HAIR BREAKAGE QUESTIONS......

[MzK]

Hi Ladies,

I have a few ?s about natural hair and breakage:

1. How can you 'tell' if your hair broke off--other than one side being shorter than the other? How does it affect your hair styles?
If the hair is growing in layers, is that a sign of breakage???

2. Does breakage (or, *gulp* DAMAGE) affect the natural pattern/curl?Can it affect other parts of your hair--like, spread?

3. What have you done to combat the breakage?

4. What exactly is a "breakage spot" and why do we get them, IF the hair is being properly cared for? Is this something all transitioners/newbie naturals/relaxers experience?

Any information is seriously, seriously, appreciated, for I am scared that I'll have to cut 13 months of new growth off........

 

[MzK]

bumping for replies

 

[LovingLady]

Hi Ladies,

I have a few ?s about natural hair and breakage:

1. How can you 'tell' if your hair broke off--other than one side being shorter than the other? How does it affect your hair styles?
If the hair is growing in layers, is that a sign of breakage???

2. Does breakage (or, *gulp* DAMAGE) affect the natural pattern/curl?Can it affect other parts of your hair--like, spread?

3. What have you done to combat the breakage?

4. What exactly is a "breakage spot" and why do we get them, IF the hair is being properly cared for? Is this something all transitioners/newbie naturals/relaxers experience?

Any information is seriously, seriously, appreciated, for I am scared that I'll have to cut 13 months of new growth off........

1. If one side is longer than the other it does not necessarily mean that your hair is breaking. Your hair is able to grow at different rates in different parts of your head. People naturally have layers in their hair, some choose to keep it, others choose to grow it out. You can tell if your hair is breaking by seeing a lot of small pieces and hair without a white bulb on the end.

2. If you hair is damaged your curl pattern is going to be looser then it normally should be. The bigger the damage, the looser the curl pattern. The damage can not spread unless you cause damage in another area.

3. I do not have breakage because I prevent it from happening. If you see small pieces of hair breaking off that means you have split ends. In this case you have to trim or cut your hair. If you see longer pieces of hair that means your protein/moisture balance is off. If you pull a strain of hair and it breaks without being stretched (the strain is not completely straight), or it feels dry and hard, you need more moisture. If your hair is limp or mushy your need more protein in your regimen.

4. If you are relaxed or transitioning you will have breakage where the relaxed hair meets the natural hair because it is a weak spot. For naturals ever bend or curve in the hair is considered a weak spot and is prone to breakage. If you properly take care of your hair hair this is something that you do not have to worry about.

 

[darlingdiva]

I don't have the answers to a lot of your questions, but I can address the question about combatting breakage.

In order to combat breakage, you have to discover why your hair is breaking. Breakage can occur for a variety of reasons: not enough moisture, not enough protein, too much moisture, too much protein, bad ends that need to be dusted or trimmed, high porosity, overmanipulating the hair via heat styling, rough combing or brushing, etc.

Initially, my hair was breaking because I was scared of protein. The breakage decreased a lot when I introduced protein into my routine. My hair was also breaking because I was combing it while it was wet, so I've stopped doing that. I also have high porosity, so I started using Roux Porosity Control and it is helping to make my cuticles lie flatter and reduce the breakage. I am a fine-stranded natural, so I'm always going to have a certain amount of breakage. I'm always trying to work with my hair to have the least amount of breakage, though.

I hope my rambling helped you.

 

[prettybyrd]

2. Does breakage (or, *gulp* DAMAGE) affect the natural pattern/curl?Can it affect other parts of your hair--like, spread?

3. What have you done to combat the breakage?

I'll take a shot at two of these and leave the others to the experts...

2. Damage will affect the natural curl pattern. I've had heat and chemical damage that left my hair perfectly straight in places. The damage didn't "spread" it was just bad in the places where the damage occurred.

I had bad breakage when I was washing my hair with black soap everyday and adding aloe vera gel as a moiturizer. This took my lovely, lush hair from silk to straw in a summer. I didn't know how to take care of the breakage at that point, and I didn't know the aloe vera was causing it either, so I just cut it all off; and had to do the same thing a year later when the same practices led to more breakage. You live you learn.

3. I have been moisturizing my hair frequently, with real moisturizer. I don't over manipulate my hair (dragging the Denman through my hair in the shower without detangling first ), and I like to keep my hair in plaits when I'm just in the house to keep my hands out of it, and to keep my ends protected.

HTH!

 

[Nixx22jam]

3. If you see small pieces of hair breaking off that means you have split ends. In this case you have to trim or cut your hair. If you see longer pieces of hair that means your protein/moisture balance is off. If you pull a strain of hair and it breaks without being stretched (the strain is not completely straight), or it feels dry and hard, you need more moisture. If your hair is limp or mushy your need more protein in your regimen.

This has been the best answer to explain the moisture protein balance I have seen. Well it makes the most sense to me

 

[MzK]

Thanks for your replies. Appreciate it!