Last time I noticed hair breakage I was like “Can somebody please call 9-1-1”. Because nothing makes us more worried, on our natural hair journey, than finding hair breakage. I know that panic created stress and stress can cause hair loss. My aim was to understand where it came from and how to avoid hair breakage as soon as possible. So I quickly stepped up my hair care routine and here is causes my hair breakage.

Is it hair breakage or it hair shedding?

The first I wanted to know is what I was dealing with: breakage or shedding. So I took a look at the hair that was left in my brush. I noticed that most of the hair was shorter than the hair on my head. In addition to this, the hair in the brush did not have the white bulbs from the roots. Instead I saw some split ends and knew that I was dealing with hair breakage and not with hair shedding.

9 causes for hair breakage

Here are some reasons why my hair was breaking.

1. Dry, brittle hair

My hair was most of the time dry and unfortunately I did not notice it when it was in a protective style. When I open my hair it was breaking at the slightest touch of a comb. I tried to moisturize it more but it was never enough.

2. Weak hair from protein loss.

Have you heard about moisture/protein balance? My hair was weak due to a bad balance. Protein is important for every organ in our body. It is also involved in healthy hair. If we do not have enough protein in our diet, our hair can become weak or dull and brittle. Lack of protein will lead to breakage. Too much protein lead to dry hair. Did you know that you can eat the right foods for hair growth?

3. Combing or brushing the hair very often

There was a time, when I used to comb my hair very often. The reason was that I did not know how to detangle my hair. In addition to this I also did not know how I comb my hair. Today, I only comb my hair on wash days and too often.

4. Hair pulling  while styling

Yes, I was not patient while dealing with my hair. Sometimes, I just ripped the knots off. I was rough while washing my head.

5. Tight Braids

Protective styling was not protecting my hair. The braids were too tiny and tight. I almost lost my complete frontline due to braids.

6. Harsh ingredients

At the beginning of my natural hair journey, I was still using some chemical products. I thought that my texturized hair would like it but I did not thought about my natural new growth. A lot of my hair broke at its weakest part. I was not able to moisturize both textures properly.

7. Not protecting hair at night

When I met my boyfriend I don’t use a satin bonnet at the beginning. Because I did want to scare him off. I did it for almost 3 months and my hair ends were super brittle. I wrote a blog post about this topic: A satin bonnet or would you sacrifice your hair for some quality time? What is your opinion on that one? Leave me a comment below.

8. Heat

Since I went natural I have not used heat directly on my hair. So my hair breakage did not come from that point.

9. Not trimming hair

My split ends broke off because I was avoiding cutting them.

 

 

How to prevent hair breakage?

I determined every point on the list and noticed that my hair was breaking because of dryness and the way how I dealt with it. I knew that I had to improve my natural hair regime in order to stop this. The first thing I did was to get rid of my damaged ends. So I got me a proper trim. I did not cut everything but my hair was much shorter than before. Here are some other things I did:

• I wash my hair latest every two weeks.
• Between the time I do hot oil or deep conditioning treatments.
• I have also add shea butter and moringa (the super food) into my regime
• I have also developed an easy routine to get rid of dry hair.
• I am trying to avoid stress by sticking to my morning routine and pamper myself every now and then.
• I read the ingredients list to make sure that my products are all water based. That means that first ingredients is always water.
• Furthermore, I try to keep track of my moisture/protein balance. I use products that contains e.g. hydrolyzed wheat protein.

Are you dealing with hair breakage? Every hair is different. Listen to your hair and don’t get frustrated if you can’t find the right product combination for your hair or the best routine. It sounds crazy but sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs on the way to finding your perfect match.

 

What do you do to prevent hair breakage? 

Leave your comments below. I would love to read your points of view. Use your Facebook account or Disqus to comment below.

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