Healthy Hair Tips to Prevent Hair Breakage

For some of us, length retention is big deal. In fact, for many of us, a lot of the reason we decided to “go natural” included a desire to see our hair flourish in both health and length.  Even if this wasn’t your goal, an inevitable byproduct of properly maintaining your hair is growth.

Even when we don’t incorporate the best practices into our routines, one of the most basic functions of hair is still growth.  Regardless of your reasons for choosing to wear your natural hair, if you want to realize that growth, you have to be more mindful and incorporate healthy practices to visualize any significant changes.

There are no short cuts to hair growth. What genetics hasn’t accounted for, healthy living and intentional hair care can help.  Today, we’re looking at some simple steps that you can incorporate into your routine to be more mindful and realize the length retention you desire. 

Consider low manipulation styles

For some of us, protective styling and creating intricate styles that require significant manipulation are a part of hair routine. While these styles serve a purpose, it is important to remember over manipulation and excessively tight styles can weaken the hair strands and lead to breakage.

Ways to avoid it:

• When styling, make sure the hair isn’t pulled to tight, pulling styles too tightly can pull the entire strand from the follicle and result in permanent hair loss.
• If choosing styles that require extensions, make sure there is a balance between the extensions and your hair.  Excessively heavy extension will weigh down the hair and cause breakage.

Don’t Scrub the hair during shampoo sessions

Shampooing the hair is a necessary part of any healthy hair care routine. During this process is when water is absorbed into the hair and the hair becomes hydrated. Excessive scrunching and scrubbing of the hair will result in knots, tangles, and damage. This damage, and often matting and tangling of the hair, will result in breakage during the detangling process.

Ways to avoid it:

• Focus on the scalp. During the cleansing process concentrate on cleansing the entire scalp and messaging it to increase circulation and nutrient absorption.
• The spread of shampoo throughout the strands is inevitable. Instead of scrunching the hair during the wash process, smooth your hands down the hair strands. This will also reduce dullness and prevent damage to the cuticle.

Avoid harsh shampoos

We’ve learned that shampooing is essential, and we’ve also learned that shampoo is not one size fits all. When it comes to healthy hair practices, specific hair needs require a specific type of shampoo. Excessive use of shampoos with strong cleansers can lead to cuticle damage resulting in excessively dry, brittle hair that is prone to breakage.

Ways to avoid it:

• Reduce the use of strong shampoos. Even if they don’t contain sulfates, some shampoos can still contain strong cleansing agents. In most cases, unless there is significant build up or debris present, a strong cleanser will not be needed more than once every 4 weeks or so. Consider the routine use of shampoos with gentle cleansers and save the strong cleansers for deeper cleansing sessions.
• When using a deep cleanser, follow it up with a moisturizing shampoo. Deep cleansers have the tendency to be stripping. Adding a moisturizing shampoo to the mix, will restore your hair’s balance and help restore moisture.

Detangling on dry hair without a tool

In its dry state, textured hair is very fragile. Excessive pulling, of dry hair, during the detangling process can cause significant stress and breakage. Finger detangling, if done improperly or too quickly, can also cause breakage and damage to textured strands. 

Ways to avoid it:

• Routine conditioning of the hair has several benefits. One of them includes allowing your strands to easily move past each other without causing friction. Detangling wet hair while the conditioner is still in it will allow the hair to be more elastic and reduce the risk of breakage.
• While finger detangling can be a gentle process, we often don’t have the patience or skills to properly execute it successfully. Adding a tool will give you a more thorough detangling session and often catch knots that can be missed with our fingers alone.

Being intentional in your approach to hair care will help you realize the length retention that you desire. While most strands will typically grow, on average, about one half to one inch a month, you can help reduce breakage and realize that growth by incorporating these healthy hair practices into your routine. As with all new practices, realizing change will take time; but these small steps will make a significant difference in helping you reach your goals.

If you’re looking for more ways to be intentional on this journey or need help incorporating practices that are right for you, visit BoldKulture.com.  We can provide you with the tools needed to be successful and would love to assist you on your healthy hair journey.