For most of my life, my hair has been relatively healthy. Then after having my first kid and experiencing TRUE stress (moms, you know what I mean), as if like a switch, my hair turned crazy. Every morning I found hair breaking off in my brush, and found myself Googling “how to stop hair breakage” more than my usual “what to eat for dinner”.
I found that hair breakage was a common symptom for women of all ages, and not just moms. While I think a lot of my own hair breakage was due to stress and fluctuating hormones, there are other reasons for hair breakage as well, and luckily, there are a lot of helpful resources on how to stop hair breakage out there.
My own knowledge and research helped me stop my own hair breaking off, so hopefully some of these tips, tricks and tools will help you too! Remember, you don’t have to start doing them all at once. Slowly start to introduce these hacks into your hair and life, and then stick with what works for you!
What Causes Hair Breakage?
Hair breakage is a common problem for women. If you’re wondering how to stop hair breakage, it’s important to first understand what causes hair breaking off in the first place. Common causes of hair breakage include:
- High stress levels
- Poor diet
- Heat and styling damage
- Poor towel hair drying methods
- Skipping regular haircuts
How To Stop Hair Breakage
If there was one simple fix on how to stop hair breakage, believe me, I’d bottle it and sell it for millions of dollars. Instead, there are a bunch of everyday lifestyle changes that you can make to help prevent hair breakage. Goodbye to the days of hair breaking off to the touch! Here are my go-to remedies:
1. Collagen
If you’re not taking collagen supplements, you must have access to the literal fountain of youth! (If so, here’s my phone number…) But seriously, collagen is the next best thing. It helps repair our hair, skin, and nails from the inside, out. Meaning, it strengthens us at a cellular level. Collagen provides a combination of amino acids and proteins that can boost keratin production, provide antioxidants that fight free-radical damage, and increase blood circulation to not only create new hair follicles, but repair and strengthen damaged or thinning hair. When my hair was at its worst, I realized that being a 30-year-old woman, my collagen supply was diminishing. After starting to take a daily collagen (I use Super Youth Multi-Collagen Peptides) my hair breakage got so much better, and it looks and feels like it did when I was 20, also known as B.B., Before Babies. 🤣
2. Reduce stress levels
Growing up, my mom would ask me to list three things I was grateful for every night before bed. She would also tell me to take three big breaths whenever she saw me getting angry or worked up. Her mindfulness practices used to frustrate or bore me, and now I live by them! When I’m stressed, I notice my hair breaking off or falling out more than usual. By implementing just one or two calming self-care practices a day, like taking a bath, cooking a delicious meal, or going for a walk, you can reduce your stress levels and your risk of excess hair breakage. At the very least, you’ll have a few tools to reference for when you start to notice yourself getting stressed in the future.
3. Clean up your diet
Just like eating junk food can cause weight gain and acne, it can also cause our hair to rebel too. Hair follicles love nutrients like biotin, folate, iron and antioxidants. Add more of these nutrients into your diet to help lessen your hair breakage. Foods that are rich in one or more of these vitamins include eggs, berries, spinach, and nuts and seeds. By also eliminating processed foods and added sugar, your hair and waist will thank you!
4. Use a heat protectant and avoid elastic hair ties
When styling our hair, we often burn, break, and damage our hair in the process. I notice my hair breaking off more when I straighten it rather than when I let it do its natural thing. Before blow drying, straightening, or curling your hair, use a heat protectant serum or spray to help lessen your hair breaking off post-heat treatment. Additionally, a tip I learned from my hair stylist recently is to never rub your hair in your towel to dry it! I used to do this every single time I stepped out of the shower. What she said to do instead is wrap it in a towel to absorb moisture and then afterward you can give it a little rub or move on to blow drying. Lastly, never use rubber bands or elastic hair ties! They grip onto hair and rip it apart, causing more damage and breakage.
5. Trim your hair
You don’t have to drop major dollars on a haircut every three months to do this! Simply trimming your dead ends and cutting your hair here and there will help it stay healthy. Think of the leaves of a flower bouquet. When you want it to stay looking beautiful, you start to pluck the browning or dead leaves. To leave them attached to the healthy flowers would be stealing useful water away from the stems and leaves that are actually using it. The same thing goes for hair. Get rid of the broken, dead split ends and your hair will have more “energy” to nourish the healthy strands!
The Bottom Line On Hair Breakage
Even if you don’t implement all of these tips and tricks every single day, sprinkling them throughout your week will help your hair grow strong and healthy! I know we all wish we could find a fix-it trick or pill, but any change worth making takes effort.
If you’re sick and tired of hair breakage, try adding one new hair hack into your lifestyle per week. This will make it easier to incorporate and help you find which remedies work best for you. I hope this helps you start your journey back to healthy, gorgeous hair!