What are these?

[Moonfall]

Hi!

Can anyone tell me what's going on with these hairs in my pictures? I sometimes get these, and whenever I do, they're always at the end of a hair. When S&Ding, I usually snip them off. I suspect they could be split ends or white dots in the making... But I'm not sure.

https://i.postimg.cc/LhzqZ5zn/20200706-151819.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LhzqZ5zn)

https://i.postimg.cc/5HYy9249/20200706-194955.jpg (https://postimg.cc/5HYy9249)

[blackgothicdoll]

Looks like a midshaft split.

[Moonfall]

Gah, I can't stand it! I'm doing everything I can to avoid damage and yet my hair keeps splitting. :(

[blackgothicdoll]

Gah, I can't stand it! I'm doing everything I can to avoid damage and yet my hair keeps splitting. :(

Oh I feel you, believe me, I'm in the same boat. Do you use any brushes with nylon bristles, by any chance? Or any combs with seams? Those are the common causes for mid shaft splits, assuming you never use heat, flat irons, etc.

[Alexandrina]

Hmm, hard to tell from the picture.
Can you see a split when you bend it right at that area?
Like grab the tip of the hair with one hand, and the bit before the bump with your other hand, and bend slowly right at the bump part... and if it's a split it will separate.
Hard to explain, hope you see what I mean.

[Moonfall]

Oh I feel you, believe me, I'm in the same boat. Do you use any brushes with nylon bristles, by any chance? Or any combs with seams? Those are the common causes for mid shaft splits, assuming you never use heat, flat irons, etc.

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with this as well! It appears to be a neverending battle. I hardly ever brush my hair, I mostly just use a wide-toothed comb. I don't think my comb has seams, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll check! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[Moonfall]

Hmm, hard to tell from the picture.
Can you see a split when you bend it right at that area?
Like grab the tip of the hair with one hand, and the bit before the bump with your other hand, and bend slowly right at the bump part... and if it's a split it will separate.
Hard to explain, hope you see what I mean.

I definitely know what you mean, but these ones don't do that. It's always like, this hair strand appearing to get thicker in one spot, then tapering off. If anything, the thicker spot cannot be 'bent' as easily as my normal hair. I'm sorry if that's kind of vague... I hope you get what I mean!

[CuteCrow]

They look to me like hairs that have broken from pulling or stretching the hairs. At least the second one. The key indicators are the kinks at the very end of the hair and the sudden thinning.
Do you wear your hair mostly up? Maybe the hairstyles you are using are adding more tension at the ends than what they should?

[Fimu]

Hard to tell. I do see a torsion twist in the strand, which is a natural occurrence (most of my strands also have torsion twists).

If the strand has never been cut, it tapers naturally just like an eyelash or a body hair (my newgrown baby virgin hairs all have tapered ends).

I can relate to the battle with split ends, but I wonder, do you have (had) any nutrient deficiencies in the past years, such as iron deficiency?

[Feral_]

Looks as if it might be cuticle damage that’s not got to the white dot or split stage?

[florenonite]

Gah, I can't stand it! I'm doing everything I can to avoid damage and yet my hair keeps splitting. :(

Ughh, I know how you feel. I never used to have problems with splits at all, and in the past six months they've been ridiculous. I think I've narrowed down the culprit, at least; we live in an area with VERY hard water and had some bother with our water softener when we first moved in. Unfortunately, once the splits are there it seems hard to prevent them from causing new ones if I don't catch them with S&D in time.

When you say you're doing everything you can, could you elaborate a bit? It might help narrow down something to experiment with if you give more detail.

You mentioned elsewhere in this thread you don't know if your comb has seams; typically if it's plastic it will, as most of those are made by two moulds pressed together, but if it's wooden it won't.

[shelomit]

If you are worried about seams in plastic combs, it's fairly easy to smooth them out with fine sandpaper.

[0xalis]

When my hair was splitting despite my best efforts, it was protein overload. My hair hates protein!
Could be your hair either hates or loves protein and is getting too much or not enough.

[wo]

I get these exactly! On the end of fine and tapered hairs, like hairs that have never been trimmed, and it just looks like a thicker part? It doesn't split or seem like a week spot. Anyway I trim them if I find them, since it's always near the end anyway. 🤷*♀️

[Longlegs]

I often get these, no matter how gently I treat my hair. So I wonder if this is just the way my hair grows? , my hair seems quite porous too. I've resigned myself to the fact that I will continue to get these. I get split ends too though. But I am interested to see if my grey hair will be the same. At the moment not alot of my grey hairs are long.

[Moonfall]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!


Hard to tell. I do see a torsion twist in the strand, which is a natural occurrence (most of my strands also have torsion twists).

If the strand has never been cut, it tapers naturally just like an eyelash or a body hair (my newgrown baby virgin hairs all have tapered ends).

I can relate to the battle with split ends, but I wonder, do you have (had) any nutrient deficiencies in the past years, such as iron deficiency?

Yes, I had iron deficiency a few years ago. However, my hair has always been quite prone to getting damaged.

[BleachedBerry]

Looks like splits tome.

[zashin66]

I often get these, no matter how gently I treat my hair. So I wonder if this is just the way my hair grows? , my hair seems quite porous too. I've resigned myself to the fact that I will continue to get these. I get split ends too though. But I am interested to see if my grey hair will be the same. At the moment not alot of my grey hairs are long.

I have your problem. I had to do a double take because you sounded like me!!

[Fimu]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!



Yes, I had iron deficiency a few years ago. However, my hair has always been quite prone to getting damaged.

For how many years have you had iron deficiency? I also have had this deficiency and my hair is also prone to wear and tear, but I don't know how long that was already going around as I only got it tested last year.