Can You Truly Get Rid Of...

[drmuffin]

SSKs and split ends? I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I want a definitive answer so I can stop chasing hair perfection! These things make me wanna sob.

 

[kaytorry]

Bumping this question, I want to know the answer too!

 

[Prudent1]

I vote 'No'. Not to be a Debbie Downer but I think the best we can do is minimize them. I think relaxed, texlaxed, or natural you are going to have some amount of splits or SSK. Regular trims/dustings, drying stretched w/ no heat/ low heat,& proper moisture levels(DCing and HOTs) are the things that have helped me greatly reduce the # of SSK and splits but I still have some.

 

[AHeadOfCoils]

When I was relaxed, I didn't know what SSKs, tangles, or split ins were. I never had to detangle or trim my hair.

As a natural, I have experienced them all. The only time I am rid of them is when I trim and COMPLETELY let go of hair tools. Those suckas, seamless and all, are the devil to my strands.

 

[Ronnieaj]

I tend to think "no," especially as to split ends. I've had them relaxed and natural, and I'm prone to mid-shaft splits . That's why I don't stress about them. I trim a quarter inch every 10 weeks (2 weeks until my next ) and KIM. That keeps them at bay, prevents further damage to the hair, and prevents me from having to make major cuts because I let them go too long. I don't S&D, because I'd lose my mind sitting there, staring like a junkie, tryna find each and every one. NO...WAY!!

 

[lushcoils]

Unless, you have super super thick strands or strands that stay easily moisturized, then no.

 

[LunadeMiel]

SSKs can be avoided by not wearing your hair curly cry, splits ends will always happen. As the hair ages it becomes more prone to damage. I even found a split ends on my 7 month old

 

[Nonie]

No to splits. The minute you trim, you create a new open end to the "cylinder" which loses moisture and therefore becomes vulnerable...and will split in due time. But by snipping off those ends regularly you prevent those splits from ever growing so bit that they cost you retention.

 

[drmuffin]

I figured that was going to be the consensus. This is why I try to keep my hair in twists. If I let it fro out, then it's game over man. SSK city. It's not the most flattering style on my 4" hair but hey, it works. I'm still finding ssks though. And forget about the splits. Definite no-go there!

 

[drmuffin]

No to splits. The minute you trim, you create a new open end to the "cylinder" which loses moisture and therefore becomes vulnerable...and will split in due time. But by snipping off those ends regularly you prevent those splits from ever growing so bit that they cost you retention.

Dang, that makes me kind of afraid to do anything! It's like damned if you do, damned if you don't. But I know not trimming is out of the question. I try to get the knots at first site, but what's a really good time frame to trim the splits? As much as I lurk, I should know this already.

 

[Ogoma]

When I was relaxed, I didn't know what SSKs, tangles, or split ins were. I never had to detangle or trim my hair.

As a natural, I have experienced them all. The only time I am rid of them is when I trim and COMPLETELY let go of hair tools. Those suckas, seamless and all, are the devil to my strands.

How many years were you relaxed? I cannot imagine never trimming hair; IMO the ends would be a mess.

 

[AHeadOfCoils]

How many years were you relaxed? I cannot imagine never trimming hair; IMO the ends would be a mess.

I was relaxed for over 16 years.
My ends were in tip top shape, so I never needed to trim.
@ the bold, that would only be if your ends were a mess to begin with.
I only cut my hair when I was going to different styles (ie bob, bangs and pixie cut)

 

[Nonie]

No to splits. The minute you trim, you create a new open end to the "cylinder" which loses moisture and therefore becomes vulnerable...and will split in due time. But by snipping off those ends regularly you prevent those splits from ever growing so bit that they cost you retention.

WTH does that last sentence of mine mean? (I loathe seeing typos after I submit) The word "bit" should have been "much". Not sure how I got those two twisted.

Dang, that makes me kind of afraid to do anything! It's like damned if you do, damned if you don't. But I know not trimming is out of the question. I try to get the knots at first site, but what's a really good time frame to trim the splits? As much as I lurk, I should know this already.

@drmuffin, why does my line that you made bold make you say damned if you do, damned if you don't? Until I started to dust regularly thus prevent my splits from growing big, my hair never went past shoulders. I started to dust regularly and I've seen my hair break ground I never thought it could.

It's what Wanakee did. It's what a lot of us on the forum do. Trim early to prevent breakage and prevent the need for a cut that will cost you length.

 

[Nonie]

How many years were you relaxed? I cannot imagine never trimming hair; IMO the ends would be a mess.

I was relaxed for over 16 years.
My ends were in tip top shape, so I never needed to trim.
@ the bold, that would only be if your ends were a mess to begin with.
I only cut my hair when I was going to different styles (ie bob, bangs and pixie cut)

@AHeadOfCoils, also how long was your hair?

@Ogoma, it's not as impossible as it may seem to you to never trim hair. I never did for years. But I also never saw my hair get longer than 5-6 inches.

 

[Ogoma]

I was relaxed for over 16 years.
My ends were in tip top shape, so I never needed to trim.
@ the bold, that would only be if your ends were a mess to begin with.
I only cut my hair when I was going to different styles (ie bob, bangs and pixie cut)

Okay. I thought a scissors never touched your hair. Hair gets weathered even if they were perfect to begin with. I think it is the exception to never trim or cut hair for 16 years and have perfect ends. Since you cut it to change styles, you probably took care of weathered ends.

I loved cutting and trimming my hair. I still do. I am trying to hold myself to a 15 week schedule, but have been itching to trim for 8 weeks now. I love the look of blunt/sharp ends.

 

[Ogoma]

@AHeadOfCoils, also how long was your hair?

@Ogoma, it's not as impossible as it may seem to you to never trim hair. I never did for years. But I also never saw my hair get longer than 5-6 inches.

Thanks for clarifying.

I looked through my ends and they look fine, but I am going to trim anyway. It has been almost 12 weeks since my last trim so I'll trim this weekend.

 

[Nonie]

Thanks for clarifying.

I looked through my ends and they look fine, but I am going to trim anyway. It has been almost 12 weeks since my last trim so I'll trim this weekend.

@Ogoma, are you saying you didn't see any ends looking like this:

I'll tell you why: that's because your eyesight would have to be so powerful as to be able to see a 1/10 of a length as short as this line--> -
And if splits look so bad at that length, imagine how awful they must be when you can see them? Also splits don't stay as a fork, they tear off. So how can you tell when looking at a strand of hair if it's whole or if it's already lost parts of its width? Unless you use a caliper to measure fullness from base to ends, you really can't tell so why even bother?

Wear and tear is inevitable so waiting to see split before trimming is like waiting till a cancer is fatal to start doing something about it. By then, the splits will have torn your strands up that you will now be cutting off damage...and trying to make sure you remove all traces of it so that your hair doesn't continue to break. If you can dust while splits are hardly visible, then you don't have to deal with damage at all. You don't even become aware of it...and you save more of your hair.

 

[AHeadOfCoils]

@AHeadOfCoils, also how long was your hair?

@Ogoma, it's not as impossible as it may seem to you to never trim hair. I never did for years. But I also never saw my hair get longer than 5-6 inches.

Before I did the big chop, I was between APL and BSL. Two years before that I had a "Halle Berry" cut.

 

[Ogoma]

Nonie: Welp! I guess I will definitely trim this weekend. They still looked sharp and shiny, but I prefer preventative care. The last time I shaped my hair at the beginning of November, the stylist told me my ends were fine and initially didn't want to cut it, but I needed it shaped. She asked me not to trim for 6 months, but I am uncomfortable waiting that long.

 

[discodumpling]

All hair no matter how coarse or silky, fine or thick has the potential to split. Splits can come from so many different sources ie. combing, brushing up against clothing etc.

Re: SSK's unless you keep your curly, kinky, nappy hair completely stretched at ALL times SSK's are a posssibilty. I KNOW the risks of wearing my hair out but generally I trust my DCing, moisturizing, process to give my strands enough slip so that SSK's are minimal.

 

[drmuffin]

WTH does that last sentence of mine mean? (I loathe seeing typos after I submit) The word "bit" should have been "much". Not sure how I got those two twisted.




@drmuffin, why does my line that you made bold make you say damned if you do, damned if you don't? Until I started to dust regularly thus prevent my splits from growing big, my hair never went past shoulders. I started to dust regularly and I've seen my hair break ground I never thought it could.

It's what Wanakee did. It's what a lot of us on the forum do. Trim early to prevent breakage and prevent the need for a cut that will cost you length.

Nonie I was just thinking that if I do trim that much, I'm gonna lose retention, but if I don't my hair will just suffer from the splits. Lol I dunno, I blame my pessimistic way of thinking. But it is something I really want to do, but I'm at that awkward stage, where it' kinda/sorta/not really a twa and I would just absolutely hate to go backwards in length instead of forward. Excuse me if that doesn't make sense; I've had that kind of day.

 

[Imani]

I've been wondering this as well. I want to avoid doing heat but I think I should be trimming more. However, I don't think I can get a good trim without straightening my hair. I have tight, dry, 4b natural hair and fine strands, I think both are just gonna be inevitable for me to some degree.

The only stylist I really trust to straighten my hair is in another city so I just get it done when I'm in town. But thats only every few months so I probably really need to figure something else out so my ends don't suffer.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie I was just thinking that if I do trim that much, I'm gonna lose retention, but if I don't my hair will just suffer from the splits. Lol I dunno, I blame my pessimistic way of thinking. But it is something I really want to do, but I'm at that awkward stage, where it' kinda/sorta/not really a twa and I would just absolutely hate to go backwards in length instead of forward. Excuse me if that doesn't make sense; I've had that kind of day.

