Thin ends year after year!

[TwistNMx]

I justs flat ironed my hair this weekend and found that my hair is still thin at the ends. NO matter what I do. I've even cut off about 3-4 inches where it's so thin that you can see through it thinking it might be bad ends. This was last year. Now that my hair has grown back, it's the same 4 inches of thin ends.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I don't use a lot a heat. I may use heat only 1-3 times a year to trim, etc., but I'm not sure if my ends are just weak. MY hair doesn't seem to break off, so I'm not sure what to do or if there is hope.
Any advice?

 

[Sistaslick]

Perhaps its time to re-evaluate your regimen. Something is there that your hair isn't too happy about. What is your routine?

I was having the same issue. I was adding length, but thin length. For me, I had to realize that while bunning is great-- I couldn't bun my hair right out of the shower. Wet bunning was setting me back. I also had a bout with a bad coloring job. Well the color was beautiful, but the dryness.

Also, I think that my trims were actually spaced too far apart. I had to change my whole attitude about trimming. Recently, I've been trimming on a much more regular basis--smaller amounts of hair of course, and it has made a world of a difference. Before, I was going 4-6 months and having to trim off inches some spots. Now, I trim less than 1/4 ich of hair every 6-8 weeks, and my ends are very full now. Sometimes, there is nothing at all to trim. It's slower, but its working! Whereas before, by the end of those 4 to 6 months, there was always something that needed to go. I cringe to think of all the hair I let go in 2005 and some of 2006. Hopefully I'll see MBL this year- and I know that when I get there I'll have ends I'll be proud of. I think the key for maintaining the ends is a combination of protective styling and setting a good trim schedule.

 

[sareca]

I think I've reached the same conclusion. Before I discovered buns my hair was dry and damaged, but the ends were still full and thick. At the end of 2006 my hair was moist and healthy, but had paper thin ends. I cut them all off. This year, I'm going to use braids and twists only (no buns) and see what happens.

 

[TwistNMx]

Hi Sistaslick,
Thank you for responding.
This is sort of long.

Perhaps its time to re-evaluate your regimen. Something is there that your hair isn't too happy about. What is your routine?
I wash my hair 3 out of 7 days with "Ayur Coconut shampoo" and I use "Better Botanicals" conditioner. Sometimes I just use the conditioner.
I massage a MTG mixture on the scalp, let it air dry about 60%, and put it up in a small bun / sometimes two buns. (I don't have very long hair), to dry.
I have to pull my hair up in a bun while it's still straight. I don't have a perm, but it's straight when it's wet.
When I go out, I wear my instant weave.

I was having the same issue. I was adding length, but thin length. For me, I had to realize that while bunning is great-- I couldn't bun my hair right out of the shower. Wet bunning was setting me back. I also had a bout with a bad coloring job. Well the color was beautiful, but the dryness.
I had no idea that putting the hair up was bad. Could this be the culprit?
Also, I think that my trims were actually spaced too far apart. I had to change my whole attitude about trimming. Recently, I've been trimming on a much more regular basis--smaller amounts of hair of course, and it has made a world of a difference. Before, I was going 4-6 months and having to trim off inches some spots. Now, I trim less than 1/4 ich of hair every 6-8 weeks, and my ends are very full now. Sometimes, there is nothing at all to trim. It's slower, but its working! Whereas before, by the end of those 4 to 6 months, there was always something that needed to go. I cringe to think of all the hair I let go in 2005 and some of 2006. Hopefully I'll see MBL this year- and I know that when I get there I'll have ends I'll be proud of. I think the key for maintaining the ends is a combination of protective styling and setting a good trim schedule.

I used to trim every 6 to 8 weeks, but my hair just got shorter and shorter. Then I wondered if it would ever grow back.
Now my hair looks so bad again at the ends that I don't know if they are uneven or not. I'm just so afraid to trim. All I know is that somehow my hair is uneven. I think it's because I lost a lot of hair in mid- 2006. It would shed a lot because of a health issue. So I thought I was losing all of my hair for good. I could not use any conditioners at that time.
Now that I have a handle on my health, I still worry about it from time to time.
I'm not on medications, just herbs.
I wondered if I should just cut off all of my hair and start again. But I don't think I could live with that.
I wonder if my hair was severely damaged with a hairdresser I used in 2005 because she used a lot of heat when I asked her not to.

