SPLITS - do they "destroy" the rest of your hair if they're not cut off?

[Charlize]

I once heard from a hairdresser that if you didn't get your splits cut of that they would sort of travel up the hair and make the rest of your hair more damaged and split. Do any of you know anything about that? I've read tons of threads on splits and damaged ends and also an article from the article section about damaged hair and I'm just not sure what to do with my own hair. I want to grow out a little more but the ends are a somewhat fragile and split. But will that get worse if I don't cut them soon or can I wait a little more without it destroying my hair completely?

[Amara]

1. In my experience, if I have a lot of splits, then my hair is much more tangly, which makes it more likely that pulling a comb or brush through it is going to cause breakage. So in that instance, it's not really the splits that cause more damage, it's dealing with the resulting tangle-prone hair.

2. I've also heard that splits can travel up your hair - I've noticed sometimes those big splits that go an inch or two up the hair shaft - but that's been rare in my case and certainly not enough to make me worry about causing more damage overall. I would hazard a guess that splits travel up and seem to "spread" because they make your hair more tangly... see point 1.

If I were you, if your ends are split and damaged, I'd get a very small trim - like a quarter inch or a half inch - (find someone who will REALLY ACTUALLY only trim that much - a friend or mom or someone) - and then grow for a few months, and then reassess. Those tiny trims along the way can make a big difference with keeping the ends less tangly.

[Rentlle]

I heard to about "up-travelling splits" but, if you have split ends, just cut a little.
it rarely hapens that splits are travelling up that much, except if you realy ignore them for a looooooong time.
HTH

[may1em]

1. In my experience, if I have a lot of splits, then my hair is much more tangly, which makes it more likely that pulling a comb or brush through it is going to cause breakage. So in that instance, it's not really the splits that cause more damage, it's dealing with the resulting tangle-prone hair.

2. I've also heard that splits can travel up your hair - I've noticed sometimes those big splits that go an inch or two up the hair shaft - but that's been rare in my case and certainly not enough to make me worry about causing more damage overall. I would hazard a guess that splits travel up and seem to "spread" because they make your hair more tangly... see point 1.

If I were you, if your ends are split and damaged, I'd get a very small trim - like a quarter inch or a half inch - (find someone who will REALLY ACTUALLY only trim that much - a friend or mom or someone) - and then grow for a few months, and then reassess. Those tiny trims along the way can make a big difference with keeping the ends less tangly.

This. Also, Search and Destroy missions can be helpful - you look for splits and cut them out individually with good-quality hair-only scissors. You don't lose any length, just the individual splits.

That said, I don't S&D often at all, because it makes my eyes hurt. But if I'm next to my hair scissors and notice some, away they go.

Also, consider self-trimming. It takes some practice, but you get total control.

ETA: oh, you're at 18 inches - sometimes it's hard to trim it yourself at that length (though it never stopped me), and you're probably only going to be able to look for splits in front.

Also, at 18 inches your hair shouldn't be splitting a lot unless you're subjecting it to a lot of heat, got a razor cut recently (they are not so great for wavy hair), or chemically process it. Look around at the articles section - there's a lot of useful advice there about gentle treatment that can prevent damage.

ETA 2: 18 inches was near shoulder for me - I just remembered that some people get damage from their hair rubbing on shirt collars and necklaces - so looking for ways to avoid that should also help.

[eternallyverdan]

It rarely hapens that splits are travelling up that much, except if you realy ignore them for a looooooong time.

Even if you ignore them like I do, they don't seem to travel up, at least for me. The longest split I've seen might have been 1/4 cm, and I neglect my hair like crazy. Different things work for different people, and splits can make your ends more tangly, as was mentioned above.

[juliaxena]

I don't know but I never let my hair split to much. Split ends just look repulsive to me...I feel like I neglected basic care if I let them get that way.

[OhioLisa]

I never trim my hair and rarely remember to do S&Ds (lazy). I have never had splits "travel up" my hair.

[adiapalic]

If I were you, and if there are lots of split ends, I'd get a light dusting of the ends. Also, if your hair is being blow-dried a lot, you might want to try to avoid it so as not to subject the fragile ends to too much heat.

[Beatnik Guy]

No, splits will not infect the rest of your hair. Trust me, I have more than a few. Nothing terrible has happened, so far.

[ktani]

When I used to get splits I noticed that there were different kinds of them.

Some just split at the end. Some split in the middle of a hair and some travelled up the hair shaft.

When I had overused a Redken product years ago (Hair Cleansing Cream, in the pre-L'Oreal years), my hair literally shredded. It was lack of moisture, according to a Redken rep (I had them analyze my hair at the time). They measured that and mine was below the minimum they had set up as a standard.

Destroy hair if not cut off? No.

Make hair harder to manage? Yes, from my experience, in the form of tangles plus the hair can be more prone to breakage.

I think that figuring out what is behind them (lack of moisture or careless handling, etc.) may be a good idea. I use catnip and do not get split ends now but catnip may not be the choice for others.