Does damage really "travel up the hair shaft" and make your length stall?

[Karala]

I've probably read as much about the theory as any other hair freak out there ^^ how split ends are supposed to split even higher the hair shaft, and that some growth stalls are actually damaged ends breaking off, even if hair is indeed growing...

What I'm interested in is real first-hand experience:

Did you keep damaged ends and found out that you ended up with more damaged ends, even as you micro-trimmed as the months went by?

Did you finally cut all of your damage off, and found that your hair growth seemed to take off as a result?

I'm especially interested in experiences from people with hair type/issues similar to mine (rather on the straight/fine/thin side, with damaged ends from chemical dye) but please, everybody feel free to share!

[jojo]

Splits do indeed travel up the hair shaft, they don't stall hair growth they prevent you retaining any length as it will just snap off.

I find a monthly protein treatment, followed by a moisturising treatment prevents bad splits, sure i will always get splits as i have long, baby fine hair it goes with the territory but as long as i give it lots of moisture, occasional protein and the odd dusting mine is healthy!

eta- my hair is 100% more stronger since using hendigo!

[enfys]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79

Nightshade wrote this great article about rehabilitating hair; she spoke from experience too.

[Karala]

Hey, I've been on this board for over a year now, how could I have not heard of Nightshade's wonderful article about rehabilitating damaged hair? ;) (I still check it out again once in a while!)

[tinywife]

I have straight thin hair too, and I was stalled at APL for AGES - probably from my many chemical dyes, poor nutrition and consequent shedding, and habit of ripping the brush through my hair from top to bottom *shudder*

I improved my nutrition and cut it to an angled bob (3" long in the back!), and it's growing like a weed - about an inch a month.

[enfys]

I just thought you might find that useful since it goes into why the different trimming methods work. Some people are here a lot longer and never found the articles!

I've never had breakage from damaged ends, or significantly damaged ends so I suppose I can't add anything else to this thread :shrug:

[Karala]

I've never had breakage from damaged ends, or significantly damaged ends so I suppose I can't add anything else to this thread :shrug:

Lucky you! Wish I could say as much ^^

Any thread on damaged hair should include a link to Nightshade's article! So I think you totally did right in sharing it! (sorry if I ever sounded unkind, I've had a long day and I'm experiencing some difficulty trying to think straight -_-)

[Madora]

And your split ends can have split ends too! I once counted 5 split ends all marching up a strand of my hair. So its best to trim the ends slightly. Mine are trimmed every 4 months.

[spidermom]

Oh yes, they most certainly do. I've had the experience a couple of times of S&Ding split ends. I'd snip just behind a split, and a new split end would instantly appear, telling me that the split traveled further up the hair shaft than I thought.

My first year here, I babied my heat-styling damage over 4 months and grew 3/4 inch in that time. Then I got sick of fighting with my hair (oh the snarls!) and got the damage cut off (5 inches). My hair grew 2 inches over the next 6-8 weeks.

[Angelica]

Personally no I don't think split ends can travel up the hair. I think breakage is something else when it snaps off. I say this because if this was the case my hair would be about shoulder length whereas my hair is almost waist length and I do have split ends. Sometimes they look worse though on other days. I no longer obssess about them and my hair is still growing.

I think sometimes the hair has just reached the end of its life because split hairs are just as likely to shed as hair which is not split.

The worst case of damage I have seen on people's hair when they say they can't grow it is when they persistently straighten it or bleach it and it is very dry and then breaks off.

This is just my opinion and my own experience. If I kept cutting my hair because of every split, it would not be as long as it is now and I gave up S&D because it was going no where for me and depressing me all the time.

Oddly enough I have been told my hair is in good condition despite of the splits. It is very shiny and silky. That might be one of the few benefits of fine hair like mine which is very delicate.

[Valdeon]

I have straight thin hair too, and I was stalled at APL for AGES - probably from my many chemical dyes, poor nutrition and consequent shedding, and habit of ripping the brush through my hair from top to bottom *shudder*

My story is almost the same! But without any chemical dyes.

That proovs that split ends need to be taken hair of, the sooner the better :scissors: :eyebrows:

[excentricat]

Of course splits can travel up the hair. Try pulling the two ends apart some time. Last time my hair was long and damaged I used to do that all the time, to see how far up they'd go before they broke off. But yes, so if they split further like that when you pull, that exactly what would happen when these super tangley ends get pulled into different tangles.

[Angeletti]

I have 1a/F hair and in my case I haven't noticed my hair breaking off or stalling in the growth process. Probably the last ten inches of my hair have old bleach damage and I try to maintain splits by doing S&D every now and then but it's probably been over three years since I've had a real cut or trim. I think the reason why I don't have problems is because I baby my hair, I would imagine it would break off and never appear to gain any length if I still continued to abuse it like in the past.

[clairenewcastle]

In my experience split ends do travel up the hair shaft causing the hair to break off.
As a result I've stalled in my hair growth too many times over the years because I didn't trim my split ends off.
Regular micro trims do seem to be the answer for me.

[Niwa]

Did you finally cut all of your damage off, and found that your hair growth seemed to take off as a result?My hair growth didn't change, but my hair retention went back to normal. Now that I have cut off the worst of the damage and gone back to taking care of my hair, I no longer experience as much breakage. Damaged ends can either be cut off, or they can be left alone to break off. The latter tends to create more damage because the break is not clean; it leaves the end of the hair frayed and prone to additional splitting.

[Karala]

Oddly enough I have been told my hair is in good condition despite of the splits. It is very shiny and silky. That might be one of the few benefits of fine hair like mine which is very delicate.

You know what, I have extremely damaged, dry, thin ends that are velcro no matter what I do, and virtually no split ends. Go figure.