SPLITS - do they "destroy" the rest of your hair if they're not cut off?

[Charlize]

I once heard from a hairdresser that if you didn't get your splits cut of that they would sort of travel up the hair and make the rest of your hair more damaged and split. Do any of you know anything about that? I've read tons of threads on splits and damaged ends and also an article from the article section about damaged hair and I'm just not sure what to do with my own hair. I want to grow out a little more but the ends are a somewhat fragile and split. But will that get worse if I don't cut them soon or can I wait a little more without it destroying my hair completely?

[Amara]

1. In my experience, if I have a lot of splits, then my hair is much more tangly, which makes it more likely that pulling a comb or brush through it is going to cause breakage. So in that instance, it's not really the splits that cause more damage, it's dealing with the resulting tangle-prone hair.

2. I've also heard that splits can travel up your hair - I've noticed sometimes those big splits that go an inch or two up the hair shaft - but that's been rare in my case and certainly not enough to make me worry about causing more damage overall. I would hazard a guess that splits travel up and seem to "spread" because they make your hair more tangly... see point 1.

If I were you, if your ends are split and damaged, I'd get a very small trim - like a quarter inch or a half inch - (find someone who will REALLY ACTUALLY only trim that much - a friend or mom or someone) - and then grow for a few months, and then reassess. Those tiny trims along the way can make a big difference with keeping the ends less tangly.

[Rentlle]

I heard to about "up-travelling splits" but, if you have split ends, just cut a little.
it rarely hapens that splits are travelling up that much, except if you realy ignore them for a looooooong time.
HTH :)

[may1em]

1. In my experience, if I have a lot of splits, then my hair is much more tangly, which makes it more likely that pulling a comb or brush through it is going to cause breakage. So in that instance, it's not really the splits that cause more damage, it's dealing with the resulting tangle-prone hair.

2. I've also heard that splits can travel up your hair - I've noticed sometimes those big splits that go an inch or two up the hair shaft - but that's been rare in my case and certainly not enough to make me worry about causing more damage overall. I would hazard a guess that splits travel up and seem to "spread" because they make your hair more tangly... see point 1.

If I were you, if your ends are split and damaged, I'd get a very small trim - like a quarter inch or a half inch - (find someone who will REALLY ACTUALLY only trim that much - a friend or mom or someone) - and then grow for a few months, and then reassess. Those tiny trims along the way can make a big difference with keeping the ends less tangly.

This. Also, Search and Destroy missions can be helpful - you look for splits and cut them out individually with good-quality hair-only scissors. You don't lose any length, just the individual splits.

That said, I don't S&D often at all, because it makes my eyes hurt. But if I'm next to my hair scissors and notice some, away they go.

Also, consider self-trimming. It takes some practice, but you get total control.

ETA: oh, you're at 18 inches - sometimes it's hard to trim it yourself at that length (though it never stopped me), and you're probably only going to be able to look for splits in front.

Also, at 18 inches your hair shouldn't be splitting a lot unless you're subjecting it to a lot of heat, got a razor cut recently (they are not so great for wavy hair), or chemically process it. Look around at the articles section - there's a lot of useful advice there about gentle treatment that can prevent damage.

ETA 2: 18 inches was near shoulder for me - I just remembered that some people get damage from their hair rubbing on shirt collars and necklaces - so looking for ways to avoid that should also help.

[eternallyverdan]

It rarely hapens that splits are travelling up that much, except if you realy ignore them for a looooooong time. :)


Even if you ignore them like I do, they don't seem to travel up, at least for me. The longest split I've seen might have been 1/4 cm, and I neglect my hair like crazy. Different things work for different people, and splits can make your ends more tangly, as was mentioned above.

[juliaxena]

I don't know but I never let my hair split to much. Split ends just look repulsive to me...I feel like I neglected basic care if I let them get that way.

[OhioLisa]

I never trim my hair and rarely remember to do S&Ds (lazy). I have never had splits "travel up" my hair. :shrug:

[adiapalic]

If I were you, and if there are lots of split ends, I'd get a light dusting of the ends. Also, if your hair is being blow-dried a lot, you might want to try to avoid it so as not to subject the fragile ends to too much heat.

