The Truth Behind Hair Breakage

Hair breakage is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with to maintain the length of your hair. Not only that, hair breakage is an indicator of other factors like wrong products, erratic lifestyle, damaged hair and other issues that can cause stress.

If your hair breaks often, it may feel like your hair is not growing at all. It can also lead to a loss of hair volume over a period of time.

Reasons for hair breakage

• Holding on to your split ends can be causing hair breakage. A lot of women avoid getting their split ends chopped off to retain length, but these slowly travel upwards along the hair shaft and make the hair weak, leading to breakage. Trim your hair at least once in a couple of months to get rid of unhealthy hair.
• Using petroleum jelly and grease can actually be harmful for hair, contrary to the popular belief. This is because these agents work as sealants that do not let your hair strand and scalp absorb moisture, leading to dryness and hence breakage.
• Using products that contain alcohol can cause hair breakage. This is true for products that contain bad alcohols like ethyl and Specially Denatured Alcohol (SDA). These alcohols dry out the hair and make it brittle.
• Sleeping on cotton pillowcases, especially if your hair is already damaged can also lead to hair breakage. Cotton is an excellent absorbent and can suck out all the moisture from the hair.
• Not conditioning your hair enough can also cause hair breakage. Conditioners, especially deep conditioners help in strengthening and moisturizing your hair, significantly reducing breakage. Conditioning should be the first step towards salvaging dry hair as well.
• Styling hair with direct heat very often can be very damaging to your hair. It can make all the moisture evaporate from your hair and make it excessively dry as well as brittle. It is very difficult to reverse the damage done to hair by heat, which in most cases leads to hair breakage.
• Chemical treatments like relaxers and perms also cause hair breakage. Afro-American hair is inherently dry as well as weak and chemical treatments just further make your hair vulnerable.
• Tying your hair too tightly or using the wrong kind of scrunchies and clips can put strain on your hair as well as scalp, leading to breakage.

Wet hair is very vulnerable to breakage. Avoid using a hairbrush just after shampooing your hair. Small things can have a big impact on your hair and lead to hair breakage, so be careful with the products you use for your African American hair care.