If you’re noticing more hair fall than normal, visible changes in density, or dry, brittle texture, it could be a sign of hair breakage.
Hair breakage causes a lot of distress, but with a few changes to your styling habits and the help of an anti-breakage hair care routine, you can start to mitigate damage to your locks.
Read on as we guide you through hair breakage treatments, along with tips on how to prevent breakage from happening in the future.
What is hair breakage?
Hair breakage happens when hair breaks off at any point along the hair shaft. This is different from hair fall, which is when hair sheds from the scalp. To understand what makes hair break, we have to take a closer look at the basic structure of the hair shaft.
Unlike the follicle, which lies beneath the scalp, the shaft is the visible part of the hair that extends out of the scalp. The shaft comprises three layers: the medulla, cortex and cuticle1. The cuticle, the outermost layer, is made up of flat cells that overlap in a fish scale-like pattern. This layer ultimately acts as a protective shield for the cortex and medulla.
1https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-biology2/chapter/hair/
What does hair breakage look like? 7 signs of hair breakage
A normal cuticle is smooth, with fully intact scales. On the other hand, a damaged cuticle has lifted scales, which impacts the hair’s ability to retain moisture and ultimately leads to breakage.
Hair breakage can look a little different for everyone, but there are seven common signs:
• Split ends
• Frizz
• Dry, brittle texture
• Increased shedding
• Jagged, uneven, or thin ends
• More tangles and hair that’s harder to manage
• Small white spots on individual hairs – often called nodes2.
2https://opendermatologyjournal.com/VOLUME/19/ELOCATOR/e18743722373771/
Hair breakage causes
Damaged, weakened strands are the result of many external contributing factors.
Common hair breakage causes can include:
• Chemical treatments like bleaching, colouring, perming, relaxing and straightening treatments all affect the hair’s moisture retention, which leads to breakage.
• Excessive or continual use of hair styling tools leaves hair brittle, dry, and prone to breakage.
• Environmental stressors in summer, like UV exposure, salt water and chlorinated water, can all dry out the hair.
• Tight hair styles such as ponytails, buns, updos, tight braids, cornrows, hair extensions or weaves can all cause hair breakage at the crown and hairline3.
• Rough handling of wet or dry hair – known as mechanical damage – can increase your chances of breakage, flyaways and split ends.
3https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/hair-loss/causes/hairstyles
How to treat and prevent hair breakage: 7 tips
If you’ve ever wondered how to stop hair from breaking, we’ve got you covered.
In addition to getting regular trims and integrating fortifying hair care products, the most effective hair breakage treatments are about prevention. This means establishing healthy hair care habits that minimise friction, tugging, pulling, heat damage and chemical processing.
Read on for tips on how to prevent hair breakage and manage existing damage.
1. Switch to a fortifying shampoo and conditioner
Breakage is a major factor in what causes hair fall for many people, so we recommend substituting your standard shampoo and conditioner with a fortifying formula that reinforces hair fibres and reduces hair breakage. You’ll want to look for active ingredients that target hair breakage causes and boost moisture retention from within.
Dercos’s Collagen Peptide 17 collection is a three-step hair care system enriched with a reparative collagen peptide and citric acid complex to help fortify strands at every step.
Let’s take a closer look at these key ingredients:
• Collagen peptide is a biosynthetic collagen peptide that mimics the protein fragment found in collagen. Collagen benefits hair by boosting vitality, elasticity, and hydration to reduce breakage overall.
• Citric acid – an alpha hydroxy acid – is a small molecule that’s able to penetrate the hair fibre cortex and recreate weak bonds.
The Collagen Peptide 17 formulas are also suitable for sensitive scalps and colour-treated hair.
2. Use an anti-hair fall serum
To bolster the effects of your shampoo and conditioner hair breakage treatment, we suggest incorporating an anti-hair fall serum into your hair care regime to help re-anchor hair fibres at the root.
