You struggle with damaged and brittle hair? It doesn't have to be! We tell you how to stop hair breakage and avoid it in the future.
Healthy, strong, shiny hair - this is the dream of every woman. But only the fewest are blessed with it by nature. Instead, we struggle with hair breakage, dry, straw and split ends.
One bad hair day follows the next. The only thing that helps is cutting it off, right?
Stop. Not always.
Before you reach for the scissors, you should first find out what causes may be hiding behind your hair breakage.
Once you know the trigger, you can take targeted countermeasures.
Today we will tell you how to stop hair breakage and what you can do so that the phenomenon no longer occurs in the future. I can tell you this much: Even a small change in your hair care usually achieves the first positive results.
Table of contents
- How can I recognize hair breakage?
- How does brittle hair develop?
- How can I stop hair breakage?
- What can you do if no trick helps against hair breakage?
- What hair types are prone to breakage?
- Why is shoulder-length hair particularly often affected by hair breakage?
- How long does it take for the hair to recover?
How can I recognize hair breakage?
With hair breakage, the hair is porous and can break off at the roots, lengths or tips. As a result, the hair looks thinner and loses its elasticity and resilience.
It can hardly be styled and looks straw-like and brittle.
You can recognize hair breakage by small white dots. This is the exact spot where the hair has broken off. This can happen in the tips, but also in the lengths or even at the roots.
A common misconception is that hair breakage and split ends are the same thing. However, we speak of split ends when the hair splits into two or more parts at the tips.
Also here the hair looks dry and dullbut it does not break off yet. If the hair breaks off in different places, it is hair breakage.
To see if longer strands of hair are affected, hold light hair against a dark background and dark hair against a light background. Can you see the white dots?
First signs of hair breakage
- Frayed, protruding hair
- Frequent matting during combing
- Short hair falling out without root
- Dry, brittle hair
Extreme hair breakage
- Hair becomes thin
- Much hair breakage on the crown
- Noticeable and clearly visible breakage of the hair
But let's take a look at how it happens before we get right into tips and tricks you can use to stop hair breakage.
How does brittle hair develop?
In order to stop or even avoid hair breakage, you should first know the causes. There are many of them.
As a rule, hair breakage is caused by external influences, such as dry air, blow-drying too hot, bleaching or coloring. However, sometimes the causes of hair breakage are internal.
These are the main triggers for hair to just break off:
- Intense or incorrect brushing, toupeeing, coarse combing of wet hair.
- Strong pressure from rubber bands or hair clips
- Frequent coloring
- Chemical treatments like perms
- Heat from direct sunlight, hairdryer, curling iron or straightener.
- Friction of scarves and sweaters
- Professional and mental stress
- Improper diet and nutrient deficiency
Anti Frizz Tips: How to put an end to frizzy hair!
How can I stop hair breakage?
Once hair breakage has progressed, the only way to solve the problem is to reach for the scissors. But let's be honest, voluntarily no one wants to cut off several centimeters of the dream mane because of hair breakage.
Try these helpful tips to stop hair breakage. You can always cut off your hair.
1. wash and comb your hair properly
Per more often you wash your hair, the more strained it becomes. But it depends not only on the frequency of washing, but also the temperature.
Washing your hair less often and less hot ensures that your hair does not break at the roots. With shampoos you remove the natural fat layer of the hair - they become dry, brittle and porous.
Hairdressers do not recommend combing the hair immediately after washing. Wet hair is very sensitive and prone to breakage.
Comb knotted hair gently and carefully, untangle them with your hands first and apply a light combing spray.
2. stop hair breakage with shampoos
To stop or even prevent hair breakage, you should reach for the right hair care products.
Most shampoos contain extremely aggressive tenisde that make your sensitive hair even more porous. This includes especially the substance sodium laureth sulfate. It causes the foaming.
For hair breakage, however, you should better reach for a variant without sulfates.
Alternatively, you can treat your mane with an intensive oil treatment of coconut, olive, jojoba or Almond oil* give it a boost.
