Breakage from squeezing excess water out of hair?

[JasmineDaisy]

I have a lot of breakage where I usually put my ponytail. The thing is, I haven't worn a ponytail in about six months. I am thinking that this breakage is from how I am taking the excess water out of my hair to put in my conditioner. I usually just grab my hair at the nape and squeeze the water out. I was wondering how everyone gets the excess water out of your hair when you shampoo or condition. Maybe I am doing something wrong? I CO my hair six days out of the week and shampoo my hair once a week. Maybe I should just start putting the conditoner on my dry hair but I am not sure how that will turn out because I CO. Please give me your thoughts and suggestions. :flower:

[SimplyViki]

Do you twist it when you squeeze? Do you put tension on the nape when you squeeze? (I try and grab the hair a good couple of inches away from the nape. Above there, I sort of pat firmly with my hands to encourage the water to move downward.)

[Peter]

This might not be what you're looking for, but I apply the shampoo/conditioner on wet hair without any sort of manipulation.

[Shiva]

you know, I think I have a simular problem because I am right handed and pull my hair over my left shoulder to rinse and squeeze out excess water. My nape hair and right side have alot of breakage.

I'll be interested to see how this thread goes and what advice you get.

[frodolaughs]

Hmm. It's never even occurred to me to try to squeeze the water out of my hair before putting on the conditioner. I think the water helps spread the conditioner through the hair, and I've never had a problem with it not working.

[frodolaughs]

One other thought--since hair is extra stretchy and fragile when wet, I'd definitely worry about possible breakage if you're using any kind of force on it in the shower--especially if you're twisting it to wring it out.

[lacereza]

...............

[longhairedfairy]

Are you unconsciously pulling it when you do that?

[spidermom]

I would get better results from CO by starting with dry hair.

I divide my hair in half, each side in front of the shoulder, then squeeze my hand down each side sort of like milking a cow - but just squeezing (squeeze, release, move hand down a little bit, repeat), no pulling.

[thankyousir74]

:bigeyes: Maybe THIS is where all my breakage is coming from! :doh:

[Curlsgirl]

I do that when I am finished with my final rinse every time. I can't imagine there would be breakage if you are fairly gentle and not rough and don't twist the hair.

[pilateschick7]

I use an old soft white T shirt instead of squeezing excess water out of my hair. I just sort of let it soak up the water moving it a few times. I then wrap my hair in a cloth dish towel to finish drying. This really cuts down on my air drying time.

[Heidi_234]

Hair stretches more easily when wet, so you might not want to pull it when you squeeze water out at any point. I don't squeeze my hand at the nape and slide it to the ends. I squeeze topically, release, then move on to the next section and squeeze again.

[ktani]

Squeezing the water out itself, should not result in breakage. I wash my hair all forward and gently squeeze the water out, holding my hair at the scalp with both hands and squeezing, then holding the length with one hand, while moving my other hand down the length, squeezing as I go but gently and not with too much pressure. No hair catches because my hand is around all of the length and I am not finger combing.

ETA: Maybe you are pulling some of the hair when you do this and that is resulting in the breakage.

[JamieLeigh]

Do you twist it when you squeeze? Do you put tension on the nape when you squeeze? (I try and grab the hair a good couple of inches away from the nape. Above there, I sort of pat firmly with my hands to encourage the water to move downward.)

This, exactly. I never twist, I just squeeze gently, and pat down the top of my head. :)

[JasmineDaisy]

Thank you all for your responses! I do not twist my hair at all. I am going to try a CO on my dry hair so I don't have to worry about squezzing the water out with my hands.

When I am finished with my shower, I flip my hair over, pick my hair, I hold my hair as if I was making a ponytail then grab the hair under the ponytail and slowly move my hands down the rest of my hair to get the excess water out. Then I comb my hair out and put a towel around my hair, turban style.

Maybe I am pulling on my hair? Maybe I should just wrap the towel around my dripping wet hair and let the towel soak up the excess water? I just wish the breakage would stop. I am trying to go a year without any trims but this halo of breakage is so sad to look at that I am thinking about cutting it to chin length again.