 

[TwistNMx]

Hi Sereca,

I think I've reached the same conclusion. Before I discovered buns my hair was dry and damaged, but the ends were still full and thick. At the end of 2006 my hair was moist and healthy, but had paper thin ends. I cut them all off. This year, I'm going to use braids and twists only (no buns) and see what happens.

I know what you are saying. I'm never going to get healthy hair this way!
You know, I thought about the same thing about my hair. I love your twists. I think twists are so cute, but I haven't gotten the hang of it just yet. My hair used to come out though with long-term braids. I might sew in a weave because I'm tired of putting on my "instant weave" sometimes. It's getting hot here now and I don't want to feel like I'm wearing a hat. Also I had an embarrasing moment with this.
I'm not the greatest braider, but I surely don't trust anyone anymore. I've been burned so many times that I will just do it on my own I guess.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one going through this mess. I will definitely have to decide soon what to do about these ends.

 

[TwistNMx]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I henna once a month. It makes my hair feel a lot stronger too.

 

[ashiah]

This was mentioned in the "How often do you trim" thread. Maybe it's the way your hair grows. The thin ends might not be a sign of damage; it might just be certain portions of your hair growing faster than the rest. Perhaps you should wait a while and see if the rest of your hair catches up and fills it in.

 

[navsegda]

I justs flat ironed my hair this weekend and found that my hair is still thin at the ends. NO matter what I do. I've even cut off about 3-4 inches where it's so thin that you can see through it thinking it might be bad ends. This was last year. Now that my hair has grown back, it's the same 4 inches of thin ends.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I don't use a lot a heat. I may use heat only 1-3 times a year to trim, etc., but I'm not sure if my ends are just weak. MY hair doesn't seem to break off, so I'm not sure what to do or if there is hope.
Any advice?

Hmm...if there isn't a problem with your regimen, it could be that parts of your hair grow faster than others. If the back of your hair grows faster and you cut the ends not because they are damaged but for aesthetic purposes, then you may find that several months later, you have the same problem again because the back is pushing out faster than some of the front parts of your hair.

 

[TwistNMx]

Hmm...if there isn't a problem with your regimen, it could be that parts of your hair grow faster than others. If the back of your hair grows faster and you cut the ends not because they are damaged but for aesthetic purposes, then you may find that several months later, you have the same problem again because the back is pushing out faster than some of the front parts of your hair.

I'm not sure if there's a problem. One side is longer than the other, but the ends are all so thin.

This was mentioned in the "How often do you trim" thread. Maybe it's the way your hair grows. The thin ends might not be a sign of damage; it might just be certain portions of your hair growing faster than the rest. Perhaps you should wait a while and see if the rest of your hair catches up and fills it in.

I'm hoping, but also if my hair is damaged then I'm thinking that my ends will eventually affect the rest of my hair to the root. Does this make sense?

 

[Sistaslick]

Hey girl. You don't have to start over!

Putting the hair up is not bad in and of itself. For some, bunning wet hair leads to breakage from the tension placed on the hair as it tries to dry/contract. Buns are still my main style, but I only bun my hair when it is nearly dry. Also, if your hair is a length where to bun it you really have to work & put tension on the hair to get it in the holder, I'd opt for other styles until you get a to comfortable bunning length. Also inspect your hair untensils. (ex: are combs seamless? gentle, non-nylon brushes? scarf protecting at night? watching the placement of hair pins/weaves?)

The health issue that led to your shedding may have alot to do with it, too. Not only does shedding remove the hairs that are hormonally scheduled to fall, but it can remove other healthy hairs around them by tangling with the good hair as it tries to fall. This can lead to breakage. So, make sure you are taking good care of your health and eating a balanced diet. A multivitamin may be beneficial as well. This will improve the quality of hair that your scalp pushes out. If your body is undernourished, your hair will be too and then you're gonna be working on keeping it fortified through external treatments. Its better to start off with hair that is inherently strong.

And nobody's hair grows blunt (well, at least I don't know anyone who does). Like the others have said, it may be differences growth patterns. If possible, try to do a visible inspection of the ends and length. (If your hair is not long enough for that, use shed hair.) If you see areas of weakness, damage, splitting, unnatural reddening, etc. you know that that hair needs to be trimmed. You can try to remedy the damage with treatments, but the effects are temporary. If your ends do look well upon inspection, you can hold on to them and trim once you've met your goal. However, if you let the hemline get too bad it may hurt you when you detangle, and you may end up losing hair to breakage that way. Combing through even hair is easy because the hair does not catch on itself or in other hairs. Each hair moves freely.