By the way, vinegar is also a good home remedy in the fight against hair breakage. Mix three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to one liter of water and treat the hair with it after washing. Do not rinse the vinegar mixture. The scent fades quickly - don't worry. The acidic vinegar ensures that the hair cuticle closes - the hair becomes shiny and soft.
3. the right hair accessories
After shampooing, your wet hair is particularly sensitive. You can use a soft microfiber towel to dry your hair. This is gentler than a terry towel.
But also by combing you can save your broken hair. There are special brushes that are particularly gentle - both to dry and damp hair.
The right brush gently detangles and massages the scalp. This is the first step in stopping hair breakage. Brushes with boar bristles have a particularly gentle effect on the hair structure.
By the way, the worst are combs with plastic bristles.
You can also opt for a gentle variant when it comes to hair elastics. Rubber bands without metal, Invisibobbels or Scrunchies are gentle on your hair.
4. blow dry gently
Regular blow drying dries out the hair and makes them brittle.
To avoid hair breakage, you should first let your hair air dry after washing or blow dry it cold and only then set a higher temperature.
Basically, the cooler the temperature of the blow-dry air, the better.
Those who can, should let the hair dry at all only in the air.
What helps against split ends? Try these 9 tips!
5. stop hair breakage with the right hairstyle
Hairstyles where the hair is tied tightly upwards inevitably pull your lengths. This weakens the hair structure and promotes split ends.
In addition, the lengths are repeatedly tied together at the same point. The permanent pressure point and mechanical friction strongly fray the structure in this area.
The hair becomes rough and breaks off.
Instead of tying a very tight ponytail, opt for a loose messy bun or just leave your hair open for a change.
6. avoid exposure to heat
The sad news: straighteners and curling irons are taboo. They are simply far too hot and make broken hair even more broken.
But you don't have to get rid of your straightener now, because let's face it: many days you just can't do without it. But especially if you're trying to stop hair breakage, you should do without it for now.
And even later, you should leave your styling tools turned off more often.
If you use a straightening iron or curling iron, make sure that you use heat protection, do not set the device too hot and work quickly. Process each strand only once.
But there are also great ways to style your hair without heat.
7. stop hair breakage by cutting hair regularly.
Even if many do not want to hear it: Having the ends of your hair trimmed a few centimeters on a regular basis is the most reliable solution to stop hair breakage.
Every six to eight weeks, the tips should be cut if it is not healthy. This way your hair can grow back healthier and hair breakage has no chance.
And a few centimeters do not hurt either - promise! :)
You can extend the interval between haircutting appointments when you start noticing improvements.
How to mix a hair mask for your hair type!
8. silk pillow for brittle hair
Your bedding can be the reason why your hair breaks off. While we dream, we move our head back and forth countless times - especially if you're prone to restless sleep, your hair suffers as well.
The cover of your pillow is rough and rubs the hair.
Get a pillow with a silk cover. The surface structure of the cover is gentle on the hair and does not extract moisture from it.
You should tie up long hair overnight. Make a very loose, light braid.
9. stop hair breakage: Avoid stress
Too much stress can cause your hair to break. Do relaxation exercises in between to get rid of the stress.
If you are inwardly restless and unrelaxed, then your chortisol level is elevated. This leads to a negative influence on hair growth. The mane loses elasticity, shine and eventually strength. The hair breaks off.
This leads to even more stress for those affected, and a vicious circle begins.
But the good news is that hair breakage or loss due to stress is "curable" in many cases. As soon as the stress subsides, the hair also recovers. However, this takes a while.
Therefore, try to shift down a gear. Yoga, meditation and walks are good for you and your body!
10. healthy and nutritious diet
Did you know that an unbalanced diet can promote brittle hair at the roots? Like our whole body, hair also needs important nutrients.
Zinc, iron, silicon, biotin and vitamins B3 and B5 strengthen the hair from the inside out and can prevent hair breakage. They also help the scalp to regenerate, stimulate hair growth and give hair a natural shine. Look here: "This is how biotin makes hair beautiful!“
You can get the vitamins and nutrients through oatmeal, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, dairy products, legumes, and eggs so that your hair will stop breaking.
Make sure you eat a healthy, balanced diet. Drink plenty of water and herbal teas, but little alcohol and not so much coffee.
