Our hair faces a number of challenges every day, including chemicals, pollution, dust, heat, sun damage, and much more. Split ends are among the most frequent problems we encounter.
Split ends may have a bad impact on the hair's appearance and inhibit hair growth. The hair shaft frays as a result of excessive heat, mechanical stress, and dryness, leading to split ends.
How can split ends be prevented? Is cutting them the only way to stop the damage?
Actually, No!!!
Here is a lowdown on the entire split ends encyclopedia.
What Are Split Ends?
Split ends occurs when the hair tip separates into two parts. They develop when your hair becomes excessively dry, fragile, and brittle. It is an indication of damaged hair. It is also known as the "arrangement of feathers in certain regions" or trichoptilosis.
This is because untreated split ends cause hair strands to break at various spots, giving the appearance of a feather. Split ends come in a variety of shapes, including the basic split, candle, knot, tree split, fork, and mini-split.
They essentially serve no purpose other than to degrade the condition of your hair and slow its growth. The worst part is that split ends are infamous for resurfacing.
Why Do You Get Split Ends?
Common habits including inappropriate brushing techniques, harsh chemical treatments, and years of bad hair care may be responsible for your split ends.
Have you ever heard the wording "you are what you eat”?
Well, it's true! They can also develop if you are not getting enough minerals, vitamins, and protein from the diet and are malnourished. Subsequently, the hair appears frizzy and dry because the natural oils created by the hair follicles are not able to travel down the hair length.
Lack of vitamins B3 and B12 in your body can lead to recurrent split ends. It will also be a trouble for you if you have hormonal problems and your haemoglobin is low.
Split ends happen when your hair's cuticle, which is its outermost layer of protection, deteriorates over time as a result of environmental causes and normal wear and tear. Unquestionably, using heat tools can harm your strands and result in split ends.
How to get rid of split ends?
What really has to be addressed is—how to remove split ends.
Check out the useful advice on getting rid of them. But first, please refrain from picking at them, okay?
1. Provide internal nourishment to your hair
For developing healthy, long, glossy hair, the first and most important point to remember is to eat well. Eat a balanced diet that is high in fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats to achieve this.
95% of your hair is keratin (protein). You may give your hair strands the amino acids they need to be lustrous, silky, and strong by eating meals high in protein. Minerals, vitamin C, and B vitamins necessary for healthy hair are found in green leafy vegetables. Green vegetables help strengthen your hair and lower the likelihood of split ends.
2. Turn down the heat
The natural oils in the hair might become dried out when curling irons, hair straighteners, and blow dryers are used excessively. This results in dryness and damage to the hair shafts, leading to split ends. Use heat styling equipment sparingly if you have split ends.
Use the blow dryer's cold setting. You may style your hair with curlers made of fabric, silicone, or plastic. Additionally, before straightening, curling, or blow-drying your hair, use a coconut oil treatment or a thermal protectant to shield it.
3. Get regular trims
In order to stop split ends from moving up the shaft of your hair and to head off problems in the early stages, make sure to regularly trim your hair every 6-8 weeks. If you have a habit of tearing your split ends apart, you should stop doing it right away and visit a hairstylist.
4. Use a hair mask every week
Hair masks support follicle nourishment, strand hydration, and hair lustre restoration. Utilizing hair masks can make split ends less noticeable and leave your hair stronger, which might help prevent split ends in the future. To keep your hair moisturised and nourished, you may apply aloe vera, avocado, honey, or papaya hair mask. Oils, such as olive oil, can also help to shield the ends of your hair from becoming damaged.
5. Avoid Hair Processing
Avoid any chemical treatments on damaged hair, including bleaching, perming, colouring, and keratin. Split ends are made worse by processing damaged hair, which also denatures the hair protein and alters the structure of the hair. Denaturation makes hair more vulnerable to harm from pollutants and the sun.
Other strategies for fixing split ends
- Comb your hair gently: Split ends can result from rough hair brushing. Stop combing your hair if you can hear any sound! Start from the bottom to remove the tangles.
- Replace your pillowcases with satin ones: The friction from cotton pillows damages the hair, resulting in split ends and breakage. Pillowcases made of silk or satin are gentle on your hair.
- Make use of a moisturising shampoo: To avoid split ends, use a herbal shampoo with emollients like vegetable oils and plant butters.
- Keep yourself hydrated: To lessen split ends, enhance nutrient circulation, and flush out impurities, drink 3–4 litres of water daily.
- Make an appointment for a hair spa: Spa services like hair steam and head massages improve blood flow to the scalp and feed the hair follicles with nutrients to encourage healthy hair. Steam allows moisture to penetrate the hair by opening up the cuticle layers. Result? Silky and moisturised hair.
Take Away
Split ends can affect how your hair looks and, if neglected, can harm your hair over time. Prevention is the key to avoid split ends. Even while you might not want to give up your styling equipments, using them less frequently and maintaining healthy hair may help you avoid split ends.
FAQs
Q. What causes split ends?
Ans. Split ends can be spurred on by hair styling methods including curling, straightening, and blow drying, as well as exposure to harsh weather, and chemical hair products.
Q. How can I get rid of split ends naturally from my hair?
Ans. Massage aloe vera gel into your hair to heal damaged hair and to get smooth, glossy, and bouncy locks. One of the most effective ways to deal with split ends is to massage oil to the affected area with almond, olive, or coconut oil.
Q. Do split ends ever heal?
Ans. The only foolproof way for removing split ends is to chop them off. Velaterapia, also known as candle cutting, is the most modern treatment for damaged ends.
Q. What happens if you don't trim split ends?
Ans. Split ends can harm your strands more by moving up the hair shaft and towards the roots. Split ends prevent hair from growing, hence it may have an impact on hair growth.
