How long does it take for hair to stop snapping off from heat damage?

[nikittyy]

So, I have a bit of a long history with abusing heat on my hair. I am twenty, and from the ages of probably twelve to nineteen, I would straighten my hair pretty much every single day, at least once. I would rarely use a heat protectant, and up until my senior year of high school I washed my hair every other day and never used a deep conditioner. I also would blow dry it right after I took a shower, again without using any heat protectant.

I have recently cut down a lot on the heat within the past three months or so, and now only straighten my hair once a week (if that) and use a heat protectant every single time. I also use a deep conditioner instead of a regular conditioner and only wash my hair once a week. However, I am still experiencing a lot of breakage. My last trim was about three months ago. Whenever I manipulate my hair, whether it be brushing, braiding, or putting it in a bun I end up with a ton of shed hairs, enough that it sort of freaks me out. I also see a lot of tiny snapped off ends of hair, probably about one inch long strands.

What should I be doing to fix this? Is there any way to actually fix it, or do I have to just keep cutting the damage off? The last time I went in for a trim, my hairdresser commented that she saw a lot of broken strands traveling up along the length of my hair and asked me if I blow dried it a lot.

[amiraaah]

i can relate,i am 20 years old too and i have your exact same back story.i know it's your hair and you can do whatever you want to it but think about it you already have heat damaged hair but still use the hair straightener(not as before which is a good step but still use it alot and heat protectant will not protect your hair )what i want to say is your hair needs a break. even if you cut all the damage off you will start the same cycle again but at a very shorter length.
based on my experience,i stopped completely using heat for 8 months and microtrimmed my hair alot.this is the best thing i have ever done to my hair.start motivating yourself and see pictures of hair journeys here on LHC.:)
if you just want a straightforward answer to your question;you can't fix damage or breakage you have to trim it gradually or chop it.

[lapushka]

Straightening every single day is a lot.

Unfortunately stopping heat is not something that gets better after 2 weeks or a few months, it only affects your new growth, so it's like growing out fresh from bald.

The hair that was straightened for years stays damaged, and you can only slowly trim that off; inspect your hair carefully - do you have any white dots up the strand? You can have multiple on one strand of hair.


However, I am still experiencing a lot of breakage. My last trim was about three months ago. Whenever I manipulate my hair, whether it be brushing, braiding, or putting it in a bun I end up with a ton of shed hairs, enough that it sort of freaks me out. I also see a lot of tiny snapped off ends of hair, probably about one inch long strands.

What should I be doing to fix this? Is there any way to actually fix it, or do I have to just keep cutting the damage off? The last time I went in for a trim, my hairdresser commented that she saw a lot of broken strands traveling up along the length of my hair and asked me if I blow dried it a lot.

[Ylva]

The best thing you could do is accept your natural texture and embrace it, and stop with the straightening altogether.

[JennGalt]

I’m a former flatiron junkie. Ylva and Lapushka are right. You’re just going to have to grow out the heat damaged parts, because heat damage is permanent. Deep conditioning and protein treatments/protein-laden conditioners might help the condition of the damaged portion, but any hair that has heat damage will always be more prone to breakage than hair that has never seen a flatiron. I’d recommend S&D and microtrimming until you get rid of the badly damaged potion, and only use the flatiron for special occasions—if at all.

It will take a while for your hair to adjust and for you to get used to dealing with your natural texture again. Part of my hair was damaged straight, so that prompted me to keep it in a bun most of the time until the worst of the damage was trimmed off and the salvageable portion (only flatironed occasionally) regained sufficient health and curl to blend with the rest. I haven’t used my flatiron at all in about a year, and despite my frustration with curly hair, I can tell you it does get easier—but that will take time.

Here’s an article about heat damage you might find informative:
http://www.curlynikki.com/2015/10/heat-damage-in-natural-hair.html?m=1

[*Wednesday*]

I used a curling iron for many years. I'll be heat free 2 years Jan 2019. You can't reverse the damage and will gradually need to trim away. Try hot oil treatments once a week or a deep conditioning masks. It won't fix but may help. Keep the ends moisturized.

[illicitlizard]

Nice one on minimising the heat use! That's a hard thing to do. I will just reiterate what others have said, you've got to let all the damaged hair grow out, which is going to take years.
You can't really fix super damaged hair, but some have success covering the damage with coney serums and lots of moisturising treatments and oils. Even further minimising the use of heat and dealing with your natural texture will also definitely reduce future damage, but depends if that's something you're willing to do/that will fit with your lifestyle.

