Damaged hair is fragile, so it tends to break. Hair breakage can leave us with frizzy, unhealthy-looking hair. If we continue to damage our hair, we may eventually see thinning hair or even bald spots.
Damaged hair becomes brittle and breaks easily. Your hair might look dull and dry, and the appearance of split ends is more noticeable. It can also be challenging to get your hair to lie flat. Read on to learn more about the signs of heat damaged hair.
Ultimately, once damage has already happened, and it's irreversible. 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.
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.
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.
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.
“If you have split ends, you're better off getting them trimmed immediately as the hair fibers have become separated and will never return to their normal self.
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.
Hair follicles typically grow back within one to two months as long as your scalp does not need to recover from damage. If your hair follicles are damaged, it can take up to four years until they are able to regrow hair normally unless it is permanent, in which case no new strands will grow.
The good news is, yes, your damaged hair can grow back. After all, hair grows from the root, so don't eff it up by putting stress on your root.
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.
People with oily hair or who use hair care products daily should consider washing their hair once every 1–2 days. People with dry hair can wash their hair less frequently. Those with textured or coily hair should only wash it once every 1–2 weeks.
You usually can't fully fix fried hair overnight. Depending on how damaged your hair is, your best bet may involve trimming away the damage and split ends and waiting for it to grow back. Still, you can help your hair's appearance by using moisturizing products and avoiding further damage.
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.
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.
You're Hard on Your Hair
Using too much shampoo, brushing or combing your hair when it's wet, rubbing hair dry with a towel, or brushing too hard or too often can all strain your strands and make them break. Two big causes of breakage include braids that are too tight and weaves that weigh down the hair.
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.
Over scrunching your hair and touching your hair too much actually causes frizz and breakage. When your fingers touch your hair too much, they can actually steal away essential oils, leading to dry and easily broken hair strands.
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.
Damaged natural hair is first and foremost characterized by its dryness and frizz. This can present itself in the form of split ends, where your strand splits into many pieces, or an overall dull look to your hair. It might also have a more irregular texture and less defined curls.
“From a macroscopic point of view, first is aspect: dull, brittle hair and split ends,” Sitter says. “Second is touch: rough, dry and irregular. Third is shedding due to breakage. Look for more hair lost in the shower or visible on your brush or pillow because it's more sensitive to breakage.”