Do you think a few hairs will break no matter how gentle you are?

Lilmama1011

Well-Known Member
I'm not talking about experiencing full on hair breakage, I'm talking about very few hair being broken after being as gentle as you want to be
 

dicapr

Well-Known Member
I'm not talking about experiencing full on hair breakage, I'm talking about very few hair being broken after being as gentle as you want to be

Yes. The ends of our hair are old and fragile and eventually even gentle manipulation will cause some breakage. So long as there only a few small pieces I don't worry about it.
 

Lymegreen

Well-Known Member
I was wondering the same thing. I'm always checking the floor for broken hair. If I'm m&sing then I'm looking to see how many strands are shedding or breaking. Usually I have both but a very small amount. 2-3 broken and 6-10 shed hair When I styling my hair I can have broken hair all over the floor : ( 10-12 pieces. Not to mention shed hair 3-4. Anyway. I've been so gentle and working to get even more gentle. I hate to see my hair on the floor after styling.
 

Aviah

Well-Known Member
Always when my hair is in its natural state. Straight it doesn't seem to happen unless I tug.
 

RUBY

Well-Known Member
Yes. Even in general handling/styling of the hair e.g. putting in/taking out a hair clip.
 

oneastrocurlie

Well-Known Member
I was wondering the same thing. I'm always checking the floor for broken hair. If I'm m&sing then I'm looking to see how many strands are shedding or breaking. Usually I have both but a very small amount. 2-3 broken and 6-10 shed hair When I styling my hair I can have broken hair all over the floor : ( 10-12 pieces. Not to mention shed hair 3-4. Anyway. I've been so gentle and working to get even more gentle. I hate to see my hair on the floor after styling.

You're not alone. I get a mixed of shed and broken hairs when I twist my hair up. I'm not rough but I'm not super uber gentle either. I've kinda accepted it. Unless I see a section of obvious breakage I think I'm ok.

I am trying to stretch in between wash days to reduce manipulating my hair.
 

ronie

Well-Known Member
I ALWAYS, I mean ALWAYS have broken pieces when I do (wash, style, m&s) my hair. Usually, a fresh trim followed by a nice porosity (claudies normalizing) conditioner, then a protein treatment in the same week, and a strict m&s routine will give me a good week or 2 with zero breakage (that I can see). But that's it. Any other times I get breakage. I learn what is normal for ME. If it gets alarming, I go back to the basics and my trusted products and techniques.
 

southerncitygirl

Well-Known Member
yeppers mine does...as long as i dust on a schedule of every 3-4 months I have no issues with retention. i just had a setback to apl from bsl cause i needed a trim in january and just got it a week ago, hadn't trimmed since october. no matter how much i do low/no manipulation i see little bits. its fine.
 

DoDo

Big Hair, Don't Care
Yes it is very inevitable. I try to control the amount of breakage not the occurrence. :yep:
 

emada

Well-Known Member
Agree with everyone that some is normal. I don't believe people who say they have no breakage. There are literally hundreds of thousands of hairs on our heads, there has to be at least one that breaks!

It is about managing the amount you see. I wonder what is considered too much? How do you determine what's "excessive" breakage?
 

NaturallyATLPCH

Well-Known Member
Cosign with everyone. I used to panic when I first went natural but I only manipulate my hair once a week and I'm still retaining good length. A few short hairs don't bother me, I know since I have really coily hair, whether I comb or finger detangle, there are always some. I am usually pretty gentle too.

The Science of Black hair has an excellent section about breakage, from Zone 1 breakage (a few hairs here and there, even a few on the floor) verses Zone 3 breakage (broken hairs everywhere, shirt, floor, etc.). Zone 1 isn't a huge cause for concern and is considered somewhat normal, verses Zone 3 which is a state of emergency lol.
 
Last edited:

ManeStreet

Well-Known Member
Yep. I see 5-10 broken pieces from time to time but when it's too often I know I need to do & serious protein treatment & deep condition.
 

emada

Well-Known Member
Cosign with everyone. I used to panic when I first went natural but I only manipulate my hair once a week and I'm still retaining good length. A few short hairs don't bother me, I know since I have really coily hair, whether I comb or finger detangle, there are always some. I am usually pretty gentle too.

The Science of Black hair has an excellent section about breakage, from Zone 1 breakage (a few hairs here and there, even a few on the floor) verses Zone 3 breakage (broken hairs everywhere, shirt, floor, etc.). Zone 1 isn't a huge cause from concern and is considered somewhat normal, verses Zone 3 which is a state of emergency lol.

Good to know. I don't get much shedding but it's the shorter pieces that worry me. It's not everywhere but I do notice it on the floor. I'm very paranoid about my retention since I'm trying to regrow my hair.
 

NaturalBoss

Well-Known Member
Yes I think a few hairs will break no matter how gentle you are with your hair. Even people with the the longest, thickest, healthiest hair have shedding. MahoganyCurls even shows her shed hair in one of her videos. Now if it's excessive, that when one needs to re-evaluate their routine.
 

Fenaxa

Well-Known Member
Lol I really never did see one broken strand of hair when I was wigging under a baggy with low manipulation. I didn't even see a ridiculous amount of shedding. Now that my hair is out and about, I'm getting more breakage than I'm comfortable with. Still don't know how I feel about 'even a little breakage is normal', but I hope that's true.
 

bydebra

Well-Known Member
Yes, but when I see a bunch of broken hairs littered all over the floor, I know that's a problem.
 

havilland

Magical Mythical Princess
I am gonna say yes BUT I notice that I have broken hairs (not long shed strands) in higher volume when I need a protein treatment.

If I'm overdue, I get little breaks no matter what. BUT once I deep treat my hair, those breaks go away completely. I did a two step treatment two weeks ago and I have not had one broken hair at all since.

I am very gentle with my hair, but the condition of my strands seems to matter more for me than how I handle it.

I always shed no matter what though. The hairveda methi sativa treatment has diminished my shedding but not eliminated it.
 
Top