My hair breaks off

[maja04]

My hair keeps breaking off and I don't know what to do about it. Its the hair in the front, on either side of my bangs (where men use to have their first hairloss). Its been like this as long as I can remember. My hair dresser said it was because i did not get enough vitamins, so I started eating special hair vitamins, but it did not help. Then i started COing (in august/September 2007) and thought that now maybe it will get better, but no. The rest of my hair is growing and is healthier but I still have the short hair that doesnt want to get longer. :(

Does anyone have an idea what i can do to get it to grow longer and not break off? Please i need help from you long haired gurus :D!

[Periwinkle]

Either side of your fringe...is it long enough to tie back? Do you normally tie it back? Perhaps you're fiddling with it or catching it on your hands. Do you fiddle with your fringe?

Do you wear glasses? Could you be catching those hairs on the frames?

Do you put any kind of grip or clip in it that might be snapping those hairs off?

Are you sure it's breaking off and doesn't just have a really short terminal length?

If the rest of your hair doesn't break off like that, then I seriously doubt it's your diet or anything you're doing to all of your hair because then all your hair would be affected in the same way.

[Julesn]

Hello!!

Try a product by Redken called "Antisnap" & put it in those areas. That should really help you!! :)

Julie

[spidermom]

It could be that those hairs have a short terminal length. I regularly shed out hairs as short as 2-4 inches, which I know are naturally shed hairs because they have a little root bulb on one end. Comb your hair out over the sink and examine the hairs that fall. No root bulbs = your hair is breaking off. Little bulbs on one end mean they're naturally shed and there's not much you can do about that (don't mess with Mother Nature).

It could also be that some of the hairs in these areas do grow long, but the shortest, newest hairs are the ones you notice.

Do your best to take care of your hair and don't stress the rest. It's possible to become over-obsessed, then you won't enjoy the growth journey.

[heidi w.]

You don't do anything such as flat iron or heat to those areas, do you? Look in sunlight or under halogen bright light and see if there are any white dots where the hair bends at 90 degrees.

Let me know.

heidi w.

[Golden21]

I second what Heidi said. Get yourself some hair scissors and cut the hair above the white dot. This will prevent the split from spreading up the hair.
Also, my hair in front does not grow fast at all either. I think those hairs will always be a bit shorter for me. This hair seems to be the easiest to damage and really needs to be treated carefully.

[vindo]

Definetly go to a Doctor to see if you are lacking any vitamins.
Especially lack of iron and zinc can leave hair in a poor condition.
Supplements might help you but just talk to a Dr. first.

[chloeishere]

My hair keeps breaking off and I don't know what to do about it. Its the hair in the front, on either side of my bangs (where men use to have their first hairloss). Its been like this as long as I can remember. My hair dresser said it was because i did not get enough vitamins, so I started eating special hair vitamins, but it did not help. Then i started COing (in august/September 2007) and thought that now maybe it will get better, but no. The rest of my hair is growing and is healthier but I still have the short hair that doesnt want to get longer. :(

Does anyone have an idea what i can do to get it to grow longer and not break off? Please i need help from you long haired gurus :D!

This happens to me, this has always happened to me, and it will probably always happen to me. I even had it as a kid.

Some people just have hairlines like this. The temple hair has a short terminal length, and is generally very fine and fluffy (at least on me). It is probably NOT breakage (unless you wear glasses and aren't careful, perhaps), but simply a short terminal length in those areas. You can double check this of course-- but if the ends of the hair taper naturally, there is not much you can do.

Even on here, there are several people who have the same phenomenon going on. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with you or your hair, it's just the way it is. At least it gives us lots of nice wispies around the face to soften our updos, right? :D

[maja04]

Hello and thank you for all of your answers. :grin:

I think it might be just as Periwinkle and Spidermom says, that the hair in those areas have a short life span, because I don't use anything "dangerous" for my hair, no clips, no irons, no nothing.