[lithostoic]

Until it grows out. I learned this from experience.

[MoonRabbit]

I agree that you do have to let it grow out but you might be able to help it a little bit. I spent 10 years using a flat iron daily. I stopped cold turkey 3 years ago. Though I still have the damage from it since I only now started trimming some of the damage away. I just started to baby the heck out of it. Deep treating weekly, washing once a week, being as gentle as possible when handling it. It took a loooong time to start seeing some improvement, it doesn't break nearly as easily anymore and I managed to grow it from bsl to tbl with extra care. Honestly, my hair doesn't even look heat damaged anymore.

[Ju]

The sooner you commit to saving your hair, the better. I was in the same position about two and a half/nearly three years ago. The problem with using heat on your hair, is that you get to the point where it is so damaged that the only way it looks good is to keep using heat - which ultimately prolongs and exacerbates damage. What I did, and I would recommend, is to just cut the cord and quit the heat altogether. Your hair is going to probably not look its best for a while, but that's okay. Because you can micro trim/even get a good cut and then maintain it at a shorter length while the damage grows out with micro trims. You can learn to look after your hair, do all the good things we learn about on the LHC. Because even if 3/4 of the hair essentially needs to be chopped off, you're putting in the legwork for that 1/4 length of hair near your scalp that will eventually become your length.
It took ten years to damage it, and so its going to take a few years to remedy that damage. Kind of like losing weight - it takes years to gain it so it takes some time to lose it again.
I used to have such horrible horrible hair, I was so ashamed - split ends for miles and white dots like no ones business. But I made the commitment to my hair to get it healthy. I didn't think I'd like going no heat, but at the end of the day if you are looking after your hair, it looks so good naturally anyway. I started using heat because before, I was essentially using the wrong products for my hair and so it looked bad and the heat mad it look more decent. Now its got all the good things it really needs and so it looks better than it ever did when it was straightened.
I also want to say that one of my big motivators in wanting to end the cycle of excessive heat use was that I was losing a lot of the thickness of my hair - it wasn't only due to the heat - but heat was a big contributing factor. Now my hair is so much better, I really promise that this is a really beneficial thing.
Its also really nice to not have to spend hours frying it, instead spending time conditioning it or just doing stuff that i know will long term benefit it.

[sophia_]

Growing out my own heat damage, cutting down heat use didn't really help- what helped was foregoing it completely, and either chopping off or microtrimming the damage. I would suggest wearing your hair up to remove the need for heat styling. Also make sure you detangle really carefully- using less heat does mean that it'll tangle more.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Give up the heat tools, grow fresh new hair, and gradually trim off the old heat damaged hair, babying it along with oils and conditioning treatments in the meantime. You'll get there, but it will take years of patience. It will be very worth it, though!

[cjk]

Hair does not heal. I'll repeat that. Hair does not heal.

It gets replaced as it grows out.

You cannot fix your damaged hair. It might be possible to improve its condition, moisture definitely. Maybe olaplex. But it's damaged. And the only way to get rid of the damage is to get rid of the damage.

Question. Why do you straighten your hair? I know it's a style choice, but deeper...why do you choose the straight style? What is your motivation?

[PixieNixie]

What has probably happened is you have caused your cortex of your hair to explode. This is why you have breakage and splits ends. When you flat iron esp after you shower you are like literally causing the water in your hair shaft to boil and turn into steam causing your hair to break or split. Unfortunately this type of damage isn't repairable by anything other than trimming. If you dont trim, the breakage can and will travel up the hair shaft. I would get a good pair of hair scissors and start clipping every split end I see. I would also think about getting a decent chop so you can end the breakage and start growing out healthy. I would try to give up heat products all together. I know it sounds harsh, but they truly are bad for your hair. I would look into curly/wavy girl routines and such and maybe see if you can perfect your natural texture whatever that may be. I know I used to straighten my hair a lot (everyday) and it was because unbeknownst to me I had wavy hair. I thought I just had frizzy hair... Nope. So now I know how to deal with the frizz better and can still wear it fairly straight if I want to or switch it up and go really wavy all without using heat tools btw :)