[Beatnik Guy]

No, splits will not infect the rest of your hair. Trust me, I have more than a few. Nothing terrible has happened, so far. :frog:

[ktani]

When I used to get splits I noticed that there were different kinds of them.

Some just split at the end. Some split in the middle of a hair and some travelled up the hair shaft.

When I had overused a Redken product years ago (Hair Cleansing Cream, in the pre-L'Oreal years), my hair literally shredded. It was lack of moisture, according to a Redken rep (I had them analyze my hair at the time). They measured that and mine was below the minimum they had set up as a standard.

Destroy hair if not cut off? No.

Make hair harder to manage? Yes, from my experience, in the form of tangles plus the hair can be more prone to breakage.

I think that figuring out what is behind them (lack of moisture or careless handling, etc.) may be a good idea. I use catnip and do not get split ends now but catnip may not be the choice for others.

[Fractalsofhair]

It has happened to me, but I also have very delicate hair, that is fine. However, they won't split other hairs. S&Ding might be your friend if you have splits!

[florenonite]

I find that splits tangle with the other, healthy hair, making it break or bend. That said, I'm lazy so I tend to just leave the splits as they are :shrug:

[Darkhorse1]

Split ends can travel/split higher up the hair shaft, but we all have them. You can't have long hair and not have split ends. I tend to do dustings, then a good cut of an inch every six months to a year. I like a blunt hemline though ;)

Any product that lays down the split will save the hair strand from possible higher splitting. The only way to get rid of splits are to cut, but then we'd all never have long hair.

I do find that my hair gets very stringy/weighed down with excessive split ends. I don't really notice tangles, but I keep my hair up when at the barn. At home, it would only tangle if I'm in the wind.

Good luck to you situation and hopefully the help here will give you a solution right for you.

[nicolezoie]

What I've seen with my own split-prone hair is that splilts tend to cluster because the ends are roughened up from the splits, and those clusters cause other splits on the strands nearby. So, whenever I S&D, I tend to cut out small "clumps" even if not all the ends are split. I don't know if this does any good, honestly, but I do it anyway.

Also, I've noticed (echoing others) that the more splits the more my ends will tangle and subsequently break. I've no solution for this, but I guess I'm lucky that my breakage hasn't yet equalled out my growth, and my hair's still growing despite all the splits and white dots/breakage at my ends.

[Wicked Princess]

I speak only from my personal experience, but I have had split ends travel a little way up my hair shaft - sometimes as far as two inches. There were also times when I've tried to snip off a split end a centimeter above the split...only to discover that the split went much higher than that, despite my not being able to see it.

The splits won't move from one strand to another, but it will cause your hair to tangle at the end, which can cause breakage. As long as you care for your hair, I don't think you need to worry about a few tiny splits on a few strands of hair :)

[Charlize]

Thank you so much for all your replies! It's great to know other peoples experiences when it comes to such a hair problem. The thing is that I never noticed splits before I started coloring my hair a few years back. But I have really strong hair and I still have blunt hemline and no stringy hair. But I know that my hairdresser was nervous about coloring my hair because she said that it needed a break and that it was damaged from coloring. I still think that it's helped a lot that I joined LHC. So thank you LHC for making me wiser when it comes to hair. Especially doing a SMT has helped me. My hairdresser says that I need protein to strengthen my hair, but I feel that my hair look way better after a SMT. So I'll just continue doing that as well as lay off the coloring :-)

Thanks again for your inputs!

[Cherry_Sprinkle]

in my hair if I don't trim the splits they will eventually break off and cause a new split on a now shorter hair strand so I S&D often. :)

[thankyousir74]

So, whenever I S&D, I tend to cut out small "clumps" even if not all the ends are split. I don't know if this does any good, honestly, but I do it anyway.


I do the same thing, And I wondered if other S&Der's do this in frustration (I do it sometimes emotionally :/). I'm sure it hasn't affected growth *that* much, so I don't feel so bad for doing it. I'm one of those compulsive split end cutters, carrying hair scissors almost all the time that I'm bored enough, and when I see one I want to cut it.

It may be out of boredom or something, but there's been several times that I've been on the phone with DBF and I say "WAIT! Hold on a sec!" *snip* He's very aware with my activity on LHC hehe :bounce: