How to stop hair breakage? what am I doing wrong?

[iluvmy67cuda]

I have SO much hair breakage. All the way from the crown to the ends. It looks horrible. Theres no splits just broken. Or it could be new growth too, but how can i get it to just be all one length without all the stray hairs sticking out like that? I think i've tried everything to make my hair healthy. Right now i use a wood comb ( i do comb gently when its wet, maybe i should stop doing that?), I wear a silk sleep cap always, put my hair up always during the day. I rarely use my bbb. I just head and shoulders shampoo, then sunsilk DeFrizz shampoo and conditioner, then aussie leave in conditioner, and after its dry i add some vo5 hair creme. I've tried co, no cones, conditioning just the ends. Everything. What am i doing wrong? I mean even if it is new hair growth, it still looks bad. I dunno wtf to do about it.

[amaiaisabella]

I have that same issue. I tried to S&D every week, but I was afraid I was taking off length that I couldn't afford to use.

Maybe tried oil on your ends to make them look better?

[Raederle]

What's your hair type?

There will always be hairs of varying lengths throughout your length, simply because of the way hair grows. I don't comb my hair until completely dry after a shampoo, and recommend you give it a try. Are you combing from the bottom up?

[happylynngilmer]

I agree with oilings and S&D (but perhaps only once a month?).

It seems you take very good care of your hair. Have you read this article from our lovely Teacherbear?
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=8


Or it could be new growth too, but how can i get it to just be all one length without all the stray hairs sticking out like that?

Hair grows in stages. If all our hair was on the same schedule we'd be bald at points. It's normal to have different lengths, and unfortunitely there's nothing we can do about it, even if we blunt cut there will be some straglers.

One other thing, you have not mentioned if you use cones currently? Perhaps your hair needs a small amount for protection. I find that my splits have lessened now that I use a coney conditioner once a week.

[ChloeDharma]

Yeah, knowing your hairtype would help.....it sounds from what you say that it's likely to be new growth. The care you describe sounds very protective with not much cause for breakage.
It may be a case of trying to just smooth the flyaways down, maybe some aloe gel might help.

[iluvmy67cuda]

Yah i always start from the bottom up and go very slow and carefully to try to not hurt it at all. I've tried oiling, and it makes it look better overall. But i just wish there was a way to prevent it from happening in the future, so i can get all this grown out and it not happen agian. My hair is dry at the ends, oily at the top, i'd say medium thickness and naturally wavy. And its very unruly. I can comb it all nice and if i leave my hair down, in 5 min. it'll have a TON of knots in it, so i just keep it up.

[iluvmy67cuda]

I do oilings once a week usually. And yah i do use cones every time. I tried goin without them and it just made my hair like a dry brillo pad it was really bad. I guess i have to learn to be patient. Im going to get some of that aloe gel and see how that goes.

[rx queen.]

i have the same issue right now, though i'm quite certain that it is indeed from new hair growth. it is very frustrating! i have no real advice to offer, but i'm keeping my eye on this thread. bring on the suggestions, follicular friends :)

[FB]

I too am suffering the same issues and to add to it where I live it is very dry and my hair is suffering from it. I oil it and you can not even tell that I did. So thanks for the post and I can't wait to read what others suggest.

[Delilah]

It might very well be old breakage, or new hairs growing in.
If you have in the last few months reduced your cone use it may be breaks that were glued down before and now are becoming more apparent.
It sounds like you are taking quite good care of your hair. When you stretch a shed hair does it stretch 10% of it's length or more before snapping? if it does not you may be over-proteined or need moisture.
I'd say unless you physically hear or feel hairs snapping during your haircare, wait it out and continue to take good care of your hair. Baby hairs take quite a while to grow in.

[iluvmy67cuda]

sometimes when im combing i hear some snaps of hair breaking. But im being SO careful, i dont know why it does that. Im so gentle to it constantly.

[ShadowSwallow]

Both my sister (nearly waist) and I have a lot of broken hair... few split ends, but a lot of broken hairs. How about a satin pillow case/night cap? Do you brush? What updos do you use to protect your hair at night? Maybe try a protein treatment or cassia to help strengthen you hair?

