What Causes Hair Breakage & Long-Term Solutions In 2024

Noticing more split ends or knots of hair in your comb after brushing? It could be a sign that your hair is damaged and needs some extra care.

Fortunately, hair breakage is treatable with simple and inexpensive treatments. To start, you just need to find out what’s causing it.

So read on to learn why it happens and the most effective treatments for hair breakage — backed by scientific evidence.

What Causes Hair Breakage?

Even when healthy hair is in its natural state, it might break. But, a few things increase the risk of breakage. If you fall under one of these factors, you’re more likely to develop hair damage:

Poor Nutrition And Eating Disorders

Diet influences several aspects of health, including your hair. Eating vitamin and mineral-deficient^[1] meals can result in nutritional deficiencies,  which can cause significant severe hair breakage and thinning.

Hair damage is common in people with eating disorders.^[2] Typically, the conditions cause nutritional deficiencies. For example, purging or starving oneself to lose weight results in lower iron, selenium, zinc, and vitamin levels, increasing the likelihood of hair thinning. Obesity^[3] can also lead to poor hair health and hair disorders.

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism,^[4] or low thyroid disorder, is when the thyroid gland fails to generate adequate thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are essential for controlling metabolism and maintaining healthy hair. People suffering from this ailment may notice their hair becoming brittle or falling out. 

Poor Hair Care Habits 

Many people damage their hair as a result of poor hair care practices.^[5] For instance, brushing wet hair, drying hair by roughly rubbing it with a towel, and pulling or styling hair tightly are all harmful practices. Additionally, failing to use a hair conditioner and frequently using hair relaxers, hair extensions, and weaves are standard practices that lead to hair breakage. 

People who comb their hair excessively, use styling products that last for an extended period, or use extremely hot tools to style their hair are also prone to hair breaking. 

Stress

A 2017 study concluded that stress-induced^[6] hair health alterations occur in young women during exams. This study reveals that stress is a key variable affecting hair health. Stress can cause hair follicles to enter a resting phase, severely weakening the hair.

Aging

As people age, their hair ages, losing strength and becoming more prone to breakage. In some cases, older people’s hair breaks due to underlying disorders.^[7] However, losing strength is a natural process that follows the usual patterns of the human life cycle.

Exposure To Toxins

Hair breakage has been linked to using certain hair products. Chemical relaxers^[8] and permanent waves are the most common offenders. They gradually damage the hair cuticle and disrupt the components that strengthen hair. Permanent hair dyes^[9] can also cause split ends and strand breakage. 

Genetics

Because of unique genetic characteristics, some people’s hair breaks easily. Persons of African heritage,^[10] for example, are more prone to hair breaking than persons of other races. Hispanic people^[5] may also have highly sensitive hair when exposed to hair care procedures.

Menkes syndrome,^[11] kinky hair syndrome, and biotin insufficiency are some examples of genetic hair disorders that can cause damage.

Ill-Health

When a person is sick, the body redirects resources to critical functions and sick organs. This decreases the amount of nutrients allocated to non-essential tasks like hair growth and repair. As a result, a sick individual is more likely to experience hair thinning and breaking.^[12]

What Does Hair Breakage Look Like?

Hair breakage is the severing of hair strands. It usually happens because of poor hair care practices, like over-styling, washing, and drying. 

When styling, you may notice hair breakage with frizz or flyaways and may find hairs on your comb. 

Hair shedding^[13] is often confused with hair breakage. But the shedding is a normal part of a healthy hair growth cycle. For example, you naturally shed 50 to 100 hair strands every day. However, an underlying health issue, such as scalp problems,^[14] might cause you to shed more hair than usual. That’s why you must contact a dermatologist if you notice more severe symptoms, like hair loss or rashes.

Hair breakage, on the other hand, occurs when the strands become fragile, frayed, or split. Instead of whole strands, your hair might look more frayed and have shorter strands than others. Hair strands can also split toward the ends or look dry and damaged.

Unlike shedding, breakage depends on genetics and a variety of factors. It typically happens when frequent chemical treatments, environmental factors, or poor grooming habits stress the hair.

How To Treat Hair Breakage

Hair damage is a frustrating experience. Preventive methods are the most effective way to prevent future hair breakage and keep hair healthy. The most effective therapy modalities include: 

Hair Trimming

A haircut is one of the quickest remedies for dry and damaged hair. A thorough trim can help prevent ragged edges, reducing the likelihood of splits spreading further down the hair root. 

Nutrient Supplementation

Eating a well-balanced diet is one of the simplest and most crucial methods to strengthen hair and prevent hair breakage. 

Eat foods high in vitamins, zinc, iron, folic acid, protein, and antioxidants to improve hair strength.^[15] Iron is especially significant since it’s required to produce keratin, the protein that forms hair. 

Collagen supplements can also significantly improve hair health. Increasing protein levels can assist in increasing the structural strength of hair strands while retaining flexibility, hence minimizing breakage and split ends. 

Improving Hair Care Practices

Adopting good grooming habits is a great way to protect your hair. It might take some time and research to integrate good hair care habits into daily practices fully. But if you’re determined, you can add these practices gradually. 

Healthy Hair Care Products

Several products are specifically designed to address hair breakage. Various hair cosmetics^[5] can be used to treat this condition. Repairing shampoo, anti-breakage sprays, and hair masks are popular women’s hair damage products. Just do some research and look for natural and safe hair products.

Stress Management

In the case of stress factors causing hair damage, it’s important first to find and understand the cause. Stress-management techniques such as seeing a therapist, eating healthily, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep can help reduce hair breakage.

Hair Care Routines To Prevent Breakage

If you want less breakage, you can follow these practices:

Be Gentle With Your Hair

Hair breakage is usually related to vigorously rubbing and continually disrupting hair. Hair can be better cared for by gently washing, combing, or brushing it less and only when dry. It’s also important to use a conditioner every time you use shampoo to help your hair restore strength.^[16] 

Various studies support avoiding solutions that stress hair,^[17] such as styles that involve excessive hair pulling. Let your hair air dry before styling it, and use coated hair ties to be more gentle on your hair. 

Use A Deep Hair Care Treatment

Restoring moisture to hair is one of the most effective treatments for fixing hair breakage. You can accomplish this by using a hair steamer. Steaming uses moist heat to open your hair follicles and pores for conditioning treatments to moisturize your hair better. You can also deep condition hair once a week to keep it healthy. Moisturizing hair helps restore elasticity and avoid breakage. 

Apply Hair Oils

Castor and coconut oils^[18] have long been used for hair treatment. If you have hair breakage, you can use this traditional treatment to restore your hair’s health. Hair oils penetrate the hair shaft and feed and hydrate it, restoring strength and shine.

The Takeaway

Hair breakage is usually caused by how we care for our hair and, ultimately, our body. A lousy diet, for example, and skipping hair conditioners are two of the most damaging causes of hair breaking. 

Simple treatments, such as air drying hair, hair masks, and eating a well-balanced diet, can go a long way toward hair protection. The treatments are readily available, and using them might save you from hair damage and stress.

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