What causes split ends? How to prevent it?

What are split ends? Causes and Prevention 

 
Split ends generally occurs at the end of the hair shaft as it is the oldest part of the hair and is more prone to weaken, thus breaking off the outer protective layer. Although, splitting of hair generally occurs at the end, it is not limited to that part. There is no cure to split ends, hence it is of utmost importance to prevent them rather than worry about its cure. Adopting general hair care measures would not only help avoid split ends, but would result in a healthy and damage free hair. There are many causes of split ends. Few most common causes are mentioned below

What causes split ends:

Extreme weather condition: An exposure of hair to extreme heat and sunlight may cause hair to excessively dry, due to which it becomes brittle and results in change in the physical and chemical properties of hair fibres.

Chemical hair products: Use of cosmetics creates change in the proteins and amino acids contents like low cysteine which is responsible for disulphide bonds between the peptide chains of proteins in hair.

Excessive combing: Excessive combing of hair generates a tension to the hair fibre, thus creating fractures in the hair fibres.

 

Use of straighteners and curlers: Frequent use of straighteners and curlers generates heat and damage the hair, thus increasing the chances of splitting of hair

How to prevent split ends:

Moisturizing hair: Moisturizing hair strengthens hair shafts, thus preventing hair from splitting. A proper way to moisturize the hair is to apply the moisturizers from roots to the tips. Massaging the hair with natural oils such as coconut oil, almond oil, argon oil restores the moisture of hair and thus prevent it from damage.

Gently dry wet hair: Drying of hair using hair dryers which creates heat damages the hair shaft and also leads to hair fall and split ends, as wet hair is more likely to damage. I Therefore, pat drying the hair gently using a towel or air dry is recommended. It is also advised to detangle the hair by combing when it is wet rather than when the hair is dry as it is easier to detangle the hair when it is wet thus, reducing the damage caused to the hair cuticle when it is combed strongly to detangle dry hair.

Avoid over brushing: Brushing of hair excessively has been seen to create damage to the hair cuticle, therefore leading to split ends. Therefore, minimizing hair brushing is recommended to avoid hair damage. Brushing hair with a comb having wider gaps creates lesser or no damage than with narrow gaps.

Using heat protectant: For those who use regular curlers and hair dryers to style their hair, it is advised to use a heat protectant before using those appliances, which would damage the protein content of hair due to the exposure to extreme heat generated by those appliances.

Trimming of hair regularly: It is generally suggested to trim off hair regularly to avoid split ends. If there are split ends, there’s no way one can cure it without chopping it off, as it would create more damage. Therefore, trimming the hair ends would trim off the split ends, thus maintaining the hair growth and reducing the damage to hair