Also, the key to the regular dustings is to DUST. It is really not a conventional trim. Assuming an average growth rate of 1/4-1/2 inch per month, removing 1/4 or less every 6-8 weeks should result in a net gain.

Do you have any pics of your ends? It may not be as bad as you think girl. You know we are all our own worst critics.

Sorry so long!

Hi Sistaslick,
Thank you for responding.
This is sort of long.

I used to trim every 6 to 8 weeks, but my hair just got shorter and shorter. Then I wondered if it would ever grow back.
Now my hair looks so bad again at the ends that I don't know if they are uneven or not. I'm just so afraid to trim. All I know is that somehow my hair is uneven. I think it's because I lost a lot of hair in mid- 2006. It would shed a lot because of a health issue. So I thought I was losing all of my hair for good. I could not use any conditioners at that time.
Now that I have a handle on my health, I still worry about it from time to time.
I'm not on medications, just herbs.
I wondered if I should just cut off all of my hair and start again. But I don't think I could live with that.
I wonder if my hair was severely damaged with a hairdresser I used in 2005 because she used a lot of heat when I asked her not to.

 

[Sistaslick]

I'm hoping, but also if my hair is damaged then I'm thinking that my ends will eventually affect the rest of my hair to the root. Does this make sense?

I'm not so sure I really buy the whole hair splitting up to the root scenario. I think a split from the very ends can get pretty high maybe even an inch or so, but it'll flake off well before it hits the roots. There are midshaft splits that start higher up, though. But I do think that uneven ends, even healthy ones, can affect the rest of your hair though, mainly through tangling and extra stress on the longest strands.

This is how I see it: Think about a stretch of hair that contains strands of varying lengths. How do you think that would compare to a stretch of hair with a more uniform length? :scratchch

This:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

or this


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first scenario is more of an "every man for himself" type of deal Each hair on the end takes the full brunt of the trauma/manipulation. So, while those ends might not be damaged one bit, they are more fragile/weaker overall because they are kinda out there fending for themselves against whatever you throw at them. Imagine sliding a flatiron down that first piece. The longest strands are going to take the biggest hit.

The one with a uniform length resists mechanical breakage easier because as the comb travel toward the ends the hair maintains its "strength in numbers" and the force of manipulation is shared. Tangling is greatly reduced in this situation. And it looks cuter.

Strength in numbers I say.

 

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

O boy, i have this same issue with my ends, in december i just trimmed off like 3 inches of hair to thicken up and i think i cut off just about the last of the relaxer, well my ends still look really think after theyre ironed,, this pisses me off soo bad! im glad his thread was opened

 

[Hair Iam]

Hmm...if there isn't a problem with your regimen, it could be that parts of your hair grow faster than others. If the back of your hair grows faster and you cut the ends not because they are damaged but for aesthetic purposes, then you may find that several months later, you have the same problem again because the back is pushing out faster than some of the front parts of your hair.

So true ...this is me to a T...my front and back are in a race with my centre coming in 2nd. As well my left side keeps running ahead of my right side .
I was trying to even things out erplexed
But I'll just let it all grow as it wants to
When I get to my final goal I will even it all out
But trying to cut to even things out at this stage will impede my length. I just dust where needed

 

[secretdiamond]

I'm not so sure I really buy the whole hair splitting up to the root scenario. I think a split from the very ends can get pretty high maybe even an inch or so, but it'll flake off well before it hits the roots. There are midshaft splits that start higher up, though. But I do think that uneven ends, even healthy ones, can affect the rest of your hair though, mainly through tangling and extra stress on the longest strands.

This is how I see it: Think about a stretch of hair that contains strands of varying lengths. How do you think that would compare to a stretch of hair with a more uniform length? :scratchch

This:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

or this


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first scenario is more of an "every man for himself" type of deal Each hair on the end takes the full brunt of the trauma/manipulation. So, while those ends might not be damaged one bit, they are more fragile/weaker overall because they are kinda out there fending for themselves against whatever you throw at them. Imagine sliding a flatiron down that first piece. The longest strands are going to take the biggest hit.

The one with a uniform length resists mechanical breakage easier because as the comb travel toward the ends the hair maintains its "strength in numbers" and the force of manipulation is shared. Tangling is greatly reduced in this situation. And it looks cuter.

Strength in numbers I say.

I've always used that thinking when continuing to trim and keep my hair even.

Great posts & explanations SS!!

