If you are exhausted searching for how to fix hair breakage on top of your head, then it’s time you should give up your worry.
I’ve been there, but lucky you, cause you’ve got me to explain everything about hair breakage, its causes, and methods to fix hair breakage on top of the head.
Table of Contents
Hair Breakage: What it is and its Causes
Hair breakage is basically the damage of the hair shaft, which makes the hair strand shorter, misaligned, and disoriented compared to the rest of the hair.
This leads to dry hair having reduced moisture levels and brittle hair with contrasting lengths and orientations.
There are many causes of broken strands, and I will show their key elements below.
1. Overwashing and Overbrushing
It is rightly said that excess of everything is bad. The same also goes for the treatment of your hair.
Frequent washing of hair with shampoo causes moisture loss and dryness in the hair, resulting in brittleness of hair shafts and hair breakage.
Similarly, overbrushing damages hair strands so much that it leads to split ends and the formation of frizzy hairs.
According to renowned dermatologist Camille Howard-Verovic, “Overbrushing actually causes micro-tears along the hair shaft and is potentially bad for your hair.” [1]
This is more harmful to curly hair, as it is naturally dry. So curly hair quickly undergoes breakage.
The excess utilization of styling products and hairstyling hot tools, especially which use heat, like hairdryers and curlers, is also an immediate cause of hair breakage.
ALSO CHECK: How to Stop Hair Breakage
2. Use of Chemicals
Yes, you heard that right. Excess use of hair products, which contain harsh chemicals, causes hair breakage more quickly than you can imagine.
Use of hair dyes, colors, bleaches, and other products, which include harmful chemicals, like ammonia, sodium lauryl sulfate, diaminobenzene, and many others, damages the hair follicles and triggers hair breakage.
Taming a thick mane? Glide through our Best Straightening Brush for Thick Hair guide. Craving smooth locks? Check out the Best Keratin Straightener for sleek results. And guys, tired of the puff? Dive into How to Stop Puffy Hair for Guys for the lowdown.
3. Diet
Ever heard someone say “Food is really and truly the most effective medicine”? If not, then you are hearing it now. A balanced diet plays an important role in maintaining healthy hair growth.
As we know, hair is made up of proteins and if your diet is lacking enough proteins to cope with body demands, then you got a real problem. A poor diet devoid of protein weakens hair strands and causes split ends.
4. Heat
Heat not only affects the skin but also damages the hair. Too much heat simply dries out the hair, resulting in hair breakage.
Too much exposure to the sun, excess use of heat styling tools without optimized heat setting as well as regularly washing hair with hot water causes hair problems.
Hair Breakage Treatment
Almost nothing is permanent in this world, not even our hair problems. Some of the easiest ways to treat hair breakage are discussed below.
1. Regular and Proper Haircuts
Ensuring regular and proper hair trims lessens the hair breakage. When you don’t cut out your split ends, they go up the hair strand, splitting the entire strand length.
Trimming the split ends of hair reduces the risk of further damage on the hair strand, thus reducing hair breakage. Proper hairdressing at regular intervals helps to keep the hair healthy and mends the growth of baby hair.
2. Deep Conditioning
Deep conditioning considerably knocks out the hair breakage problem. Deep conditioning treatment is basically a method of treating hair with a nourishing solution.
It is very effective and can be easily done at home [2].
All you need is a good deep conditioner or hair mask with some natural ingredients. Most of the good deep conditioners contain avocado oil, coconut oil, aloe vera, and almond oil.
Deep conditioning helps to maintain the moisture content in the hair, thus neutralizing the dryness of hair and treating the damaged strands.
Now how to do deep conditioning?
- Simply wash your hair with a shampoo.
- Apply daily conditioner if you want to.
- Rinse the conditioner but keep the hair wet.
- Apply deep conditioner throughout your hairs, focus on split ends.
- Put on a hair cap as a heat protectant and leave yourself in a low-heated environment (a heat lamp or warm towel around the head can also do the job).
- Keep the deep conditioner to penetrate for 25–40 mins.
