Sorry to bother you all again...

[Eniratak]

But I am worried. XD. Worried enough to the point where I am having dreams about my hair. I know. Strange, but very true.
I have rather long hair and I've been growing it out for around six or seven years. The last time I cut it was in eighth grade and that was for bangs and the stylist gave me a small little trim. Now I'm a senior at my high school and I haven't cut or trimmed my hair.
Point blank: I have a lot of split ends. A lot. Most are at the ends and a few in the length of my hair. And I've been debating on cutting it to get the split ends out, however, I've heard about the 'search and destroy' method. I don't want to cut my hair and even more, I don't want to go get it done at a salon (after all the horror stories I've heard, who would?). But I'm at a loss at what to do.

My questions being: Does the search method work for those with so many split ends? Do I need to go get three or even four inches cut off to get rid of them?

I just have one problem with trimming, that being, I hate when hair is cut straight across. I like having jagged ends. The straight across look doesn't work for me and I don't know how you'd get a trim or cut without having that done. (Can you tell I don't cut it often? XD.)
Anyway, I would love for some help. I can't take pictures of my hair, other than the ones that I have, because the damage doesn't show up on camera. Any help would be appreciated and I'm sorry for the long read.

[nyemelis]

When I used to get trims regularly, if I told the hairdresser that I didn't want the freshly-cut blunt look on my ends (I thought it was dorky) she would make it look "jagged."

So don't be scared of a trim for that reason.

[bte]

Don't panic!

There is a lot of good advice about the Search & Destroy method on this site from people with experience in dealing with major split end problems.

Don't expect instant results - read all about the possibilities and then try a method which you feel will suit you an a small scale. If it works, extend the experiment.

Good luck!

[Heidi_234]

If you do systematic S&D, yes, it can help, but it will also take a while. If you feel you need to trim all your ends, and if you hate blunt ends, you can also microtrim them by taking small sections, aligning the ends to be the same length and cutting them bluntly. Also, you might find this twisting technique (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=146) useful for getting all these different length hairs, without doing a blunt cut.

[Eniratak]

Thanks everyone. XD.

[Nevermore]

Self trimming is the best thing EVER. And if you want textured ends, you can snip straight up, as opposed to across. It's not as good for the hair, but if you really hate blunt ends, it could be worth it. This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLJWe6ApBOs&feature=related is an example of the "straight up" cutting I mentioned. And these are instructions for self trimming: http://community.livejournal.com/feyeselftrim. You can do a V or U shape instead of straight across.

[misstwist]

When I first started growing out I had tons of splits. I bought a pair of scissors and did an s&d about once a week and started using coconut oil on the ends every night because they were very dry.

In a couple months I had no more splits and rarely have them to this day. That may not be how it works for you. We have some members who always have quite a few splits and just live with it.

I'm not sure why you would need to have 3 or 4 inches trimmed off your hair. Do you have splits that high? If you do, you might want to do a self-trim of that length and get it over with all at once, or do a micro trim every 2-4 weeks for a little bit. Doing it as a micro trim would give you lots of practice in self-trimming. :D

You have lots of options here. Try things you can do for yourself and then if you aren't seeing results within a few months you can think about having a stylist do a trim for you.

ETA--You don't need to apologize for bothering us, you aren't bothering us. This is a community dedicated to haircare, if you have questions, ask them.

[ponyboy]

The best method I've heard of without taking any length off, is the twist and trim method. Take a section of hair, twist in one direction, and the little suckers should pop right out at you.

[Eniratak]

I'll definitely try the twist and trim method.
It scares me when I have scissors near my hair though, so we'll see what happens. XD. Thanks everyone!

[Flynn]

Make sure you have some super-sharp haircutting scissors, or you'll just create as many splits as you destroy.

S&D is infuriatingly time-consuming when yu have quite a few splits in there, but if your hair is anything like mine with splits, a trim just isn't going to get them.... I've got them at various lengths, and would have to have an awful lot off to get rid of them.

[JamieLeigh]

S&D can be seriously time-consuming, but if keeping your length is worth it, then it's time well-spent. :flower:

I've never tried the twist method, but I will on my next S&D session. :)