There are a lot of products out there — conditioners, serums, shampoos — that promise to heal and restore dry, damaged hair. Sadly, there's really no way to heal damaged hair. Hair is not a living tissue with regenerative abilities, so it can't heal.
For the most part, hair damage is permanent because hair is actually a collection of dead cells, making them beyond repair. The only real cure is time, a pair of shears, and taking steps to prevent new damage.
Using products that are designed to nourish the scalp and hair can definitely speed up this process, but on average you'd be looking at six months to a year to fully see a difference in your hair's condition.
As we've noted, damaged hair repair isn't possible because the protein bonds and cuticles have been permanently altered. Instead, the focus should be on maintaining hair to prevent further damage. If your hair is severely damaged, the most extreme solution is to cut it off and start fresh.
Because hair is not a living tissue with regenerative ability, it cannot heal and repair. You can use oils, conditioners, hydrolyzed proteins or other ingredients to disguise the issues temporarily but it's akin to using makeup on the face.
Fortunately, in the vast majority of cases, you can eventually grow the damaged hair out as long as the follicle itself has been preserved. The most common causes of damage are below. Damaged hair can still grow eventually, but routine damage can result in negative consequences for your hair.
Take an inch-wide section of hair between two fingers and gently pull them down the hair, right to the ends. Concentrate on the texture: does it feel smooth all the way down? If you feel an uneven surface, with kinks and sections that snap off under tension, these are damaged hair warning signs.
Harsh shampoo, hair treatments, styling products, and excessive brushing contribute the most to poor hair health. However, other culprits include: overconsumption of alcohol. low-calorie and crash diets.
Unhealthy hair usually has a rough texture, lack of shininess and luster, have split ends, lack of moisture and elasticity even after treatment and easily broken. Damaged hair will also get tangled up and result in knots due to hair dryness.
Marina Hodgins, owner at Fringe Benefits Gloucester, agrees that clients will be looking at six to twelve months for their damaged hair to grow out, “It is advisable to use a professional hair care routine to nourish the hair and scalp which will speed up the growing out process.
Leave-in protein treatments with yogurt, honey, and olive oil can help restore the natural bonds in your hair so that damage is less obvious. Conditioning sprays rich in keratin can also soothe broken bonds in the hair follicles.
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The world's leading scientists have gotten together to create a colouring game changer. This product makes the clients hair smoother, silkier and fuller. Olaplex treatment goes into the hair cortex and links back together broken bonds to which repairs the hair.
Harsh chemicals like bleach or relaxers can break down the bonds of the hair, making it weaker and thus more prone to breakage. Heat styling can also put enough stress on your hair to cause breakage, so it is always important to use a protectant before you grab a hot tool.
Telogen effluvium hair loss — the type of hair loss linked to stress — typically affects your scalp and may appear as patchy hair loss. However, it can also cause you to shed more body hair or notice less hair on your body than you normally would.
This way, your hair can continue to grow healthily from your roots, but the ends won't fray and snap shorter. So while cutting your hair won't make it grow faster, it will ensure that the length you have is strong and beautiful, rather than wispy and damaged. Hence, trims can help your hair to grow longer.
While the term hair damage is pretty broad, the five most common forms of hair damage include split ends, heat damage, color damage, chemical damage, and hair loss.
Damaged hair has less elasticity and is prone to breakage and splitting. Split ends are absolutely not repairable and are very challenging to conceal, especially when there are a lot. Another downside to split ends? If they're not removed, the strand will split even farther, faster and unevenly as the hair grows.
If you're looking for least damaging hair extensions, tape-in hair extensions, clip-in hair extensions, and invisible wire extensions are your best bet.
Your Hair "Stops Growing."
"By not cutting your hair, you are actually risking the length rather than letting it grow," says Bivona. It seems counterintuitive, but by frequently trimming your hair, you'll prevent breakage by removing the dead, fragile ends.
Hair grows back at a rate of about 6 inches per year. If your hair is falling out, talk with a healthcare professional so they can diagnose the cause of your hair loss.
If you've got damaged hair (thanks, hot tools!), genetic structural abnormalities (they typically cause hair to break off at a certain length) or certain hair types, your hair might also grow more slowly.