- Rinse out the deep conditioner with cold water. Keep in mind it should be rinsed out completely.
Expert tip: deep conditioning doesn’t fix split ends but helps to prevent it in the future. It also masks hair damage and makes hair look healthier.
3. Parting the Hairs
Do you know that parting your hair in the same manner for a long time results in hair breakage? The same parting pattern on your hair overexposes some of your hair strands into prolonged heat and sunlight.
This draws moisture content from this particular portion of hair, which causes dryness and eventually hair breakage.
Similarly, keeping the part on one side every time makes your hair inclined towards one side. This makes the hair soft and weakens the strands.
Changing parts and brushing your hair properly helps to mitigate breakage. You can part [3] on the side, middle, extreme side, or diagonal, but the important thing is to keep changing the parting.
4. Maintaining a Nutritious Diet
Maintaining a diet full of nutrients and minerals is essential to make the hair strong. A diet full of proteins, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and biotin can help avoid future hair breakage.
Anabel Kingsley [4], a Consultant Trichologist at The Philip Kingsley Clinics, argues that including enough protein in your daily diet is crucial for strong, healthy hair growth.
Good sources of protein are fish, meat, eggs, and beans. For zinc, eat fruits, vegetables, milk, and nuts. Biotin is found in avocados, eggs, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower.
Supplements are also available in the market but natural intake is always preferable.
How to Avoid Hair Breakage
Avoiding hair breakage is not a herculean task, yet requires some habitual changes pertaining to hair care. Avoiding excess use of chemicals as well as restricting heat exposure is essential to restrain hair breakage.
Other things to consider in avoiding hair breakage are below.
1. Brushing wet or dry hair?
People with straight hair make a habit of brushing straight hair when it is dry. Wet hairs have lesser elasticity; they can’t resist tension properly. Wet hairs do not have as much strength.
But people with curly hair should do the contrary. Brush your curly hair when it is wet. This will keep your hair texture intact and your brush won’t be full of strands!
2. Stop heating it up too much
As already explained, over-exposure to heat causes more hair damage than anything else. Avoid regular use of heating tools for hair. Instead, ensure breaks and intervals in the usage routine.
If the use of hot tools becomes indispensable then employ a maximum temperature for hairdryers, blowers or styling kits and keep pausing them while using.
3. Avoid chemical products
The excess use of chemicals damages the hair follicles drastically. So, the extra use of hair care products containing harsh chemicals must be avoided as they fuel up broken hairs and disrupt the hair cycle.
The use of hair products with organic ingredients should be encouraged. Natural hair oil should be incorporated in the hair care routine, and the intensity of hair product application should be reduced.
FAQs
How To Regrow Broken Hairs?
What Are Ways To Style Hair Without Damaging It Further?
Does Hair Even Out When It Grows?
How Do You Fix Breakage In Your Hair?
Conclusion
Hair breakage is a common problem experienced by most people at any stage of their life. Though it is quite irritating, it can be fixed if proper care for hair is ensured.
Overuse of chemical products, malnutrition, and extra exposure to heat cause hair breakage.
But there is no mystery in resolving this problem. Proper hairdressing and deep conditioning helps in combating hair breakage.
References
- 1. Camille Howard | Infinity Dermatology | New York City [Internet]. InfinityDerm 2. [cited 2022 Feb 11]. Available from: https://www.infinitydermatology.com/camille-howard
- 2. de Bellefonds C. Goodbye, Dry Hair: How to Deep Condition at Home Like a Pro [Internet]. Cobb C, editor. Healthline. 2021. Available from: https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/how-to-deep-condition-hair
- 3. L’oréal Paris USA. How to Part Your Hair 5 Different Ways [Internet]. L’Oréal Paris. [cited 2022 Feb 11]. Available from: https://www.lorealparisusa.com/beauty-magazine/hair-style/hairstyle-trends/stylish-ways-to-part-hair
- 4. Kingsley A. Instagram [Internet]. www.instagram.com. [cited 2022 Feb 11]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/anabel_kingsley/?hl=en
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