I hope everyone that mentioned that they have breakage figures out where it is coming from. I am going to use the tips ya'll posted, hopefully it will help. :flower:

[Nyghtingale]

I'm a squeezer too. It must be my problem too.

[Redheaded Raven]

Squeezing the water out itself, should not result in breakage. I wash my hair all forward and gently squeeze the water out, holding my hair at the scalp with both hands and squeezing, then holding the length with one hand, while moving my other hand down the length, squeezing as I go but gently and not with too much pressure. No hair catches because my hand is around all of the length and I am not finger combing.

ETA: Maybe you are pulling some of the hair when you do this and that is resulting in the breakage.
When you have fine hair there is always the possibility of breakage. I just am very very gentle and use a tshirt to dry my hair. This helps me to not break hair. I have hair that is so fine that it is hard to photograph a single hair. Or even see just one, :D

[Shiva]

Squeezing the water out itself, should not result in breakage. I wash my hair all forward and gently squeeze the water out, holding my hair at the scalp with both hands and squeezing......

when you say you "wash your hair forward" does that mean you bend over getting your hair wet on the back of your neck first and washing your hair from that angle?

[ktani]

when you say you "wash your hair forward" does that mean you bend over getting your hair wet on the back of your neck first and washing your hair from that angle?

It is also referred to here as washing hair "upside down".

I flip all my hair forward in the shower and gently separate it under the water, using the water pressure to help. I separate my hair by pulling it apart like separatting a curtain, horizontally. My hair with catnip does not tangle or knot so this is very easy for me. I then add shampoo and wash my scalp, moving my hands forward and my hair still down in front of me. I smooth the lather from my scalp through the length, squeezing it gently through it. Then I rinse, also, all forward. I use my fingers only a bit to separate the hair, not finger combing. I then gently squeeze the water out.

Then I apply my catnip treatment from the back, working forward until I do the length and pin that up and bag it and time it. I take that down and do the top part of my hair and front and sides, and bag that, with my length down, while I time that.

After applying more catnip tea, when I remove the bag, and cooling my hair off for a bit, I bring everything forward again and rinse off the catnip. So, my hair is brought forward twice during the whole process. The running water does most of the work for me. My hands smooth and separate my hair but that is it.

[Shiva]

ok, gotchya!

I washed my hair like that tonight (and then I did the catnip treatment which I'll comment on in the catnip thread after I read the whole thread - I'm ALMOST done... whew!)

I think I will try washing my hair like this for awhile and see if it improves at all.

Thank you, ktani. :)

[ktani]

When I am finished with my shower, I flip my hair over, pick my hair, I hold my hair as if I was making a ponytail then grab the hair under the ponytail and slowly move my hands down the rest of my hair to get the excess water out. Then I comb my hair out and put a towel around my hair, turban style.

This could be where the breakage is coming from. Your hair is soaking wet while you are picking it and combing. My hair can be finger combed somewhat when wet but it is much better if I do anything like that when it is mostly damp. Some people here do not comb at all until their hair is dry.

[ktani]

ok, gotchya!

I washed my hair like that tonight (and then I did the catnip treatment which I'll comment on in the catnip thread after I read the whole thread - I'm ALMOST done... whew!)

I think I will try washing my hair like this for awhile and see if it improves at all.

Thank you, ktani. :)

You are most welcome! It can take getting used to but I have been washing my hair all forward for years, long before I tried catnip. I did used to get some tangles doing that, before catnip use, however.

It may be easier on you to just read the Catnip Article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=118), than the entire thread, lol. I just updated it.

[JasmineDaisy]

This could be where the breakage is coming from. Your hair is soaking wet while you are picking it and combing. My hair can be finger combed somewhat when wet but it is much better if I do anything like that when it is mostly damp. Some people here do not comb at all until their hair is dry.

Yeah maybe that is the problem. I guess I just have to change one thing at a time to see what is causing this annoying breakage.

[ktani]

Yeah maybe that is the problem. I guess I just have to change one thing at a time to see what is causing this annoying breakage.

Towel blot well and then try combing or you may even want to let the hair dry but smooth it with your hands, not finger combing, just smoothing the cuticles by running your hands over the surface of the hair, with your palms. You can also use a detangler to help with the combing.