Breakage....How much is too much?

[genesislocks]

Hello Ladies! I trust you've all had a glorious valentines/singles awareness day

Anyhow, I wanted to get into the nitty gritty OF...DUN DUN DUN....
Breakage.

Yah...I said it...breakage.

I spent eons of time searching for some good info and came up short.
The topic of breakage has been somewhat of a hush-hush and taboo topic, in my opinion.

Soooo...how much is too much really?

I know that "any" breakage is too much in unicorn land
But for those of us who are still trying to get there, or who are new residents. What's your secret?

Just to give you a bit of background, I've been 100% natural for almost 2 years, I spent the majority of this time straightening about once a month. I ONLY washed my hair once a month, and flat ironed the same day.
Growth? Quite good. Trims? Yes, fairly often. Breakage? didn't notice much, but I almost never manipulated my hair other than wash day...so it's hard to tell

Fast forward to today...I embarked on the _sisterwithrealhair_ no-heat challenge at the end of december, and I'll be on it till june.

To wean myself off the flat iron, I blow-dried for the first couple weeks, then went commando right afterwards

Soooo....now I've kissed my flat iron goodbye (for now), avoiding combs, washing/deep-conditioning/protein balancing/moisturizing weekly AND
Growth? Looks good so far. Trims? One in January. Breakage? I'm noticing it...and it's freaking me out....

I know some breakage may come with the territory of a new regimen, but gosh darn it, I won't stand for this! And extensions are out of the question for me, (I have a looong story about my history with extensions/weaves, if you want to take a long coffee break...ask me about it )

So for you ladies who have been there, done that...what was the difference maker? If any of you see a pattern of breakage, how many strands and what size strands do you see and how do you know when things are getting out of hand?

Thanks Ladies!!

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Hello Ladies! I trust you've all had a glorious valentines/singles awareness day

Anyhow, I wanted to get into the nitty gritty OF...DUN DUN DUN....
Breakage.

Yah...I said it...breakage.

I spent eons of time searching for some good info and came up short.
The topic of breakage has been somewhat of a hush-hush and taboo topic, in my opinion.

Soooo...how much is too much really?

I know that "any" breakage is too much in unicorn land
But for those of us who are still trying to get there, or who are new residents. What's your secret?

Just to give you a bit of background, I've been 100% natural for almost 2 years, I spent the majority of this time straightening about once a month. I ONLY washed my hair once a month, and flat ironed the same day.
Growth? Quite good. Trims? Yes, fairly often. Breakage? didn't notice much, but I almost never manipulated my hair other than wash day...so it's hard to tell

Fast forward to today...I embarked on the _sisterwithrealhair_ no-heat challenge at the end of december, and I'll be on it till june.

To wean myself off the flat iron, I blow-dried for the first couple weeks, then went commando right afterwards

Soooo....now I've kissed my flat iron goodbye (for now), avoiding combs, washing/deep-conditioning/protein balancing/moisturizing weekly AND
Growth? Looks good so far. Trims? One in January. Breakage? I'm noticing it...and it's freaking me out....

I know some breakage may come with the territory of a new regimen, but gosh darn it, I won't stand for this! And extensions are out of the question for me, (I have a looong story about my history with extensions/weaves, if you want to take a long coffee break...ask me about it )

So for you ladies who have been there, done that...what was the difference maker? If any of you see a pattern of breakage, how many strands and what size strands do you see and how do you know when things are getting out of hand?

Thanks Ladies!!

Your hair may thrive on low manipulation. If you new reggie includes tons of manipulation then that's your answer. ANd what I don't understand is when something works for someone why they change it and stay with it even when it harms their hair.

I wash my hair once every 2-3 weeks and sometimes once amonth (gasp I know). I will take some seabreeze in between but you know what? Never hurt my hair and my hair has grown like a weed. If I was doing two strand twists every other day I'd have very little hair on my head. My hair is very dense (tons of strands) but each strand is fine and kinky (4a). My strands demand that I leave them alone. YOu know how I know I don't have breakage? THe proof is in the growth and condition plus no little hairs on the ground. SO if you see something is working....keep it. I think that's a mistake newbies make sometimes. Just because something works for some doesn't mean it works for everyone.

Maybe you let go of the heat but you can keep some of the things you've already learned about your hair.

Also I'm just assuming since you mentioned only once a month (wash) that you have altered that).

But just take a look at longhairdontcare2011 and see what once a month has done for her. I'm chasing behind her and will be there shortly . Proof that low manipulation works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6079snRHhc&list=UUtNJmOCbtm67FvUFUxzveZg&index=16


Also after saying all of this...if that is not the case, then you are going to need to provide a regimen so that people can help you. How often are you washing, with what products, how much protein versus moisture. Because for instance protein doesn't work for me. I have to have heavy moisture, you may need it that way or vice versa. There are many things you can "tweak" in order to whip your hair into shape.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Also breakage is different from shedding. I get full long hairs (with the bulb) all the time. I recently freaked when my thyroid levels dropped again, and I became severely anemic (fibroids) because it came out even more. But I just went back to the doc stat because I knew my regimen was tight so I knew that something else was going on. Once balanced, it went back to normal.

