Broken hair because of braids?

[Lisa_vc]

So lately I’ve been trying to wear my hair in different forms of protective hairstyles. I do low buns with scrunchies and try to tuck the ends in really good, but I find that the ends of my hair feel very crispy at the end of the day (I guess because of the scrunchie). So I tried out a different way, braids.
During the day I notice that a lot of hair just get loose from the braid. I don’t know if that’s normal, or if those are hairs that are broken off. As I want to avoid that, I don’t know if braids are good for my hair or if iT just makes my hair to break.

[lithostoic]

That's called braid shred! It's entirely normal. We are always losing and sprouting more hairs, and hair at different areas of our scalp tends to grow at different paces. So we have hairs of all different lengths on our head. Hope this clears it up :) If you want to smooth it out you can add some gel before braiding, that helps me.

[Lisa_vc]

That's called braid shred! It's entirely normal. We are always losing and sprouting more hairs, and hair at different areas of our scalp tends to grow at different paces. So we have hairs of all different lengths on our head. Hope this clears it up :) If you want to smooth it out you can add some gel before braiding, that helps me.

Thanks! Helps a lot! But when I just did my braid, I have no hair sticking out. Only when I have the braid in for a couple of hours

[cjk]

Braiding doesn't completely immobilize the hair. Some hairs can and will work their way out.

As hair gets longer, and your technique continues to improve, shred is reduced. But it always happens.

Seriously, very common.

[Lisa_vc]

Braiding doesn't completely immobilize the hair. Some hairs can and will work their way out.

As hair gets longer, and your technique continues to improve, shred is reduced. But it always happens.

Seriously, very common.

Thanks! Now I can stop worrying haha

[cjk]

Thanks! Now I can stop worrying haha

These are my braids from earlier tonight. Still intact, and they look very nice, but they're definitely getting fuzzy.

https://i.imgur.com/pPlVorB.jpg

[Spikey]

A little off-topic, but sometimes, people here think the shorter hairs on their scalp that come loose by the end of the day when they bun are broken off by damage too. If you ever notice that, again, it's the same thing. Short hairs that won't stay in a style are probably just new growth, unless splits or knots suggest otherwise. Hope this saves somebody some worry. :p

[Lisa_vc]

A little off-topic, but sometimes, people here think the shorter hairs on their scalp that come loose by the end of the day when they bun are broken off by damage too. If you ever notice that, again, it's the same thing. Short hairs that won't stay in a style are probably just new growth, unless splits or knots suggest otherwise. Hope this saves somebody some worry. :p

Yes that actually saves me some worry, as that looks the same as my braid after one day haha. I don’t have split ends so I guess those are just the new hairs you are talking about!

[lapushka]

Yes don't faultily think that the hairs coming out of your braids are split ends, no way! That is not the case, it is called "braid shred" like lithostoic already mentioned upthread and it is inevitable for *anyone* making braids. After a while of having them in, that just happens!

Split ends are ends that are "split", that come apart from each other. They look waaay different.

[MusicalSpoons]

A cautionary tale: That braid shred is what makes my hair so vulnerable to damage in a braid - all those ends poking out rub on clothing and get damaged, often split, and it's why my hair feels so dry after taking it out of a braid too.

However it seems most people who wear braids don't find them damaging despite the shred, so if your hair looks and feels okay then don't worry! :D

[lxtcrxlly]

Oh my gosh - I am one of these people who always thought this. Glad to know that these little hairs aren't from damage. Thank you, definitely saved me some worry! ��