A damaged hair strand refers to a hair fiber that has lost its natural structure and strength due to various factors such as heat styling, chemical treatments, and environmental stressors. Damaged hair strands may appear dry, brittle, and dull, and can also have split ends and frizz.
To a certain extent, damaged hair can be repaired with healthy hair practices, like masking and forgoing heat and hair brushing. But, if your hair has begun to break off, it's best to get a haircut and start fresh to prevent the breakage from moving further up your hair.
By sliding a strand, or a few, between your thumb and forefinger, you might be able to feel for the health of your hair. A smooth, easy slide, likely means your hair is healthy, while a rough and bumpy feeling means you likely have some damage.
Damaged hair is fragile, so it tends to break. Hair breakage can leave us with frizzy, unhealthy-looking hair. If we continue to damage our hair, we may eventually see thinning hair or even bald spots. The good news is that simple changes can prevent further hair damage.
Excessive use of hot tools is the easiest way to damage your hair. The heat contributes to split ends, breakage, and dryness. In addition to using a powerful heat protectant, hair specialists recommend that you limit your use of hot tools to two times a week, and try not to crank them up too high.
Extremely dry or brittle, rough to the touch
Between heat styling and color sessions, hair can feel much drier than you'd like it to be. Because dry hair can not absorb or retain enough moisture to maintain its texture and brightness, it may seem dull and brittle.
Your hair just looks dull and frizzy.
"As the hair shaft gets damaged, the cuticle is raised and hair absorbs light so it looks dull, rather than having a light-reflective, smooth and shiny surface," Blaisure says. Use a deep conditioner to smooth and protect hair, and oils to add shine.
Both dry and damaged hair can appear frizzy and dull, and can feel brittle. You might notice stray hairs and split ends.
Using products that are designed to nourish the scalp and hair can definitely speed up this process, but on average you'd be looking at six months to a year to fully see a difference in your hair's condition.
Does damaged hair grow back healthy? The only way to get healthy hair is to allow your hair to grow without further damage. If you'd damaged your hair by over-styling, too much heat or over coloring with harsh chemicals, the good news is - your hair will grow back healthy.
But we can all probably agree no one wants dry, brittle strands that split and break off, no matter your hair type, color, or cut. Unfortunately, it's your daily haircare routine that often causes the most damage to your mane — think heat-styling, aggressive brushing, sun damage, and improper washing.
A professional hair stylist will be able to diagnose your hair's condition in more detail, but in general, damaged hair breaks easily when pulled and has visible split ends (due to fragile bonds), while dry hair is often accompanied by white flakes of skin and a coarse, rough texture.
When cuticles (the outer surface of the hair shaft) are damaged, they open up and hair looks dull and frizzy, feels brittle and rough, and tangles easily.
While these terms are often used interchangeably and have similar symptoms, there is a common misconception that frizzy hair means damaged hair and this is simply untrue.
Hair Looks and Feels Dry and Brittle
And, once hair becomes brittle it can lead to further problems – think breakage, split ends Opens in a new tab, flyaways and dullness.
If you can wash your damaged hair once a week without it getting too greasy, then aim for once a week. According to Colombini, the less you wash your damaged hair, the better.
If you do not get a regular haircut to chop off your split ends, your hair will not grow the way you want it to. Plus, if you feel like your hair looks frizzy or damaged, getting a haircut can help restore your healthy shine.
Changes in your hair could indicate nutrition and health issues. A dry scalp or hair could mean you aren't getting enough healthy fats in your diet. Likewise, thinning hair could mean your diet lacks protein.
You may feel like your hair is rougher or looks matte instead of shiny. Damaged hair is when your hair feels matted or spongey when wet.
Generally, if your hair isn't greasy or dry, you should cleanse it every two to three days, King recommends. But if you wash hair too often for your hair type, "it could be very drying to the hair, depending on the ingredients in the shampoo," King says.
Excessive heat from blow-dryers, hot curlers, curling irons and flat irons can cause weak hair and breakage. Using a too-hot blow-dryer on wet hair heats the water remaining under the hair's cuticle and causes it to expand inside the hair, leaving spaces--or blisters --inside fibers, which weakens hair.