A nutrient analysis at the doctor's office will tell you if your diet is part of the problem.
11. dye less frequently, do not bleach
Ash blonde hair has been the absolute dream hair color of many women at least since Game of Thrones. They bleach and dye their hair for all it's worth to get that Daenerys Oyster Grey look. What many people don't know is that in many series, the stars wear wigs - dyeing and bleaching their mane so intensively for so long would be anything but healthy.
If you want to stop hair breakage, you have to say goodbye to it.
The chemicals attack the hair and weaken the hair structure. If you still can't get away from it, make sure you moisturize your hair extra.
Do you actually know the difference between tinting and coloring?
What can you do if no trick helps against hair breakage?
Letting broken hair grow back is not a good idea. They not only look unsightly, but can even make the problem worse.
The hair has lost its length due to the breakage and at the tips they usually also suffer from split ends. So they keep breaking off.
Make sure that you care for your hair properly. If this does not improve the overall appearance of your mane, the best solution is a visit to the hairdresser.
He can professionally assess the condition of your hair and help you determine the right grooming strategy or trim your hair to a healthy length that is less prone to breakage, if needed.
By the way, breaking hair is not a one-time thing. Once the spook has started, it can spread quickly. Cut affected lengths until only healthy hair remains. Now you have a good starting point for new, healthy strands.
What hair types are prone to breakage?
There are a few types that are particularly affected by hair breakage. These include people with
Gray hair: With age, the ability of the hair to retain moisture decreases. The mane becomes finer, the cuticle thinner. All this leads to the fact that the hair breaks off and becomes dry.
Coarse hair strands: There are people with very coarse hair. This mainly affects people with very dark hair. The individual hairs fall out thicker, which makes them prone to dryness. People with curly and frizzy hair are often affected.
Very fine hair: The exact opposite is very fine, thin hair. They are much thinner from a distance and therefore very sensitive when it comes to hair wear. You must pay particular attention here to avoid aggressive brushing, towel drying or straightening irons and the like. Likewise, tangles form more quickly in such hair.
Broken hair: If the hair is already damaged by bleach and chemicals, it won't take long for it to break. Likewise, hair tends to break when they are and have been exposed to high temperatures.
Porous hair: If you want to stop hair breakage, pay attention to whether you suffer from porous hair. Hair with high porosity tends to break off. They can absorb moisture, but they can't retain it.
Why is shoulder-length hair particularly often affected by hair breakage?
If you ever have short hair and want to grow it out, you know the phenomenon all too well: shoulder-length and longer hair feels the most complicated to maintain. Once they have reached this length, there are many stress factors that can promote hair breakage:
- Long hair are more often coiffed, tied, braided and pinned up.
- Clothing - especially at shoulder level - exerts a strong friction on the tips.
- Hats and scarves provide additional friction in winter.
- From this length, straighteners, hair dryers, curling irons and co. are used more often.
How long does it take for the hair to recover?
If you want your mane to recover from intense hair breakage, you need patience. Of course, the question is always how damaged your hair actually is.
If you have changed your diet and adjusted your care routines, then it will take about 4 months until the first improvements show. The damaged hair itself will recover in the fewest cases, but the hair that grows back will be all the stronger and more beautiful.
How much hair breakage is normal?
That we lose hair every day is completely normal. As a healthy person, 70 to 100 hairs per day are considered the norm. Our hair goes through growth cycles - weak hair falls out and makes room for new, strong hair.
Hair breaking off is also normal up to a certain degree. However, it should be the exception rather than the rule. The more moisture the hair can retain, the less often the phenomenon occurs.
Our conclusion
Everyone has struggled with brittle, dull, straw-like and fragile hair. But with our tips, you now know how to prevent hair breakage. Most importantly, you need to rethink your hair care routine. To 90 % the problem is due to too frequent coloring, in combination with blow dryers, straighteners and curling irons.
Allow time for your mane to recover and catch its breath. Eat healthy, drink plenty of fluids and try to reduce stress. And if all that doesn't help anymore, go to the hairdresser and get a nice short hairstyle and grow your hair back.
All the best to you and a hair!
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