I have quite recently been to the doctor for a check-up and everything was just fine with me, but i started to eat "hair"-vitamins anyway, just in case. I will continue to eat them but maybe there's nothing to do, I just have to live with these patches of shorter hair :cry:.

Oh this really make's me sad, I was really hoping that there was something to do, but i guess there are worse things that can happen to you.

Where do you find redken proucts? It's worth a try anyway (the hope is the last thing that dies...).:rolleyes:

[heidi w.]

OK, hair does not grow the same length or rate of speed or thickness all about the head. The hairs on the temple are shorter for everyone. This zonage is also thinner (in terms of thickness of hair) when compared to the strip of hair that grows the thickest: that is, on the center of the back of the head, spanning about 3 inches or so wide. That's why most people have a hard time, especially when going really long, getting a perfectly straight hemline all the way across. Most average heads of hair grow in a gentle u shape. PLUS, when we draw hair back from the temple and over the shoulders, the curvature takes up a bit less than an inch and creates the appearance of shorter.

The hairs in this zonage also tend to have a shorter lifespan and will slough off, shed, naturally. All people have shorter bits of hair all about the perimeter of the hairline.

HOWEVER, you're saying the phrase "breaking off". Breaking off means you see and hear the hair breaking off well down from the area where it grows out of the scalp. You see, shed hair sloughs out of the hair follicle; broken off hair breaks midstrand somewhere along the length. This is why I suggested looking at such hairs under extremely strong light to see if you can detect any white dots. (Some people mistake this for lint until they try to draw it out of the hair. It won't move AND the hair strand bends at 90 degrees. Hair in its natural state does not bend: it curves). Hair without good elasticity will also snap off. Hair without good porosity will also snap off.

Most of us experience some measure of splits and white dots, yet typically, longer lengths reveal this in the zonage of about the last inch of hair, give or take an added inch or two depending on years of growth.

It's quite normal to have shorter little bits of hair around the temple, in front of the ears, even the nape of the neck area and sometimes the forehead hairline shows this more for some hair types than others. I have some all about.

heidi w.

[Riot Crrl]

Are you sure it's breaking off and doesn't just have a really short terminal length?

That was my first thought as well. Since I've been dying my hair a color that is a big contrast with the regrowth, I can see by the lack of regrowth on those parts that they just grow very short and stop.

[maja04]

I thought that my hair was breaking off but after reading all of your answers I have realised that it's just my hair that doesn't grow, beacuse I haven't heard any breaking nor seen any white bulbs.

It is, like you say Heidi, that the hair around my face is shorter than the rest but the strange thing is that these patches of shorter hair starts at the face and goes about 2-3cm up on my head, and it gets only ca 4cm long, it is even shorter than the hair at the temples. Maybe the hair thinks that it is temple hair :D

I just have to live with it and luckily i'm a curly girl so you can't really see it under my curls.

[Alaskanheart]

I think almost everyone experiences this.It is especially noticable on fine and /or less than thick hair.I have it too and always have.

[maja04]

It's just so sad, I really thought that i was going to get rid of this when I started COing and doing all sorts of kind stuff to my hair, but now I realise that my hair is like this.

I know it's strange that it took me about 33 years to understand this, but I'm blonde so what can i say?:p

[Hatsumomo]

Mine actually started falling out in this area due to hormonal problems. Got that sorted out and found this page (http://recedinghairline.blogspot.com/) and I can say that I've regained everything that I lost and there's even more coming in. Increased bloodflow to that area apparently stimulates the baby hairs to become terminal ones.

[maja04]

Hatsumomo, thank you for the link. :flower:

I do have a boar bristles brush that I never use as my hair is curly, but I think I will use it and also give myself some massage with EO. I'm going to make this hair longer!!!

[Lisa-Maria]

I have the same problem, though i know the cause of it in my case, I sleep on my side which results in my hair getting stuck between my head and my pillow all night resulting in some damage.