[peachy.pudding]

one word EVOO, it works miricles, before wash day put a lot in your hair (not the scalp) and sleep on it. Do this before every wash day and breakage seems to disapear and stop completly.

[frizzinator]

Fine hair is prone to breakage, and even if you protect it, it will break with just finger combing. You may never get rid of all the little hairs, but washing less and preening with your fingers to move the sebum down the length may help make the little hairs lay down flat so that you don't see much of a halo.

Try waiting until your hair is completely dry before combing (it is really difficult to make yourself leave it alone until it's dry), and always comb starting at the bottom, in order to untangle without breaking.

Also, I would try to find a more gentle shampoo .... or consider not using shampoo at all. I don't use any products or water, which helps a lot with this type of problem, but of course, this method doesn't appeal to most folks.

[Anje]

Ah, the joys of wavy hair. I'm not quite as wavy as you are, but all my new growth curves for about the last inch, making it stick out of my hair and look like breakage.

Some people get good results by using aloe gel or oil (applied or naturally occurring) to smooth the hairs down. They weren't as prominent for me when I was doing WO washing, for example. But some hair types are always prone to them. We have halos.

[spidermom]

You are never ever going to get it all grown out. Every single day you have old hairs that shed away. And every single day you have new hairs that pop out. Everybody does. When you're watching television or the movies, pay attention. Whenever a character is back-lit, you will see that he/she has hairs of different lengths. One exception - if hair is kept short, then all the hairs will be about the same length.

I use aloe vera gel or styling gel on my hair to discourage frizz and encourage all my hair to flow together. I still have sticky-outs, but not as many. When I'm making a special effort to look as neat as possible, I will use a small amount of pomade on fingertips to smooth individual hairs down. It's time consuming but I end up with a very smooth and pulled-together look.

[Jeni]

I have the same thing. Cones definitely help my hair. I tried no cones and my hair flipped out. I try to be very nice to my hair to minimize the breakages and smooth the halo effect down with cone leave-in or coconut oil. I've seen the hair commercials where the women look like they have all the same length hair (no breakages or re growth), I can only assume it's all "glued down".

Jeni

[akurah]

Is it possible you're overreacting to your shorter hairs? I got mad short hairs like you wouldn't believe. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/akurah/hair/flyaways.jpg) they don't really bother me. and I'm sick in that picture (was running a fever), so I don't look my best, but my hair was combed before I put it up.

[Curlsgirl]

I have those but I have noticed this especially it seems like with my fine haired friends. I have a little friend who is nine years old and she, her Mom and her grandmother all have straight, fine hair. It's beautiful but it looks broken all up and down the length, all of them. It also knots very easily like you were saying, immediately after detangling almost. I think it is just the type of hair sometimes no matter what you do.

[Blueglass]

I've developed this problem in the last few years. It seems to relate to greying and hypothyroid in my case.

[anna1850]

If it's an option at all I'd definitely cut out the Head and Shoulders. It's got lots of sulphates which are very drying. I used to use it and I used to have such a bad frizz halo which is now gone. In my case, I don't know if it was actual breakage, it could have just been that new hairs were coming through but they were sticking up. I'm not entirely sure if it was because they were dried-out that caused it as my hair didn't feel very dry generally, but I am certain that since I've stopped using anti-dandruff shampoos it's really got so much less frizzy.

See if you can find something else that clears up dandruff. For me, it turns out I didn't even have proper dandruff, just my scalp was too alkaline (so I now do ACV rinses). There's various other remedies on here though.

Also, maybe switch to a very moisturising conditioner in case it is just hair which is too dry.

[iluvmy67cuda]

I think its something i'll have to live with. I do use a silk cap, i braid my hair and put the cap on. Im going to try that aloe gel, and try switching shampoos and conditioners again, and try to be more gentle.

[jojo]

you have the same hair type as me and i too get these little hairs too. I have found sulphate free shampoos to be much kinder to my hair. Its just the curse of having fine hair, i used to stress about them but now i look at them in a positive light as they are little baby hairs which tells me my hair is growing!!