 

[TwistNMx]

I'm not so sure I really buy the whole hair splitting up to the root scenario. I think a split from the very ends can get pretty high maybe even an inch or so, but it'll flake off well before it hits the roots. There are midshaft splits that start higher up, though. But I do think that uneven ends, even healthy ones, can affect the rest of your hair though, mainly through tangling and extra stress on the longest strands.

This is how I see it: Think about a stretch of hair that contains strands of varying lengths. How do you think that would compare to a stretch of hair with a more uniform length? :scratchch

This:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

or this


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first scenario is more of an "every man for himself" type of deal Each hair on the end takes the full brunt of the trauma/manipulation. So, while those ends might not be damaged one bit, they are more fragile/weaker overall because they are kinda out there fending for themselves against whatever you throw at them. Imagine sliding a flatiron down that first piece. The longest strands are going to take the biggest hit.

The one with a uniform length resists mechanical breakage easier because as the comb travel toward the ends the hair maintains its "strength in numbers" and the force of manipulation is shared. Tangling is greatly reduced in this situation. And it looks cuter.

Strength in numbers I say.

Great point. I thought about this last night. I'm tired of cutting my hair.

 

[TwistNMx]

Hey girl. You don't have to start over!

Putting the hair up is not bad in and of itself. For some, bunning wet hair leads to breakage from the tension placed on the hair as it tries to dry/contract. Buns are still my main style, but I only bun my hair when it is nearly dry. Also, if your hair is a length where to bun it you really have to work & put tension on the hair to get it in the holder, I'd opt for other styles until you get a to comfortable bunning length. Also inspect your hair untensils. (ex: are combs seamless? gentle, non-nylon brushes? scarf protecting at night? watching the placement of hair pins/weaves?)

The health issue that led to your shedding may have alot to do with it, too. Not only does shedding remove the hairs that are hormonally scheduled to fall, but it can remove other healthy hairs around them by tangling with the good hair as it tries to fall. This can lead to breakage. So, make sure you are taking good care of your health and eating a balanced diet. A multivitamin may be beneficial as well. This will improve the quality of hair that your scalp pushes out. If your body is undernourished, your hair will be too and then you're gonna be working on keeping it fortified through external treatments. Its better to start off with hair that is inherently strong.

And nobody's hair grows blunt (well, at least I don't know anyone who does). Like the others have said, it may be differences growth patterns. If possible, try to do a visible inspection of the ends and length. (If your hair is not long enough for that, use shed hair.) If you see areas of weakness, damage, splitting, unnatural reddening, etc. you know that that hair needs to be trimmed. You can try to remedy the damage with treatments, but the effects are temporary. If your ends do look well upon inspection, you can hold on to them and trim once you've met your goal. However, if you let the hemline get too bad it may hurt you when you detangle, and you may end up losing hair to breakage that way. Combing through even hair is easy because the hair does not catch on itself or in other hairs. Each hair moves freely.

Also, the key to the regular dustings is to DUST. It is really not a conventional trim. Assuming an average growth rate of 1/4-1/2 inch per month, removing 1/4 or less every 6-8 weeks should result in a net gain.

Do you have any pics of your ends? It may not be as bad as you think girl. You know we are all our own worst critics.

Sorry so long!

That's okay. I really appreciate your time and care.
It's true that we are usually our own worst critics.
As far as pictures go, I just took a few last night of my ends. I will let you know when they are posted.
HP

 

[TwistNMx]

O boy, i have this same issue with my ends, in december i just trimmed off like 3 inches of hair to thicken up and i think i cut off just about the last of the relaxer, well my ends still look really think after theyre ironed,, this pisses me off soo bad! im glad his thread was opened

I know what you mean.
I don't even use heat very much...maybe up to 3-5 times a year I would say, but I think that Sereca and Sistaslick are right. I never really thought about the fact that pulling my hair back when "damp" would cause this problem. And furthermore I feel bad because I didn't even know about it.

 

[e$h]

***Excellent thread***

I've been feeling this way lately. I'm gaining length but it seems that my ends are getting thinner and thinner. My left side is kicking butt. My right is coming in second and the middle...
I don't wanna trim until I reach my goal. I'm just hoping that I'm not causing any damage in the process.

