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SpottedBackson
October 9th, 2019, 02:55 PM
My partner has long hair like me, but unlike mine his is very damage with split ends and white dots all through the body. Given that we live together and travel together (we are exposed to the same environmental factors) does anyone know what's causing so much damage? :confused: He's very fond of his hair and is getting very self-conscious about it these days. Any tips on how to repair it and mitigate further damage are welcome!

lapushka
October 9th, 2019, 03:11 PM
What's his full routine like?

Welcome to the forum, BTW! :D

Zesty
October 9th, 2019, 03:29 PM
Yes, more information would be helpful. My other thought is, how do you each wear your hair? And what is his hair type?

-Fern
October 9th, 2019, 03:31 PM
Everyone's hair is different, but my guess would be that it is mechanical damage from the way he brushes/combs/wears his hair.

S&S
October 9th, 2019, 04:57 PM
"Trichorrhexis nodosa" ? Can be underlying health cause of it or mechanical/environmental (but you say there is none) -but everyone's hair texture and structure differs

SpottedBackson
October 9th, 2019, 05:31 PM
Thank you Lapushka! Well-spotted :)

-We both have straight hair. We both wash our hair every 4-5 days.

-He wears his hair down or in the same low ponytail, but the damage is not limited to that one spot. His hair is finer than mine and I except it was initially thicker too but it is thinning a little now. He is a vegan (most of the time).

-I wear my hair in a braid if I'm cycling or a bun held with a hair fork if I'm not. I'm a vegetarian.

I expect the pony tail is contributing to the damage but I don't know how he can tie his hair back in a more "manly" way that is less damaging (I did offer him my hair forks, he poohpoohed them).

-Fern
October 9th, 2019, 06:30 PM
Hair tends to be most fragile when it is wet... You could recommend that he combs it with conditioner while still in the shower, rinse, then let it air dry before doing any more brushing or combing.

Could be a protein issue, or a moisture issue, or lots of things, really...

If you take a shed strand of his hair and pull it from both ends, does it snap right away, or is there some stretch to it before it snaps?

I've seen at least one male member use a thick, modified nail to hold their hair in a bun. It looked pretty epic!!

akurah
October 9th, 2019, 10:36 PM
I would bet money wearing his hair down is the culprit. Wearing it in a ponytail, while not great, is still going to be more protective than loose

Kalamazoo
October 10th, 2019, 01:21 AM
My partner has long hair like me, but unlike mine his is very damage with split ends and white dots all through the body. Given that we live together and travel together (we are exposed to the same environmental factors) does anyone know what's causing so much damage? :confused: He's very fond of his hair and is getting very self-conscious about it these days. Any tips on how to repair it and mitigate further damage are welcome!

Since everybody's hair is different, he may need a different hair care routine than what works for you. He may need extra oil, or detangler, or...?

Also, is he getting enough protein? Or enough fat? In general, men need more nutrition than women do.

Also, just search for "men's hairstyles for long hair", either on LHC, in the search box at the top right-hand corner of the page, or on Google (or your favorite search engine), or on YouTube.

Here's what I found just now:

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-3235226288598694:5897013588&ie=UTF-8&q=men%27s+hairstyles&sa=Search

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=129113

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=44564

on YouTube: "15 Mens Long Hairstyles for Different Occasions - Formal, Corporate & Casual" by Thomas In Action https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-29MGhpd9Y

To repair & mitigate damage, there's nothing like S&D. (Search & Destroy: i.e., take a sharp pair of scissors that's dedicated only to hair-cutting, sit in good light, & go through your hair, looking for split ends & white dots, & cutting each individual damaged hair 1 or 2 millimeters shorter than where the damage starts.) That allows keeping the hair as long as possible, while getting rid of the broken hairs. (My split ends like to wrap themselves around innocent bystander undamaged hairs, tying them into a knot, which then turns into a tangle, attracting other hairs. Then all the hairs caught in the tangle are more likely to also get broken. So cutting off the splits gets rid of the already-damaged hairs, & also prevents them from damaging other hairs.)

Chromis
October 10th, 2019, 09:15 AM
I would bet money wearing his hair down is the culprit. Wearing it in a ponytail, while not great, is still going to be more protective than loose

Me too! I had a ton of damage when I first started here because of wearing it in a low pony and not just where the tie was. (Keep in mind too that the tie was once on those lower sections when they were shorter!) When I stopped using that style, I could actually watch the line of demarcation as the former top of my ponytail grew downwards with length.

A simple braid would be a step in the right direction and at least less damaging than a ponytail. Also easier to put up when he is just at home if he is worried about manliness. As others have mentioned though, not all hairtoys look froo-froo. A plain hairfork seems pretty utilitarian to me, but some areas are more conservative than others. In addition to hairsticks, he might try a leather slide. Hairsticks come in some pretty cool variations too, several members here have sword shaped ones for example!

lapushka
October 10th, 2019, 10:56 AM
I am seconding the braid option. He might still like that. Or try to get him to wear his ponytail a little higher, at least it doesn't "rub" on clothing as much as a low pony does!

akurah
October 10th, 2019, 11:59 AM
Google "leather hair wrap" and / or "leather hair glove". Those are ponytail wraps made of leather that will protect the length of the hair a bit better than a regular ponytail because it will block clothes rubbing. They come in a variety of lengths and in masculine, feminine, and unisex variations.

SpottedBackson
October 10th, 2019, 06:01 PM
Thank you all for your suggestions! I'll give them a go. The SO has let me braid his hair and wear it out in public before so I think he'll be fine with that.


As others have mentioned though, not all hairtoys look froo-froo. A plain hairfork seems pretty utilitarian to me, but some areas are more conservative than others.

This gave me a good chuckle. We live in the most liberal area of a very liberal country and SO prides himself on rejecting the "macho" stereotype and then he gets weirdly sensitive about strange things :ponder: Ah, well... boys will be boys. I'll give Fern's epic option a go!! :)

Longlegs
October 10th, 2019, 08:05 PM
I really believe some people have hair that is naturally more prone to damage, although a lot of it can be prevented it's not always possible.

Arciela
October 11th, 2019, 01:22 PM
If his hair is fine he might want to look into wearing it in a braid! My sister has very fine hair and also had damage throughout her hair. She wore it in a pony tail every day. After a long time of small trims and wearing it up, its better now :flower: