NOOOO!!!....PLEASE, NOT A SETBACK!!!!

[Mandy4610]

I am trying to not overreact, but I may have a setback.

I have been examing my ends and noticed that I had some split ends, so in Nov I did a little dusting of my ends, but I kept find split strands here and there.
So today, after detangling I decided to examine my shed hair and what do I find....Countless strands of hair with splits. Some are at the end and some are mid strand splits.
I din't have a ton of shed hair, but most of the shed hair seemed to be split.

What should I do? I am afraid of letting a stylist trim my hair, but it might be necessary. Or maybe, I can just two strand twist it and give myself a BIG TRIM....I dread even typing those words.

What is the number one cause of splits? I am asking so that I can avoid it.

I have stopped using too much heat (I used to blowdry every week and now I just dry my hair in braids)
I take care of my ends by moisturizing and sealing
My hair is usually in an updo of some sort or in a puff.
Should I find better protective styles? Twisting maybe?

I am getting ready for my two year nappiversary in March and I really do not want to lose the length I have, but I knw health comes first.

Please help

 

[I Am So Blessed]

i would not go to a stylist if i were you. i would do a deep condtion every three days just to baby the hair and give it moisture,

 

[curlicarib]

For me, direct heat (flat iron & blow dryer) & exposure to the air causes split ends. I'd suggest, NO heat and protective styling.

 

[SelahOco]

What kind of scissors did you use? Using "paper" scissors or ones that are used on things other than hair can cause your hair to split. If you self trim, invest in good hair scissors.

 

[Mandy4610]

What kind of scissors did you use? Using "paper" scissors or ones that are used on things other than hair can cause your hair to split. If you self trim, invest in good hair scissors.

I have a very good pair of scissors that I use only for my hair, I doubt it was because of the scissors. I wonder if it could have been because my twists were too big when I was dusting. Maybe I have to do smaller twists and dust again

 

[I Am So Blessed]

What kind of scissors did you use? Using "paper" scissors or ones that are used on things other than hair can cause your hair to split. If you self trim, invest in good hair scissors.

very good point, , absolutly right about this

 

[Mandy4610]

Bumping for more answers please.

 

[Charz]

Well, even though you stopped using heat, your hair can still be feeling the effects of the heat damage. Blow drying every week is alot of heat. Mid shaft splits are evidence of this.

Maybe try a protein treatment, or something else that will bond to your hair. BKT and Henna are temporary fixes as well.

But I really think you should cut the damage out. Maybe get a loved one or someone you can trust to do a Search and Destroy and cut out all the splits and mid shaft splits.

Since you have mid-shaft splits, you have to get to these before they move closer to your scalp and you lose even more length.

Time is of the essence.

 

[C@ssandr@]

Low manipulation and no heat. I'd DC 1-2x a week just to avoid handling my hair too much.

 

[Sade']

I am trying to not overreact, but I may have a setback.

I have been examing my ends and noticed that I had some split ends, so in Nov I did a little dusting of my ends, but I kept find split strands here and there.
So today, after detangling I decided to examine my shed hair and what do I find....Countless strands of hair with splits. Some are at the end and some are mid strand splits.
I din't have a ton of shed hair, but most of the shed hair seemed to be split.

What should I do? I am afraid of letting a stylist trim my hair, but it might be necessary. Or maybe, I can just two strand twist it and give myself a BIG TRIM....I dread even typing those words.

What is the number one cause of splits? I am asking so that I can avoid it.

I have stopped using too much heat (I used to blowdry every week and now I just dry my hair in braids)
I take care of my ends by moisturizing and sealing
My hair is usually in an updo of some sort or in a puff.
Should I find better protective styles? Twisting maybe?

I am getting ready for my two year nappiversary in March and I really do not want to lose the length I have, but I knw health comes first.

Please help

I would suggest going to ur local CVS or bed bath & beyond OR Target and picking up some coconut milk split end mender by Organix.

Nourishing Coconut Milk Split Ends Mender
Organix Coconut Milk Split Ends Mender is a totally indulgent unique blend of organic weightless coconut oil and silk and keratin proteins to instantly repair split ends from dry, damaged, coarse, and chemically treated hair. It helps repair damaged hair and cuticles, and mend split ends and frizziness. Coconut Milk Split Ends Mender promotes longer hair by helping reduce everyday damage.

Here is the link:
http://www.organixhair.com/coconutmilk.asp

 

[Nya33]

If they are mid strand splits i would advise to cut them either yourself or if you trust a stylist to do it. I'f be scared of going to a stylist as i think they will chop a lot off and sometimes not all of it needs to go!

Think if you really need a trim, i'm sorry cannot offer an alternative to cutting. Hugs!

 

[poookie]

PLEASE DO NOT CUT YET just because you see a couple of mid-shaft splits! that's CRAZY, your hair is beautiful!

if you have mid-shaft splits, cutting your hair out will not fix the problem, it will just remove those splits & make your hair shorter. what do you think is the underlying cause of those splits?

when was your last protein treatment? maybe your strands could use a bit of extra strength.

& have you been deep conditioning often enough?

maybe you should try a mix if your favorite deep conditioner + an egg to add some strength to your hair, & then make sure to baby it by cutting out heat for a while.

& you said your hair is mostly in a protective style. so you're on the right track! just keep on being gentle to it. & try to look up more no-heat styling options.

i say dust the splits you see at the ends, & baby your hair to prevent more mid-shaft splits.

 

[discodumpling]

Good for you on lowering your heat usage! Those splits sound like what is left after frequent blow drying. You can go for a big trim or continue to baby your hair & S & D those mid shaft splits.

 

[ceecy29]

I believe I do everything right in the book and still have splits, now I don't pay them any mind. Like BlackMasterpiece and some other naturals with gorgeous hair have said, they'll sort themselves out. Try and S&D the mid-shaft ones as best as you can and try not to worry about the rest.

Don't make any drastic cuts!!!

 

[PrissyMiss]

You really can not baby split ends. I am not trying to be funny, but it's not like they are going to magically mend together and everything will be all right. I strongly reccommend that You trim your hair because if you don't they will continue to travel up the shaft of your hair causing even more damage. I would reccommend not doing a big trim, because you might end up trimming way too much.

Also start scheduling monthly or bi-monthly dusting sessions to keep splits under control.

HTH.

 

[Nayna]

You said you wear puffs right? How often are you detangling and how long do you rock your puffs? I'm prone to splits so in order to cut down on them I wash my hair in sections and I either let them air dry stretched or I blow it out on cool. I also never wear puffs or wng. I still get splits but very few.

 

[angelk316]

I have natural 4z hair. The less I touch my hair the less I get splits. I use to wash once a week and alternate with high quality conditioner and protein conditioner then I tried co washed daily, then cut it down to 2x a week. I would still get splits and breakages.
I started working over 50 hours a week and just didn't have time to do my hair. I trimmed off about 1 inch of my hair. I washed my hair every 2 - 3 weeks and wore my hair in two strand twist or braids. I did not touch my hair at all during the week. I just used braids spray mixed with infusion ever 2-3 days and sealed my ends with oil covered my hair with a silk bonnet every night.
After a while my hair stopped breaking and I stopped seeing splits all the time.
Low manipulation is the key.

 

[Bettina]

I would say up your DC, Pay closer attention to how you detangle and use twists- this helped me. Your hair may need to be checked for moisture/protein balance---how's that going for you?

 

[longhairlover]

honestly from tons of research on split ends, no hair is really 100% split free, the dry air, brushing, even finger combing can cause them. you can do light search and destroys but i'd advise moderately because I searched and destroyed so much I caused my right side to be uneven with the left side.

like others said deep condition, be super gentle with your strands. but for whatever reason they will always pop up, you just want to make sure it's not your whole head.

 

[Fhrizzball]

Also how you handle and detangle hair can lead to splits. Make sure you use just seamless combs and wide tooth at that and be extra extra gentle with combing. I fingercomb my hair first before I use my wide tooth or denman. That helped with my split even though I still have some.

 

[loolalooh]

Low manipulation and no heat. I'd DC 1-2x a week just to avoid handling my hair too much.

I totally and completely agree. I've noticed from previous threads (forgive me if I'm wrong) that you manipulated your hair a lot last year.

Low manipulation and no heat all the way.

Switching to more protective styling (twists, braids, etc.) will be beneficial. Protective styling does not have to be boring.

I suggest trimming in twists. It's easier, at least for me it is.

 

[otegwu]

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARenR8JDdCk

^^ not trying to plug my channel or anything but that was exactly me a week ago.

The best thing to do is to trim off the splits they are not going to magically glue back together, trust me its the best thing, nothing drastic but they will only make your hair look really bad, i cut about 2 inches off, I was really upset but now I'm really glad i did it

To be honest the cause is probably the delicate nature of the 4B/C texture, the only way to avoid this is to keep hair as supple as possible, so its not so coarse and 'breaky', dont worry about it your probably not doing much wrong. just KISS your hair and it will be fine

good luck in any decision you make.

 

[testimony777]

PLEASE DO NOT CUT YET just because you see a couple of mid-shaft splits! that's CRAZY, your hair is beautiful!

if you have mid-shaft splits, cutting your hair out will not fix the problem, it will just remove those splits & make your hair shorter. what do you think is the underlying cause of those splits?

when was your last protein treatment? maybe your strands could use a bit of extra strength.

