Potential Hair Damage - What do you worry about?

[Lianna]

Some people are afraid of bleach, others simply leaving it down can prevent retention. There are so many things to worry about (minor and major). Let's share our experiences and help others be more aware/careful with their hair?

What does and what doesn't damage your hair (something that probably would)? What do you do to prevent the damage knowing it would happen?

What damages my hair:

combing it dry can snap, so I comb damp! Simple. :silly:
being careless with henna leads to extreme dryness (which can lead to breakage), so all I can do is a henna gloss (with lots of conditioner)
I dye my hair so I use coconut oil before, I don't actually see damage, but it's a way to be safer
I'm very careful with hairtoys (putting it in and taking it out), lost 10 hairs to a ficcare once. Ouch! But I don't really have any problems with hair accessories (yep, not even evil metal parts)
I go easy on the protein, my hair can't handle much (same with coconut oil). Both leave my hair feeling dry and crunchy.I think this would be very interesting way to know how different hair can be! :) So don't cringe next time you see someone combing damp, it might be better for them.

[caiti42]

I sleep with my hair down because up gives me headaches. I'm terrified of causing split ends when I brush it out in the morning.

[Aleria]

Can I have long hair while chemical dyeing it ? (Not bleach, mind you, just chemical dye). Also, due to thickness I have a hell of a time trying to bun it, even at BSL, so I also worry about mechanical damage.

[Mesmerise]

Back in the days before I chemically damaged my hair, I never knew what split ends were... so I guess for me I tend not to worry about getting damage from other things.

I mean... when I've got my goal hair, I'm not gonna wear it in protective updos all the time, because I'll want to show it off occasionally. I also don't worry too much about wearing it up at night (although I've started sometimes to braid it) or about brushing it too much etc.

Oh, I do worry about heat damage though, so I no longer use any heat on my hair!

I guess that means I'm not that afraid of mechanical damage, but I am afraid of heat and chemical damage!

[Mirsha]

I'm not too worried now, but I will be once I get my season pass to the open-air pool.

Fun workout vs hair = damage city? I'll see.. I'm not sure if I really want long hair anymore :shrug:

[Melanie Marie]

My hair comes out in spools if I comb it while wet, so I always wait until it's completely dry to comb it. And I always braid it at night because I toss and turn a lot. :)

[Bene]

My hair is pretty resilient (damn near indestructible), so short of sticking it in front of a blow torch or flame thrower, I don't worry too much about potential damage. When I'm so inclined, I'll blow dry and flat iron, comb/brush wet or dry, use elastics. I sleep on generic cotton pillowcases, I don't own a satin bonnet, I don't use conditioners. My hair still grows, and it's still healthy.

A lot of the things people have reported as possibly damaging (dye, bleach, henna), I'm too lazy to try, and the effort involved in maintaining a color is more than I'm willing to bother with.


I suppose I'd be more concerned with damage if I walked around with my hair loose. Perhaps it puts up with so much crap is because I keep it bunned almost all of the time. Or maybe I just lucked out on the gene pool with strong hair.

[jojo]

The one thing that always worries me is split ends; my hair breeds them. Although I really hate s&ding ive started spending 10 minutes a day to try and combat them.

[Vorvolaka]

I don't worry about damage as such. I'm kind to my hair and I know what it does and doesn't like. It rarely splits.

What does worry me is the amount I shed. It's definitely a normal amount, but I'm a thinny, every little bit left in the scalp helps!

[krissykins]

Combing it while damp doesn't make it less likely to snap. I think it's actually more likely to break from combing damp.

I'm mostly afraid of combing too roughly, which sometimes I do when I'm in a hurry. I need to stop that!

[Firefox7275]

As I am trying to grow out mechanical damage, I worry about the trade off between damage caused by hair toys and that caused by me twirling my hair constantly if I leave it loose.

[elbow chic]

I sometimes worry about a lot of things but haven't done anything about many of them. lol. You could make yourself crazy trying to do everything the perfect LHC way.

My pillowcase is still just a plain cotton one, and I'm washing more often than I'd ideally like, and I definitely brush more often than is strictly necessary. (there seems to be a tradeoff between brushing and washing. If I wash less, I have to brush more. Which is worse?)

Sometimes I inadvertently break/pull out a couple hairs while brushing or braiding, gentle as I try to be about it. (the hairs themselves are ultra-fine and sometimes I can't even feel them till I hear them snap!)

Bottom line: I'm not using heat or chemicals or styling products, it's up 95 percent of the time (even at night) and I gave up daily washing years ago.

If that isn't good enough to get my hair to grow in decent shape, then I'm probably just not cut out for long hair right now. :D

[proo]

For me it's all about protecting my frizzy canopy from rubbing or dry air, and at the same time tucking it deep next to my skull so it can be in a sebum bath all day, in a hairstyle that protects it as well as trains and smooths it so when it's let down it cascades into gorgeous shining curls.
So I guess that's mechanical.