 

[JazzyDez]

I justs flat ironed my hair this weekend and found that my hair is still thin at the ends. NO matter what I do. I've even cut off about 3-4 inches where it's so thin that you can see through it thinking it might be bad ends. This was last year. Now that my hair has grown back, it's the same 4 inches of thin ends.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I don't use a lot a heat. I may use heat only 1-3 times a year to trim, etc., but I'm not sure if my ends are just weak. MY hair doesn't seem to break off, so I'm not sure what to do or if there is hope.
Any advice?

I am having the same problem. I had been rockin 3 quarter wigs all stretch and I got my first dominican blowout last weekend and my hair grew soo much. But it was so thin. I could clearly see my gold chain and everything else right through my hair. I just wanted to cry.... It looks like I LOST hair but I havent noticed any excessive shedding or anything. I was 11 weeks post but I am due for a relaxer this weekend, the NG is out of control. I am just so down now since its pretty much pointless to have long see-thru hair.

 

[WhipEffectz1]

I am having the same problem. I had been rockin 3 quarter wigs all stretch and I got my first dominican blowout last weekend and my hair grew soo much. But it was so thin. I could clearly see my gold chain and everything else right through my hair. I just wanted to cry.... It looks like I LOST hair but I havent noticed any excessive shedding or anything. I was 11 weeks post but I am due for a relaxer this weekend, the NG is out of control. I am just so down now since its pretty much pointless to have long see-thru hair.

I was right at your length when my hair started thinning and I'm not a fine haired lady. Talk about coming from the Dominican salon mad as I don't know what but disguested in the same token. So I went natural and I haven't had a problem since. I just don't think my hair could take the chemicals like some people so I had to do what was best for my hair.

 

[Sistaslick]

That's okay. I really appreciate your time and care.
It's true that we are usually our own worst critics.
As far as pictures go, I just took a few last night of my ends. I will let you know when they are posted.
HP

Yeah keep us posted girl. I hear ya on the tired of cutting. Me too. I was having to trim inches of hair. Now that I'm doing the pre-emptive dustings thing there's no longer a need for that. I was so skeptical at first when I'd hear others trimming so "aggresively" and I wondered how they'd ever get anywhere doing that. But after awhile, I started to see that there's hardly anything to trim when the time comes. That never happened when I was trimming on a whenever I feel schedule. I really think there is something to the strong hemline theory.

 

[Sistaslick]

I was right at your length when my hair started thinning and I'm not a fine haired lady. Talk about coming from the Dominican salon mad as I don't know what but disguested in the same token. So I went natural and I haven't had a problem since. I just don't think my hair could take the chemicals like some people so I had to do what was best for my hair.

And your hair is beautiful.

 

[JazzyDez]

I was right at your length when my hair started thinning and I'm not a fine haired lady. Talk about coming from the Dominican salon mad as I don't know what but disguested in the same token. So I went natural and I haven't had a problem since. I just don't think my hair could take the chemicals like some people so I had to do what was best for my hair.

i know what you mean. I am going to give it some time though since I do think that the back of my hair grows faster than the front. maybe when the front catches up it wont look so terrible.

 

[WhipEffectz1]

i know what you mean. I am going to give it some time though since I do think that the back of my hair grows faster than the front. maybe when the front catches up it wont look so terrible.

Yea, that would probably help!

 

[tijay]

This is a great thread - I feel the same way about my ends. Progress is being made, but the ends are thin and one side grows faster than the other! I plan to trim after boot camp, so i'll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens.

 

[Wishin4BSL]

I've always used that thinking when continuing to trim and keep my hair even.

Great posts & explanations SS!!

I use this too! That's why I'm CONSTANTLY trimming the front of my hair. It keeps breaking and looking like the first example so I keep trimming!

 

[vaqtea]

Wonderful thread! Thanks ladies!

 

[locabouthair]

I thought I was the only one with this problem. over the years my ends would always get thinner and thinner, even when i was natural.

 

[TwistNMx]

***Excellent thread***

I've been feeling this way lately. I'm gaining length but it seems that my ends are getting thinner and thinner. My left side is kicking butt. My right is coming in second and the middle...
I don't wanna trim until I reach my goal. I'm just hoping that I'm not causing any damage in the process.

Your hair too?
I can't believe it. It looks so healthy.
One side is longer than the other with my hair too by a 1 to 1-1/2 inches.
I'm not sure if I'll ever reach any goal at this rate.

 

[victorious]

The back of my hair (from ear to ear) grows faster than the rest. I frequently trim it while waiting for the rest to catch up. It looks so sparse back there if I don't even it up. That section is now apl, but the rest of my hair isn't.