& have you been deep conditioning often enough?

maybe you should try a mix if your favorite deep conditioner + an egg to add some strength to your hair, & then make sure to baby it by cutting out heat for a while.

& you said your hair is mostly in a protective style. so you're on the right track! just keep on being gentle to it. & try to look up more no-heat styling options.

i say dust the splits you see at the ends, & baby your hair to prevent more mid-shaft splits.

I totally agree with this.

Split ends are not necessarily a set back. I take great care of my hair and no matter how much a baby my ends, maintain my moistrure protien balance etc. I still have a few split ends. What concerns me is breakage. If you don't have breakage and your hair otherwise looks and feels healthy I would not trip too much on a few splits. You can do all of the things that other ladies have recommended as far as conditioning and being gentle with your hair. But I would not recommend cutting. Especially if you have not first figured out what is causing your problem.

I have figured out that I can minimize the splits ends I have by avoiding heat and avoiding protective styles that put stress on my ends (like securing the ends of my hair with a pony tail holder when I wear buns). If you don't have breakage and you are retaining length well, cutting your split ends is not necessary.

 

[Renewed1]

Well, when that happened to me. I actually baggy my ends every single day for 8 hours; I was wearing a phony pony and in a about a month. My split ends were gone.

BTW: I still did my usual hair regime.

 

[Mari J]

I definitely would not go to a hairdresser. They have set me back countless times and the only person that will really care for your hair is YOU. With that being said you should moisturize your ends, minimize direct heat, use coconut oil, almond oil, or jojoba oil to seal the moisture into your ends daily, continue to use protective styling techniques. Split ends is caused by dryness and our hair type is prone to dryness. Deep condition a minimum of once/week. Your ends will be much healthier. Moisture is the key!

 

[Mandy4610]

PLEASE DO NOT CUT YET just because you see a couple of mid-shaft splits! that's CRAZY, your hair is beautiful!

if you have mid-shaft splits, cutting your hair out will not fix the problem, it will just remove those splits & make your hair shorter. what do you think is the underlying cause of those splits?

when was your last protein treatment? maybe your strands could use a bit of extra strength.

& have you been deep conditioning often enough?

maybe you should try a mix if your favorite deep conditioner + an egg to add some strength to your hair, & then make sure to baby it by cutting out heat for a while.

& you said your hair is mostly in a protective style. so you're on the right track! just keep on being gentle to it. & try to look up more no-heat styling options.

i say dust the splits you see at the ends, & baby your hair to prevent more mid-shaft splits.

Thank you. I think I am DCing enough and I am getting a good moisture protein balace because I DC every week and as a prepoo I always use a mild protein deep conditioner, then I wash and DC with a moisture conditioner. I will be definitely using less heat. I used to blowdry my hair once a week, but now that it is longer, I can dry it in braids, hopefully this will stretch it enough for it to not hug each other and cause SSK. How will I win this challenge, blowdrying helps with SSK but causes Split ends, drying in braids helps with split ends but causes SSK.

I have natural 4z hair. The less I touch my hair the less I get splits. I use to wash once a week and alternate with high quality conditioner and protein conditioner then I tried co washed daily, then cut it down to 2x a week. I would still get splits and breakages.
I started working over 50 hours a week and just didn't have time to do my hair. I trimmed off about 1 inch of my hair. I washed my hair every 2 - 3 weeks and wore my hair in two strand twist or braids. I did not touch my hair at all during the week. I just used braids spray mixed with infusion ever 2-3 days and sealed my ends with oil covered my hair with a silk bonnet every night.
After a while my hair stopped breaking and I stopped seeing splits all the time.
Low manipulation is the key.

Thank you. Unfortunately, my scalp needs to be cleaned once a week, so washing weekly is a must for me or else my scalp itches like mad. Maybe if I clarified more often and used better products for my scalp, then I can go two weeks without washing.

I would say up your DC, Pay closer attention to how you detangle and use twists- this helped me. Your hair may need to be checked for moisture/protein balance---how's that going for you?

I think I am good with moisture-protein balace, I will check again, but I think I am good in that area. Twisting is what I would like to learn to do better, then I can wear twists more often. I am also thinking of getting my hair cornrowed more often.
Question: When you wear twists that hang, would the ends still be protected if they are rubbing against clothes?

I totally and completely agree. I've noticed from previous threads (forgive me if I'm wrong) that you manipulated your hair a lot last year.

Low manipulation and no heat all the way.

Switching to more protective styling (twists, braids, etc.) will be beneficial. Protective styling does not have to be boring.

I suggest trimming in twists. It's easier, at least for me it is.

I don't know, maybe I do paly with my hair a little more than I should, usually die to trying different styles, everyday, I touch my hair twice, for either styling or braiding it for bed and then weekly I wash, DC, detangle and braid.
Would that be considered too much manipulation?