[racrane]

For me, it's the damage caused by being in the theater. If I don't use a wig, I have to have it heat styled every day, hairsprayed, pinned into place and the damage is great. If use a wig, I still get damage from all the pins into place and then the yanking out when the wig is taken off. I try to take the very best care I can when I'm not doing a show so my hair can rest. I wish my fine hair was stronger but it snaps very easily. This is the bad part of theater. :(

[alyanna]

Reading this thread made me realize that I don't actually know what my hair looks like undamaged. It's curly and fine and to me, has always seemed damaged with a lot of split ends.

I've treated my hair both kindly and harshly and it hasn't made a difference. The only thing that further aggravates the damage for sure is highlights. Then my hair's just fried.

[Anje]

I'm afraid of pulling knots tight when I comb, permanently denting the hairs and making them more likely to tangle with other hairs and split.

I'm also a bit scared of my cat attacking my hair when it's hanging over the back of the couch.

[Pickelhaube]

I always worry about sun damage. Since I walk to classes, I often spend more than an hour outdoors every day. I've recently acquired some wide-brimmed hats to help with this, but they're prone to blowing off unless I use a hatpin.

I also worry about over-combing my hair. I always have to finger-comb to detangle, because a normal comb takes out gobs of hair.

[RitaPG]

I braid or bun it when it's windy, since my hair tangles a lot under circumstances like that.
I only detangle in the shower, with conditioner on. I'll never understand how some people can detangle when it's dry shudder: it's a pain for me to do!
I NEVER used dyes with ammonia, and recently stopped using chemical dyes (the ones with peroxide).
I also worry about mechanical damage from rubbing it against the back of chairs, so I always put it over my shoulder before leaning back.

ETA:
I also never use any kind of blowdrier or heat styling device.

[Chetanlaiho]

I worry a lot ^^; I worry about the chemical dye I've barely used, the heatstyling I've done maybe less than a dozen times, same for blowdrying xD

I wear it up almost always, unless it's drying or the few times a year that I go out. Hairsafe toys only. I guess I'm pretty obsessed with keeping my hair protected, I S&D all the time and it really bugs me if I see a split and I can't snip it off due to lack of proper scissors ^^;

Also shedding, my hair isn't that thick and I'm trying to improve on that but having hairs come out while combing kin of freaks me out.

As for damage that I do, I plan on using chemical dying again (though I want to try the coconut oil thing) and may even use box dye. I do comb it while damp (but I'm trying to refrain xD) I twist my hair for buns, I swim occasionally, and I straighten my bangs. That's about it I think xD

[vanillabones]

I only comb damp as well. If I comb dry all I hear is SNAPSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAP and I want to start crying. But some leave-in and detangler and a wide tooth comb straight out of the shower (and in the shower with conditioner) makes my hair happy and I lose virtually no hairs :)

Right now the only damage I worry about is mechanical. Putting it up in a mini little claw and a barrette for my bangs is all I do and it still worries me. (I did switch to barrettes that don't have the circle of metal on the top though, my hair snags on those)

[KittyLost]

Ponytail damage :( I've had a bit of hair on my underlayer which does not grow at all due to ponytail damage. Even after swapping to a claw clip for several months.

[spidermom]

The only thing I'd like to do but don't for fear of damage is heat styling. I love the way my hair looks after flat-ironing, for example - so shiny and smooth.

[KatiSasha]

My hair has a clearly defined line where I can see the damage from highlights, heat styling, being constantly in a ponytail..ing, so I worry about all of that. My DH is super understanding though and loves me even during this awkward growing out stage (his mom and sisters have ridiculously beautiful hair that they dye and style constantly with no damage... sigh.) So even when I come to bed with my hair covered in oil, or when I go for days with air dried hair with the most awful looking damaged ends, he still tells me I look beautiful. That's what keeps me going and keeps me from reverting to old ways :)

[Lianna]

You could make yourself crazy trying to do everything the perfect LHC way.

I only have the best intentions! :) I'm pretty much the oposite of that sentence. My desire was to inform people about possible damage they could get, or already have but can't figure out why.


I only comb damp as well. If I comb dry all I hear is SNAPSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAP

That made me laugh. >.< Sometimes I can't even finger comb dry! SNAP! I think it's kinda cool because my hair is growing/have more curls now. A lot of curlies benefit more from "shower/damp detangling"!


Combing it while damp doesn't make it less likely to snap. I think it's actually more likely to break from combing damp.

This is different for different hair types/person. For some, like me, the comb slides VERY easily while damp, no snaps, not a single hair on the comb. It's definally better for us.

I wish people stoped saying "universal truths" like this.

[tigereye]

I'm scared of damaging my hair with chemical dyes, and want to henna but worry that I won't like it. I also don't like using heat on my hair.