braids and damaged to hair ends

[carla]

Hello ladies,
Just recently, I went to the hair dresser and he gave me some information that made me wonder. He told me that wearing braids causes damage to your hair ends, which causes it to split. I thought that braids were for protecting the ends of your hair. Can anyone tell me why the braids might be damaging my ends if they are protected?

 

[Integrity]

i think the trick is to keep them moisturised with frequent washing or rinses and scurl etc

and dont use synthetic hair that suck moisture out!!

also be sure to wash the hair and neutralise it with acid rinse before using it.

this willl help cut down or even negate the damage.

bye

 

[Tara]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
carla said:
Hello ladies,
Just recently, I went to the hair dresser and he gave me some information that made me wonder. He told me that wearing braids causes damage to your hair ends, which causes it to split. I thought that braids were for protecting the ends of your hair. Can anyone tell me why the braids might be damaging my ends if they are protected?

[/ QUOTE ]

I had heard that too until I "met" so many women on these boards whose hair has grown healthy and to great length with braids.

I think one of the main culprits of breakage while in braids is lack of moisture. ESPECIALLY if you use synthetic hair. All synthetic hair is made up of some sort of nylon material, and therefore you have to be EXTRA dilligent about moisturizing because the synthetic hair will soak up ALLL the moisture. So I think not keeping the hair moisturized will be the big "ends killer" but that is true with braids and without them.

Then of course there are the other reasons braids can cause split ends and breakage:

* Braids that are too tight

* Hairdressers that do stupid things like rip through the hair with the rat-tail comb which will cause split ends immediatly

Tha's all I can think of.

HTH

 

[Stylepink]

Hi Carla:

I wore braids for almost a year and I had the same problem also. My hair dresser said that the synthetic hair does not protect your hair but can actually cut it in some places

When I did take out my braids, I did have a lot of breakage and shedding! It was quite traumatized and have never had my hair braided since. Thats just my experience. I have heard that some people have good results with braids. Good luck!!

Deeadra
www.marykay.com/dursinzachary

 

[rosebud]

Braids damaged my hair I think for the following reasons:
1. They were too tight and because of that, plucked some of my hair from the roots. Especially the hair line. It was really bad.
2. They were too long. The weight of the braids also caused my scalp to hurt and the hair to be pulled out.
3. I put the braids in sponge rollers and dipped the entire length of hair in BOILING water ( I should have just dipped the ends of the braids that didn't include my own hair). They looked cute, but I think that is what destroyed my hair and I am still trying to grow out the last 6 inches of damaged hair.

Eventhough I have worn braids with no observed problems in the past ( but back then I wasn't too observant when it came to hair..), I don't think I will ever wear braids again. Actually, a hairdresser recently told me that you never put braids on relaxed hair. When I say braids, I mean the type where you use synthetic hair for extensions.

 

[SweetNic_JA]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
i think the trick is to keep them moisturised with frequent washing or rinses and scurl etc

and dont use synthetic hair that suck moisture out!!

also be sure to wash the hair and neutralise it with acid rinse before using it.

this willl help cut down or even negate the damage

[/ QUOTE ]

This is among the best advice that you can give. I wore synthetic braids from October to December and I didn't have any problems. Here is what I did and what I do now (I'm currently wearing human braids in my hair).

Synthetic:
Soaked the hair in diluted vinegar for about 1 day.
Conditioned the hair with a moisturizing conditioner for a couple hours.
Sprayed S-curl activator on the hair and let it dry in.
After I braided my hair I washed it two or 3 times a week using conditioner only. I would wash with diluted shampoo every two weeks or longer.
I sprayed with curl activator moisturizer mixed with grapeseed oil, WGO, rosemary oil, emergency 911 or infusium 23 leav-in or both.

That was pretty much the routine.
OH one very important thing that I did. I wore my braids down most of the time. Pulling your hair up in a pony tail puts pressure on your edges and pull your hair out from the root. I also re-braid the edges when they grow out. If I don't do that then braid will twist around in a spiral like form and pull on your roots and pop your hair out.

I pretty much do the same thing with these human braids. I modified my routine by addint ORS carrot oil mixed with olive oil on my wet hair as soon as I get out the shower. This really keeps my hair moisturized but later on in the evening I spray with the s-curl mixture.

I must say that I didn't have any breakage last time and my hair was very moisturized and protected with no splits ends. I'll be taking these out in a couple weeks but there is no sweat. All I can do is praise the braids. They work for me!

 

[Laela]

Hi Carla,

Welcome to the boards....

When I wore braids, I always used human hair to avoid excessive dryness. Since I'm now going to put in my own braids and can't afford to waste $$$, I'll be using the C&amp;G Braid Regimen to pretreat the synthetic hair. That'll strip it of the alkaline so my own hair doesn't dry out. I think keeping the braids moisturized is the key. With human hair, that's not too much of a problem.

HTH