unavoidable given that I have fine/thin tightly curly hair.

I'd try using *lots* and I mean *lots* of moisture on the ends, like the LOC method for instance, and then some rinse-out oil. I condition twice after shampooing, sometimes do rinse-out oil and then use the LOC method. I don't use a lot of product, but I layer things, and I think that's key.

[H o n є y ❤]

I'd try using *lots* and I mean *lots* of moisture on the ends, like the LOC method for instance, and then some rinse-out oil. I condition twice after shampooing, sometimes do rinse-out oil and then use the LOC method. I don't use a lot of product, but I layer things, and I think that's key.
Thanks. I just reexamined my hair very closely and I don't see white dots but I see a lot of BLACK dots (my hair is black also). They look like SSK, which I often get. I didn't know I had them this bad. I don't know if this has happened recently or if the knots have been there for a while. They are so small and require me to look very closely at my hair to see them. Some are at the ends but many are further up the hair shaft. I can't believe I'm just now catching this. They may be related to split ends. I don't know. I definitely need to oil them and I plan on trimming but I really don't want to have trim too much.

[MINAKO]

When i had alot of SSK and did detangle super carefully it would cost me a few strands whenever i got a snarl cause the knot so tight i basically had to cut them out.
It's often just related to texture and the way your hair moves around. As little manipulation as possible as much protective styling as you can is a good idea. Cutting the knots out before they cause snarls is a good idea bit its so difficult to spot them, i know that.

[H o n є y ❤]

When i had alot of SSK and did detangle super carefully it would cost me a few strands whenever i got a snarl cause the knot so tight i basically had to cut them out.
It's often just related to texture and the way your hair moves around. As little manipulation as possible as much protective styling as you can is a good idea. Cutting the knots out before they cause snarls is a good idea bit its so difficult to spot them, i know that.
Hmm maybe the knots are the reason why some of my hair is breaking. I have kinky, tightly coiled/curly hair so all of these SSK may just come with the territory of my texture. Tightly curly AND Fine/Thin hair AHH sounds like a recipe for SSK. I'm really beginning to think this is the reason I have some breakage. My hair is virgin, I use no heat, no combs or brushes, I use conditioner everyday and DC every week. I'm willing to accept that this is just the nature of my hair as long as I am able to retain length and healthy hair.

[MINAKO]

Maybe it's just a tiny thing in your routine that needs to be taken to the right measures. I would suggest to handle hair extra careful and not more it around alot especially when its wet or in the process of drying. Make sure the ends don't rub on your clothes and protect your hair with a bonnet or silk pillow case while sleeping. I don't think fingercombing would contribute to the knots as most likely they are caused by finer combs or brushes if so. I would also encourage hair to clump so basically either let it dry withoit touching it so it keeps the drfinition from rinsing it with water or you could wet set it in rollers or large twist to keep the definition of the curls

[H o n є y ❤]

Thanks MINAKO/everyone. I have seen a dramatic decrease in SSK this past week. I attribute it to either wearing my hair up more often or using heavier oils/butters or a combination of the two. When I start to wear my hair down again and they come back then I will know what's causing them. I'm still having breakage though (always have). I am currently incorporating weekly protein treatments. Just did my first one last week.