“I can’t believe I have so many split ends. What is the possible reason for split ends? My hair used to look so healthy. I bet no one even notices, but I can’t stop obsessing over them. Maybe I should just cut my hair short and start fresh. But then again, I’ve been growing it out for so long. I need to start taking better care of my hair and maybe try some new products or treatments. Ugh, it’s so frustrating. Why does hair have to be so high maintenance?”
Does this rant sound familiar?
Let us shed light on this burning question: What is the reason for split ends?
How Strong Is Your Hair?
Your hair is really strong. Let us shock you!
Can you imagine that the whole hair of your head can support the weight of two elephants?
A single hair strand is about half the strength of the same size of steel.
The outermost layer of the hair is ‘The Cuticle’. It is made up of flat, overlapping fishlike scales. These scales are the reason for hair being so strong.
Split ends are something that is the biggest horror story before attending a big event. Even after taking care of your hair, your hair gets split ends. What is the reason for split ends? Let’s get to the ‘root’ of the cause.
Reason For Split Ends
The medical term for split ends is ‘Trichoptilosis’. It happens when the hair shaft splits. It is the visible part of the hair that pokes out of the scalp and gives you beautiful tresses.
The primary reason for split ends is physical force or stress on the hair. Be gentle with your hair and comb it calmly. (Even though they have the power of dragging two giant elephants! :P)
Another reason that contributes to split ends is getting chemical treatments now and then. It includes dyeing and perming. The natural hair oil gets stripped off, which weakens the hair.
It can also be because of internal factors like genes or nutrient deficiencies.
1. Ultraviolet Havoc
You would notice that your hair color gets lighter in the summer. It is because the Sun is hotter and its UV radiation can lead to both physical and chemical damage to the hair.
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UV rays destroy the protein and keratin bonds in the hair with time. Protein is the reason why your hair looks shiny, flexible, and strong after applying an egg mask.
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But, as the Sun affects both color and protein of the hair, it becomes dry, brittle, and rough.
It is better to cover your hair with a scarf or hat or apply hair sunscreen in hot weather to evade split ends.
2. Nutrient Deficiency-Main Reason For Split Ends
The hair needs a number of nutrients to grow perfectly. The leading nutrients that help in hair growth while maintaining overall hair health are protein, iron, and zinc.
You can get these nutrients naturally through:
- Eggs
- Meat
- Fish
- Legumes
- Cottage Cheese
- Edamame Cheese
- Greek Yogurt
- Tofu
- White beans
- Dried figs and apricots
- Pistachios
- Peanuts
- Cocoa
3. Bleaching- Hazardous Reason For Split Ends
Bleaching remains in fashion in all seasons. Women love to experiment with their hair color. Someday, you may wake up and want to look like a real-life Goldilocks.
Or you want to simply cut down your natural hair color so that you can give an altogether different tone to your hair. Then bleach is what you would opt for.
Although, it looks good and gives you a drastically changed look that everybody praises-Except Your Hair!! (which is silently pleading with you to have mercy.)
Bleach not only changes the color of your hair but also its nature. Your hair strands become dry and brittle. This becomes a reason for split ends.
Dying or highlighting is not as damaging to your hair as bleaching, but it also contributes to some extent to your falling hair health.
4. Permanent Dyes
They work by opening the outermost part of the hair shaft called ‘The Cuticles’.
The dye further penetrates into the inner part of the hair shaft called ‘The Cortex’, thus removing its colors.
This process changes the hair texture, leading to split ends.
5. Highlights
If you want to give yourself a funky look, you choose highlights. During highlights, only a few strands or strips of hair are colored.
The chemicals used in it damage the hair cuticles. At the end of the day, you are bound to have dry, limp hair and split ends.
Highlights and dyes are less damaging as compared to bleach. However, the damage can be controlled by using ammonia-free dye and hair colors.
6. Brushing
One of the reasons for split ends is physical force or stress that comes excessively:
- Brushing the hair-Never brush the hair when it’s wet. As wet hair cuticles are imbibed with water and may lead to hair breakage. Wet hair can stretch up to 30% naturally. If stretched further, then it leads to hair fracture. Subsequently, brushing the hair when it is dry is equally harmful because of repeated friction. It is better to use a wide-toothed comb to brush your hair. Apply oil before brushing dry hair.
- Towel drying the hair-Use a microfiber cloth or a pure cotton t-shirt instead. As the harsh fiber of the towel causes a lot of hair friction.
- Washing the hair with hot water-It is totally unacceptable.
7. Hair Heating Tools
On a cold winter day, a hairdryer would sound like an amazing option to dry your hair in a jiffy. But, it becomes a reason for split ends.
Curling tongs, flat irons, and blow-dryers all make the hair shaft get very weak.
High temperatures to the hair are like you sent it to prison to serve time.
8. Hair Perms and Relaxants
The process of perming and relaxants changes your natural hair texture by breaking the disulfide bonds of hair in two ways:
- Chemically curling it.
- Chemically straightening it.
Read the above lines again. You will get to know how damaging it is to your hair, facilitating split ends.
9. Other factors
- Tying the hair very tightly.
- Styling the hair while it’s wet.
How to get rid of split ends?
- Apply hair oil regularly. You can use olive, coconut, jojoba, avocado, or argan oil.
- Use an egg or yogurt hair mask once a week.
- Do deep oil penetration treatment using a warm towel once a week.
- Work on having food rich in proteins, zinc, and iron. You can also have supplements after the doctor’s advice.
- Avoid excessive drying or brushing of your hair.
- Regularly get your hair trimmed.
- Limit your thermal hair styling and chemical hair treatment frequency as much as you can.
Take away
Your hair is really strong naturally. It’s how you treat it that it may get dry, brittle, lifeless, and may get split ends. Look for all the triggers that become the reason for split ends and nip it from the ‘follicle’!;)