Hair Breakage in Black Women
Hair breakage in black women is quite a common problem. This is mainly because, even though the black hair consist of the same components as in any other types of hair, they are arranged in a slightly different order which makes them very delicate. It often becomes more fragile due to wrong handling of hair. Excessive combing, brushing and washing of hair, treatments like hair coloring or curl relaxing done very frequently are some of the causes of hair breakage. Wearing hair down and sleeping on cotton pillows causes rubbing of hair against the harsh fibers of the cloth of the pillow and leads to split ends. This in turn weakens hair and increases the chances of break off.
How to Treat Hair Breakage on Black Hair?
There are several methods of hair care that can be used to improve the hair health and stop breakage.
Trim Your Hair
Split ends not only make the hair weak, but it also tends to travel up the hair and cause damage to the entire hair shaft. One thing is for sure that you cannot repair those damaged ends. Trimming hair regularly will help you to get rid of those split ends, and give your hair a more healthy look. You must trim your hair once in every 6-8 weeks.
Use a Good Quality Shampoo
Select a pH balanced shampoo for your black hair, which will have a moisturizing effect on your hair. Strictly avoid cheap shampoos as they contain harsh chemicals that will take away the natural oils of the hair and make them extremely dry and fragile. You should not shampoo your black hair too frequently. Ideally, you should use shampoo once a week only. However, you can rinse them with water every alternate day.
Deep Conditioning of Hair
Every time you rinse your hair, you must apply a good moisturizing conditioner on your hair. The conditioner repairs the damaged cuticles of the hair and helps to retain moisture in the hair shafts. Thus the possibility of frizzing of the hair decreases. Apply the conditioner thoroughly on wet hair and allow it to stay on the hair for three minutes, and then wash off with water.
Hot Oil Treatment
This will have a moisturizing effect on hair and works as an excellent substitute for natural oils produced by the oils glands present in the scalp. It also strengthens the hair roots and prevent it from falling off. Heat the oil (you can use olive oil or jojoba oil) and apply it on the hair in such a way that it covers up the hair from root to tip. Cover up the hair with a warm towel for an hour and then wash off the hair under running water. This treatment should be done once a month.
How to Prevent Hair Breakage?
When you take good care of your black hair the chances of hair loss can be reduced to a great extent. Here are some tips that can prevent hair breakage:
- Combing or brushing of hair should be done carefully. De-tangle the hair with your fingers when they are still wet, and then comb them slowly with a wide toothed comb. Fine toothed comb is not recommended for black hair.
- Do not apply heat on black hair as it tends to strip off moisture from hair surface. After a shower, do not use hair dryer on it and allow the hair to air dry.
- When you experience a problem of hair breakage, do not use strong chemicals like hair color and hair relaxers on them. Once the hair condition improves, you can use them but not very frequently. Most importantly, do not use them together. If you are using relaxers, do not color them.
- Avoid any tight black hairstyles as they put additional amount of stress on the hair line. Use hair accessories like scrunchie or rubber band with great care, so that they do not hold the hair too tightly.
- During bedtime, either wrap up the hair with silk scarf or use a satin case for your pillow. Thus, you can prevent occurrence of split ends caused by rubbing off hair on pillow.
