By Vanessa Okwara
Hair breakage is a condition where hair breaks off faster than it is growing. This is because the hair is constantly suffering from dryness and damage on the scalp area. Often times, the hair changes colour and turn into split ends before breaking off. Research has revealed that the hair grows half an inch each month. If your hair breaks easily, then you need to attend to it as soon as possible.
Hair breakage can be caused by dryness, over-processing of the hair, medical conditions such as eating disorders; stress can also affect length retention. Over-washing, improper towel drying and incorrect brushing and combing of the hair are other factors.
Hair retention is affected by a couple of factors and you need to know what to do to stop the breakage. It is normal to lose about 40-100 strands a day while combing; however, improper combing or brushing of the hair affects hair length retention.
Here are some tips to make your hair healthy and stop breaking
•Always be gentle when combing your wet hair. Run the hair with a broad toothed comb from the roots to the ends very gently.
•Trim about an inch of your hair every 6 to 8 weeks to get rid of the brown and rough split ends.
•Avoid heat styling your hair often and use lower temperature if you eventually decide to heat style your hair. Also make use of a heat protectant spray when you do.
•Tight braids and ponytails definitely look good, but they put a lot of stress and pressure on your hair and scalp. They create crimps and breakage in hair breakage over time. So, it is best for one to avoid carrying them for a long period of time. Do not use rubber bands on the hair as they can cause the hair to split and break.
•The hair is also affected by diet. Drink a lot of water, eat food that contain protein, minerals, and vitamins and iron because they aid healthy hair growth.
•Avoid washing your hair on a daily basis because this deprives the hair of its natural oils making it dry and prone to permanent damage and hair breakage.
•Deep conditioning also helps to stop hair breakage as it contains fats and oils which are good for the hair to prevent and repair hair breakage.
•Make use of satin pillowcase rather than cotton pillowcase as the latter cause friction on the hair, which can lead to hair breakage.
If your hair breakage is severe and does not show any improvement with the above tips, consult a hair specialist for your hair breakage treatment.