Dercos Aminexil R.E.G.E.N Booster Serum is formulated with our signature anti-hair fall ingredient – Aminexil – along with ginger extract and niacinamide. Together, these ingredients reduce the appearance of hair fall and promote resilience.
For optimal results, we recommend applying this hair serum five to seven times per week for 12 weeks on either a dry or damp scalp.
3. Be gentle with your hair
Part of what makes hair break is damaging mechanical practices like rough dry brushing and overly tight hair styles. This repetitive, unnecessary traction can even be linked to hair fall in women.
When it comes to brushing your hair, boar-bristle brushes are a great option for minimising hair breakage. As for technique, start brushing your ends first: gradually move from the bottom to the top of your hair, gliding through it without pulling.
As for hair styles, try to avoid tight ponytails and slick-backs where possible and embrace looser styles instead. You can also switch to a silk pillowcase and silk hair ties that help reduce snagging.
4. Take care when your hair is wet
Our hair is most vulnerable when wet, so it’s important to minimise friction and pulling to avoid ‘lifting’ the cuticles – which leads to further breakage. Instead, comb wet hair using a wide-tooth comb that gently detangles.
Avoid towel-drying your hair with terrycloth material (which creates friction and frizz) and opt for a microfibre towel or soft cotton t-shirt to absorb water from freshly washed hair.
5. Limit your use of heat styling tools
Regular, excessive use of heat styling tools can dry out your strands and make them more susceptible to dullness and breakage, so we suggest limiting your use of heat styling tools where possible. If you are using heat styling tools, opt for lower heat settings and always use a heat protectant.
6. Give your hair a break from chemical processing
Excessive chemical treatments are one of the major contributing factors of general breakage and hair breakage at the crown. One of the best things you can do for damaged hair is to take a break from chemical processing. This will give your strands ample time to recover while your fortifying hair care products gradually strengthen your hair fibres.
7. Get regular trims
Hair breakage treatment is as much about prevention as targeted nourishment, so it’s crucial to visit the salon for regular trims. This will prevent split ends from getting worse and snapping off higher on the hair shaft – which makes breakage and damage more noticeable.
Depending on the length of your hair, we recommend getting trims every eight to 12 weeks to prevent hair breakage and promote thicker, fuller hair overall.
Hair breakage treatment: 3-step anti-breakage routine
Healthy hair habits are one part of the equation – anti-breakage hair care is the other. Hair breakage treatments, shampoos, and conditioners actively work to reinforce the hair’s internal structure and deliver lasting hydration to improve hair resilience.
Below, you’ll find our three-step anti-breakage hair care system using Dercos’s Collagen Filler range.
1. Apply a pre-shampoo treatment
Fortified hair starts at the scalp, and the Dercos Collagen Peptide 17 Ultra-Repairing Treatment is enriched with a potent blend of citric acid and collagen peptide to strengthen hair bonds, reduce breakage, and promote fibre thickness.
As the first step in your hair care routine, apply this pre-shampoo treatment to your wet scalp and hair. For optimal results, leave on for five minutes – do not rinse.
2. Wash your scalp and hair with a fortifying shampoo
Designed to combat hair damage and rebuild hair’s inner fibre structure, the Dercos Collagen Peptide 17 Ultra-repairing Shampoo is the next step in your reparative hair care routine for visibly fuller hair.
Apply the shampoo directly on top of your pre-shampoo treatment. Massage well using the tips of your fingers to promote scalp circulation and a thorough cleanse. Rinse well.
3. Nourish and smooth your ends with a hydrating conditioner
A hair breakage treatment system would be incomplete without a nourishing conditioner – which is where the Dercos Collagen Peptide 17 Ultra-repairing Conditioner comes in.
This conditioner is instrumental in smoothing the hair cuticles to prevent further moisture loss (which exacerbates breakage and split ends). Distribute product evenly along your lengths and ends. Leave on for five minutes, then rinse.
Hair breakage treatments should always be included in your routine alongside supportive scalp care. Next, explore our tips on how to get rid of scalp buildup to ensure your hair is nourished and fortified from root to tip.
