8 Things Making Your Hair More Prone To Breakage

If you are trying to grow out your hair, having too much breakage could be keeping you from your long hair goals.

There are a lot of things that can contribute to strands being more brittle and prone to breakage, and you should do your best to steer clear of them.

Below, we will cover 8 things that can make your hair more prone to breakage, to help you get closer to your hair growth goals.

Coloring, bleaching, perming, or relaxing your hair

Nearly every chemical treatment can take a toll on your hair, but one of the worst is bleaching.

If you are going to go down the bleach route, space out your treatments as far as possible, and give your hair extra TLC to make up for the damaging and drying effects of bleaching.

Other hair coloring treatments, plus perming, or relaxing can also cause your hair to become dry and brittle, so be sure to baby your locks for a while after if you are going to opt for one of these.

Heat styling

If you love the look of a thorough blowout, you may be making your hair more dry and brittle if you are doing it too often.

And, while it’s not always possible to avoid all heat styling, try to keep your heat styling days to a minimum and embrace air-dried or natural styles sometimes.

When you do heat style, using a heat protection spray is also a must to help reduce some of the damage to your strands.

Brushing your hair too much

You don’t need to count to 100 when brushing your hair like Marsha Brady. Over-brushing your hair can accidentally cause more breakage if you are not careful. Most stylists recommend brushing just enough to style your hair and then stopping.

Also, try to not brush your hair when it is wet, as this is when it is the most vulnerable and prone to breaking.

Switch up your plastic-bristled hair brushes for natural bristle to make brushing even more gentle.

Skipping trims

Not cutting your hair as often seems like the way to go when you want longer hair, right?

Actually, skipping trims to remove dead end may lead to more breakage up the strand, and make your hair more damaged and prone to breakage over time.

Schedule minor trims to clip those dead ends every 6-8 weeks to ensure your hair growth is healthy.

Drying your hair too roughly with a towel

Going straight into wet hair with a towel and roughly drying it off may help you get a head start on drying, but it can be damaging to your hair.

Terry-cloth towels can be rough on your cuticle and cause them to lift up and become more prone to breakage.

Either air dry your hair, or lightly dry it off with an old t-shirt for a gentler drying experience.

Styling hair too tightly

If a high and tight ponytail, or tightly braided hair is your signature look, you may be dealing with more breakage because of it.

Tight styles can pull too much on strands and create tension at the root.

Over time this can cause breakage or hair loss from the follicle.

Keep styles looser, or opt for wearing your hair down more often to avoid breakage from styling.

Washing your hair too often

If you wash your hair every day, you may be stripping off healthy hair and scalp oils too often and making your strands prone to breakage.

Try to space out your washes by a day or two in order to let your natural oils get down the shaft and nourish your strands.

Sleeping on the wrong pillow cases

Who knew that even your choice of pillowcase can affect your hair?

Textiles like cotton can cause too much friction on your strands while you toss and turn. Also, it is not slick enough to allow your hairs to slip past each other while you move, and this can cause the cuticle to lift up or become rough and break.

Opt for more slippery materials like silk or satin to help prevent breakage during the night. As a bonus, these will help distribute hair oils from your scalp down your hair while you sleep, making it looks smoother in the morning.