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Do you want to know how to stop hair breakage and restore your damaged hair back to health? Here’s everything you need to know.
I suffer from extreme hair breakage to the point I have tons of hair actually broken in half and it looks like my hair is less and less dense every month. So I decided I would find a permanent solution to my problem and I started researching for hours on the topic.
In the end, I was able to reduce breakage significantly. I’m still on my journey to healthier and better-looking hair but I want to share all this information with you in the meantime.
As a general rule, to stop hair breakage it’s crucial to lower all hair breakage causes such as heat, humidity, excessive scalp tension, and UV exposure. By reducing causes of hair breakage you will be less prone to experiencing it. As well as that it’s vital to restore your already broken hair by using effective treatments such as Olaplex No. 0 and No. 3.
There are a lot of causes for hair breakage but also a lot of ways to protect your hair from them and I will explain them all in this article.
In this article
- How to stop hair breakage
- What causes hair breakage
- How to prevent hair breakage in the future
- Related questions
How to stop hair breakage
To permanently stop hair breakage the only science-backed products that actually made a difference for me were the ones in the Olaplex line, in particular No. 0 and No. 3.
These products contain Olaplex patented ingredient bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate.
To put it simply, besides keratin our hair is made up of cistein: this specific protein features a sulfur atom. In healthy hair these proteins are bonded together by disulfide bridges, this specific bond is weakened or broken when we use harsh treatments such as bleaching.
In particular, Olaplex patented ingredient repairs damaged disulfide bridges in our hair. This way it effectively repairs hair fibers and provides a healthy look and feel to our hair.
Many people didn’t see results with these products but I found a process to use them that allows the treatment to work while avoiding using too much product since these babies are actually very expensive (yes, I do not want to waste a single drop 😂).
The way I apply them is actually fairly simple:
- Shampoo all of your hair (ends included) with a detoxifying shampoo, our hair needs to be wet and clean for these Olaplex products to work
- Apply No. 0 evenly to damp hair
- Wait ten minutes
- Apply No. 3
- Wait 45 minutes, the formula stops working when your hair dries so after about an hour it’s pointless to keep the product on your hair, but DO NOT leave it on for just ten minutes, you would be wasting your money!
- Shampoo and condition like normal
I suggest following this routine once a week for the first month, then reduce to twice a month and stop. Now you can use this treatment as needed, basically whenever you see your hair suffering more than usual.
Protein-based ingredients are also important for your hair, be on the lookout for products with keratine for example. While they can’t permanently reverse hair breakage they can strengthen your hair temporarily so you can avoid causing more damage.
While preferring protein products is important sometimes it can do more harm than good, let me explain. If you pack your hair with too much protein it’s possible you will experience what is called protein overload. This can actually cause hair breakage eventually.
The best way to act is to find out if protein overload is the reason why you have breakage in the first place. In that case, avoid protein products altogether.
What causes hair breakage
After thorough and attentive research I discovered what can cause hair breakage.
Hair breakage is caused by a cumulative effect of different reasons. To put it simply, there are a lot of causes for hair breakage such as heat, humidity, relaxers, and UV exposure. Hair breaks from the continuous and long-lasting combination of all these different causes.
For instance, this is why shorter hair looks healthier: your lengths and ends were exposed to several causes for more time.
What are these hair breakage causes though?
The obvious ones are of course
- Overuse of chemicals in the hair, relaxers, perm and color services can stress our hair and cause cuticle damage.
- Overusing hot tools and not using a heat protectant, heat pulls moisture from the hair affecting primarily the lengths and ends of your hair.
- Excessive scalp tension, caused by hair accessories and sleeping with wet hair for example. Also, it can cause split ends.
Most of us are familiar with these, but I discovered other reasons why our hair can break which kind of surprised me.
1. UV exposure
As we protect our skin from the sun we should protect our hair as well, so if you love sunbathing get a hair spray to defend your precious hair.
2. Pollution and humidity
Pollution and humidity play a huge role in hair breakage. If you think you can get away with it because you live in a non-humid country, think again!
Humidity is not just tied to geographical location, for example, a shower is a humid environment too and it’s something we all experience.
High levels of humidity were proven to cause as much (or even more!) damage as bleaching your hair. This was mind-blowing for me!
3. Water
Water can damage the hair, this is why they say it’s better not to wash them too much. I know you’ll be wandering this, but no, it’s not mandatory that you wash your hair only once a week.
You should wash your hair based on the oil production of your scalp. Be aware that water can actually cause damage to your hair though, so don’t overdo it.
Think about this, virgin hair (i.e. hair that was not treated or colored before) is hydrophobic, meaning it repels water. In contrast, damaged hair is hydrophilic, meaning it attracts water.
This tells us that our hair naturally repels water and when you color your hair you cause them to actually attract it, exposing them to more damage. In fact, colored hair is often more damaged than virgin hair.
Also, when hair is wet it swells which can cause cuticle damage. Also, water is a plasticizer for hair, meaning it makes our hair more flexible and pliable.
The more our hair is flexible the more it is susceptible to damage (this is the same reason why heat causes damage).
4. Mechanical causes
Whenever our hair rubs to something, which can be an object or even other hair, it’s more likely to break.
This is why toweling, brushing, combing, and actually rubbing your hair with anything, can break them.
Of course, we cannot avoid brushing our hair entirely but we can take some precautions such as brushing with a wide-tooth comb or a bore bristle brush to minimize damage.
Also, it was shown that if you have straight to wavy hair is worst to brush your hair when wet, while if you have curly or coily hair brushing them wet is when you will cause the least damage.
No matter your hair type, if you brush your hair dry you will be less likely to cause split ends.
How to prevent hair breakage in the future
I’m going to get it out of the way right now, experiencing some breakage is inevitable! It’s a natural process that cannot be avoided altogether, what we can do is minimize it as much as we can.
There are a lot of things we can do to minimize breakage, here are the ones I think will be most useful
- Minimize hair rubbing to protect the integrity of the hair. Gently squeeze water from your hair with a cotton or microfiber towel (DO NOT RUB!).
- Shampoo less if you’re overdoing it.
- Avoid tight hairstyles.
- Don’t sleep with your hair down, instead secure hair loosely and gently with a braid for example.
- Use a wide-tooth comb to brush your hair. There is evidence that the more bristles are separated from each other, the less breakage you will experience.
- Keep your hair well conditioned in between washes with leave-in conditioner and hair oil, for example, I use argan oil every night.
Related questions
Can hair breakage grow back?
On average, it’s possible to grow back damaged hair as long as the hair follicle is still intact. This means in the vast majority of cases you can grow hair out from hair breakage.
How long does it take for hair breakage to stop?
On average, the time needed for hair breakage to stop and to see improvements is six months to a year. It’s possible to speed up this process by using treatments such as Olaplex No. 0 and No. 3.
What is the best vitamin for hair breakage?
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Iron
- Zinc
If you want to know more about hair growth vitamins from a science perspective you can read more here.
This post was all about everything you need to know to stop hair breakage.
What does hair breakage look like?
If you want to be sure you actually have hair breakage (and more tips to stop it) you NEED to read this!