 

[Evolving78]

i am not a unicorn, so i do experience some breakage, due to manipulation. what has worked for me to minimize how much was the way i was handling my hair during detangling. i use my fingers to detangle.

when i was natural i detangled before washing but using my fingers with some oil, and washing in sections, and gently detangling with a large comb with lots of conditioner, or using a detangling spray before i let the water hit.

as far as being relaxed, i stopped detangling in the shower, using a comb on dripping wet hair, and using my fingers to detangle on damp hair.

i also have incorporated light protein into my reggie. i don't mess with combs during the week. only on wash day. i may see one or two broken hairs now either during wash day or maybe during the week.

 

[lamaria211]

I think its to much when your not retaining any length. Try upping your moisture and reducing manipulation. Hth

 

[Channy31]

I think you know it's too much when you have obvious issues with retention and unevenness

 

[Guinan]

I get breakage all the time. I don't worry about it anymore. It's not nearly as much as before I started my HJ but I still see breakage but not excessive to me.

Since I am prone to breakage, I try not to manipulate my hair too much. No matter how gentle I am with my hair or moisture/protein balance my hair is it still breaks. When I do manipulate my hair I see about 10-20 broken hairs. I also shed like crazy. For the most part, as long as I am retaining & my hair is still thick then I try not to worry about the breakage.

I also keep in prospective that since I am not manipulating my hair too much then I should see that much breakage. I think I read somewhere that you should not have no more than 5-10 broken hairs a day (someone correct me if I am wrong). So if your manipulating your hair 1-2x's a week you should have no more than 35-70 broken hairs for that week (hopefully not the 70 )

I hope this helps and Good Luck with your HJ

 

[Naturelie]

Bumping !

 

[karenjoe]

i had that problem..
pre poo w moisture weekly

I use black tea weekly w conditioner on top...... you will be surprised when the breakage or shedding stop

 

[genesislocks]

Your hair may thrive on low manipulation. If you new reggie includes tons of manipulation then that's your answer. ANd what I don't understand is when something works for someone why they change it and stay with it even when it harms their hair.

I wash my hair once every 2-3 weeks and sometimes once amonth (gasp I know). I will take some seabreeze in between but you know what? Never hurt my hair and my hair has grown like a weed. If I was doing two strand twists every other day I'd have very little hair on my head. My hair is very dense (tons of strands) but each strand is fine and kinky (4a). My strands demand that I leave them alone. YOu know how I know I don't have breakage? THe proof is in the growth and condition plus no little hairs on the ground. SO if you see something is working....keep it. I think that's a mistake newbies make sometimes. Just because something works for some doesn't mean it works for everyone.

Maybe you let go of the heat but you can keep some of the things you've already learned about your hair.

Also I'm just assuming since you mentioned only once a month (wash) that you have altered that).

But just take a look at longhairdontcare2011 and see what once a month has done for her. I'm chasing behind her and will be there shortly . Proof that low manipulation works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6079snRHhc&list=UUtNJmOCbtm67FvUFUxzveZg&index=16


Also after saying all of this...if that is not the case, then you are going to need to provide a regimen so that people can help you. How often are you washing, with what products, how much protein versus moisture. Because for instance protein doesn't work for me. I have to have heavy moisture, you may need it that way or vice versa. There are many things you can "tweak" in order to whip your hair into shape.

Thank you!! I really love this advice.

It's true, my hair loves low manipulation...ironically, my manipulation level is nearly identical as before (aside from the weekly washing) but here's the dilemma. When I washed monthly, my scalp suffered and my hair felt limp. Now that I wash weekly, my scalp loves it, but I feel like my hair should be so much more resilient than ever before (superman status).
Note: I like to have the scent of freshly washed hair on my head, since my scalp has some baggage (from the days when I relaxed in middle school) I barely got away with washing monthly…and I hated the scent of oil on my head.

I guess the only happy medium is blowdrying, which I like, but I'm afraid to commit to blowdrying weekly
Profile:
Hair Type: 4a, but might be 3c….or a 3d if it existed lol
Texture: Soft, easily malleable
Strands: Thick overall (except in the very front)
Density: Low Density ( I don’t like being low density!!! It’s the worst lol )

Here is my OLD regimen:
Monthly Wash Routine:
Overnight Cassia Treatment, wash out in the morning and shampoo and condition with aubrey organics gpb.
Detangle in sections of 4, blow dry in small sections with two different types of paddle brushes (slightly OCD), spray with tresseme heat protectant spray
Flat iron small sections on 380 degrees with sedu revolution

Nightly Routine: Finger curl and pin hair into 7 sections. No combs or brushes needed
Daily Styling: Once again, None really. I just undid the pin curls, wore it up or to the side and head out the door.
Breakage: Can’t tell really! Since there was also shed hair on wash day, it’s hard to tell in the heap of hair all over the place.

Here is my Current regimen:
Weekly Wash Routine:
Wahs & Condition with aubrey organics gpb. shampoo (sometimes), conditioner (always). Finger Detangle (I used to use the denman but I’m avoiding it to see if even lower manipulation will benefit)

Bi-weekly Routine:
Do a cassia treatment with giovanni chinese botanicals conditioner, my hair loooves cassia & henna treatments

Nightly Routine: braid hair in 4 - 6 twists with safflower oil and argan oil, and sometimes a bit of h20. No comb or brush, actually I barely finger detangle lol
Daily Styling: None really. I untwist my hair and gather it all to the top of my head

(I'm no/low heat till juse

I'm a little pensive because I reeeaaallyy want to make this change a permanent one so I can wash my hair more often and feel squeaky clean...I love my hair straight but I don't want to go back to monthly washing

I'd love to hear your wisdom on this
Thanks again!!