It makes sense @drmuffin but it also shows you are not getting the concept: If you dust regularly and before damage has happened, you won't have to cut much. I usually dust 1/4 inch which is about the distance from this start of this purple line to the dot __. Is that a loss that would make you lose sleep? Nope. In fact if you follow my schedule, it means in a year you'd lose 1.5 inches. That's it. I'm sure you lose way more when you don't dust/trim from wear and tear. Or you will have to anyway from a huge trim that will become necessary.

Maybe my previous post will help you see how effective regular dusting is and what happens when I don't dust regularly. The post below shows the progress I made when I was dusting properly. What I didn't share is in August 2001, I had one inch of growth and relaxed hair. My hair was so damaged that the stylist pulled a chair and held my hand the way you might prepare someone for bad news and said "Maybe your hair isn't the relaxing kind." She was a new stylist and I found her after my hair had been to hell and back so she had no idea that what she was looking at wasn't my normal hair and that her touch up started on hair that was on its last legs. Anyway, I had found www.blackwomenrejoice.com and had downloaded the report and so started a regular trimming regimen (every 6-8 weeks). So the image you see first in this post was the growth I had in that year plus the one inch I started with (all relaxed hair had been trimmed off by August 2002...and also the length you see there is the LONGEST my hair had ever been all my life--and I was in my 30's by now!) Click on link to read how this trimming worked for me...

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?p=8746924#post8746924

 

[drmuffin]

Ok Nonie something in my head clicked and I got it. I really wasn't trying to sound dumb, but it really is that simple. That's what I intend to do, but I think when I read your first post I misread to read something else. I had a communication breakdown in my own head! I'm being very slow today, please forgive me! So basically dust regularly before you have to do a big trim. And it's not even that big of a cut. I can deal with the purple line length!

 

[coolsista-paris]

I am definetly doing this from low. I also heard that its important to.have scisors specialy for hair. If not those other scisors can give you split ends without you knowing .

 

[Nonie]

Ok @Nonie something in my head clicked and I got it. I really wasn't trying to sound dumb, but it really is that simple. That's what I intend to do, but I think when I read your first post I misread to read something else. I had a communication breakdown in my own head! I'm being very slow today, please forgive me! So basically dust regularly before you have to do a big trim. And it's not even that big of a cut. I can deal with the purple line length!

@drmuffin, no need to apologize. Most people freak out when the word "trim" is mentioned because scissor-happy-stylists come to mind and the only thing they can picture is a huge chunk being hacked off mercilessly. It's hard to picture a trim being anything but "a thief of length" if that's all you've ever seen done in salons.

What I do want to stress though is if it's been awhile since you trimmed, your first trim may have to be big for it to be effective and then you can start the small dusting sooner preventative maintenance regimen. To understand why, look at the diagram below which is how your strand may look from wear and tear of normal grooming over time:

​

A tiny trim at C would leave a lot of rugged ends from many days of splits being left to do their worst. A trim at A which is a much bigger cut would remove more of the damage...but even then, only the second strand seems to be whole. There are still splits left to the right of A.

Now if one hadn't waited for the splits to grow so big or rip off at so high a point as seen on the third strand from the top, then a cut at C might've been sufficient. Now however the damage is so far up the strands. In the link I gave of my own hair, you can see how when I waited 4 months w/o dusting I had THIN ends (which were in a state like that third strand). I had to cut off 2 inches just to get rid of the damage. Had I kept up the regular dusting, in 4 months, I'd have only lost 1/2 an inch coz that would have been 1/4 inch per 2 months.

So first get rid of all damage you have now. And then focus on never letting it get that big by dusting early so that you leave strong ends that can withstand daily grooming better. And if you add onto that sealing and protective styling, you'd be well on your way to holding onto your ends better and thus seeing better retention. People with fine strands are the ones who really need this the most...and for a lot of us the schedule of 6-8 weeks seems to be able to afford us the 1/4 inch trim. (The way I look at it is if I do it soon enough, I can feel AT PEACE taking off very little because I can argue that there hasn't been enough time for damage to get so bad.)

 

[Nonie]

I am definetly doing this from low. I also heard that its important to.have scisors specialy for hair. If not those other scisors can give you split ends without you knowing .

Yes, Coolsista-paria always use very sharp scissors and only for hair. Never use that pair for anything else but hair and replace them the minute they appear blunt. A sharp pair will give a nice clean cut. A blunt pair will create a rugged cut that is just a creation of new "tear notches" that make splitting easy.

If you think about it, a tear notch (as shown by #24 above) makes tearing a pack of snacks so much easier than the absence of one. So you want to make it difficult for tear notches to exist at the end of your strands and a sharp pair of scissors will help with that as it leaves a smooth end with no "tear notches".