Ways Hair Damage Occurs & Tips on Prevention
The environment, chemical treatments, heat styling, pollution, and mechanical friction. Those are the five main ways your hair gets damaged, and most people are dealing with at least two or three of them without realizing it. Understanding what's hurting your hair is the first step to stopping it.
Hair damage is cumulative. A little sun exposure plus daily flat ironing plus tight ponytails adds up over time until one day you notice your ends are fried and your hair won't hold a style. By then, the damage is done and you're looking at either treatments or a significant trim.
I'm Bri, a stylist at The Warehouse Salon in Fairfield. I see damaged hair constantly, and it's almost always preventable once clients understand what's causing it. Let me tell you about one client who came to me with hair so damaged she thought she'd have to cut it all off.
What Happens When Damage Goes Too Far?
A client named Alexis came to me in tears last winter. She was an account executive in Montclair, 29 years old, and her hair was completely destroyed. The ends were crispy, her mid-lengths snapped when she brushed, and her color looked dull and brassy even though she'd just had it done.
"Bri, I don't understand what happened," she said. "I take care of my hair. I use expensive products. Why does it look like this?"
I asked her to walk me through her routine. She blow-dried and flat ironed daily for work. She got highlights every six weeks. She swam laps at her gym three times a week without protecting her hair from the chlorine. And she wore her hair in a tight slicked-back ponytail every single day.
"Alexis, you're hitting your hair with all five types of damage at once," I told her. "Heat, chemicals, environment, pollution from the gym, and mechanical friction from the ponytail. Your hair can't recover."
She looked devastated. "Do I have to cut it all off?"
We didn't have to go that drastic, but we did have to cut four inches and completely overhaul her routine. I put her on K18 treatments to repair the internal structure, switched her to protective products, and taught her how to prevent each type of damage going forward.
Six months later, her hair was healthier than it had been in years. "I can't believe I was doing all of that to my own hair," she said. "I thought I was taking care of it."
Here's what was damaging her hair and how we fixed it.
The Environment
Sun, chlorine, wind, and cold weather all damage hair. UV exposure breaks down the protein structure and fades color. Chlorine strips moisture and can turn blonde hair green. Wind causes tangles that lead to breakage. Cold weather makes hair brittle and prone to snapping.
Alexis was swimming three times a week without wetting her hair first or using a protective product. Chlorine was soaking into her dry strands and destroying them from the inside out. Her highlights were turning brassy within two weeks of every appointment.
The fix was simple. I had her wet her hair with clean water before getting in the pool so it couldn't absorb as much chlorine, and she started using a leave-in treatment with UV protection. We also recommend protective hairstyles like braids when you're spending extended time outside. Alexis's color now lasts six weeks instead of two.
Chemical Services
Coloring, straightening, and perming alter your hair's natural structure and pH, making it more prone to breakage and split ends. These services aren't inherently bad, but they need to be done carefully with time for your hair to recover between appointments.
Alexis was getting full highlights every six weeks, which meant the same strands were being lightened over and over. That's too much for most hair to handle. We switched her to a balayage technique that doesn't overlap as much, and stretched her appointments to every ten weeks with glosses in between.
At The Warehouse Salon, we use K18, a revolutionary repair treatment that fixes hair structure from the inside out in just four minutes. Alexis gets a K18 treatment with every color service now, and her hair can actually handle the lightening without becoming damaged. If you're doing chemical services, protective treatments aren't optional.
Heat Styling
Daily use of blow dryers, flat irons, and curling irons causes cumulative heat damage. The high temperatures break down the protein bonds in your hair, leading to dryness, brittleness, and breakage. Once heat damage is done, it can't be fully reversed without cutting.
Alexis was blow-drying and flat ironing every single morning. That's 365 heat sessions per year on hair that was already compromised from chemicals and chlorine. No wonder her ends were crispy. She thought heat protectant was optional because she was "used to" heat styling.
Heat protectant is never optional. I put Alexis on a professional heat protectant and taught her to use lower heat settings. We also found ways to reduce how often she needed heat, like blowouts that last multiple days and styles that work with her natural texture. She went from daily heat to three times a week, and her hair thanked her.
Pollution
Polluted air deposits particles on your hair and scalp that cause dryness, dullness, and buildup over time. City air, gym environments, and even indoor pollution from heating systems can all affect your hair. Most people don't think about this one, but it matters more than you'd expect.
Alexis spent time in a chlorinated gym environment three times a week, plus she commuted through the city daily. All of that exposure was building up on her hair and scalp, making her products less effective and her color look dull faster.
We added a clarifying shampoo once a week to remove buildup and switched her to a shampoo and conditioner formulated to protect against environmental damage. I also recommended weekly deep conditioning treatments to restore what pollution strips away. Alexis said her hair felt cleaner and looked shinier within a few weeks of adding these steps.
Mechanical Friction
Constant brushing, tight hairstyles, rough bristles, and even sleeping on cotton pillowcases can cause mechanical damage. This type of damage shows up as breakage, especially around the hairline and at the crown where friction is highest.
Alexis wore her hair in a tight, slicked-back ponytail every day for work. She thought it looked polished and professional, but it was causing traction damage along her hairline and breakage where the elastic sat. She also brushed aggressively when her hair was wet, which is when it's most vulnerable.
I taught her gentler brushing techniques using a wide-tooth comb on wet hair and a soft bristle brush on dry. We switched her to silk scrunchies instead of tight elastics, and she started alternating between ponytails and wearing her hair down. The breakage stopped within a month, and her hairline started filling back in.
More Resources for Damaged Hair
To learn more tips or find products to help with extremely damaged hair, check out these blogs:
Your Hair Damage Questions Answered
How do I know if my hair is damaged?
Signs include dryness, brittleness, split ends, breakage when brushing, dull color, and hair that won't hold a style. Alexis's hair snapped when she brushed it, which is a sign of serious damage. If your hair feels like straw or looks lifeless even after conditioning, you probably have some level of damage.
Can damaged hair be repaired without cutting it?
Some damage can be improved with treatments like K18, but severe damage usually requires trimming. Alexis had to cut four inches, but treatments saved the rest of her hair. The earlier you catch damage, the less you'll have to cut.
Is it okay to heat style if I use protectant?
Heat protectant helps but doesn't make heat styling completely safe. Alexis still had to reduce her heat styling frequency even with protectant. Think of it like sunscreen. It helps, but you still shouldn't sit in direct sun all day every day.
How often should I get trims if my hair is damaged?
Every six to eight weeks until the damaged ends are gone. Alexis came in every six weeks for trims while her hair recovered. Once your hair is healthy, you can stretch trims to every ten to twelve weeks.
Book Your Hair Assessment
Understanding what's damaging your hair is the first step to stopping it. Alexis was hitting her hair with all five types of damage at once and didn't realize it until her hair was in crisis. Once we identified the problems and fixed each one, her hair recovered completely.
If your hair is damaged and you're not sure why, book a consultation. I'll look at your hair, ask about your routine, and identify exactly what's causing the problem. Then we'll build a plan to repair the damage and prevent it from happening again.
Book at The Warehouse Salon in Fairfield at 1275 Bloomfield Ave, Building 1, Unit 3 by calling 973-500-4536. If you're closer to Chatham, visit Studio 360 Salon and call 973-701-3030.
Damage is preventable once you know what's causing it. Let's figure out what's hurting your hair.
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About the Author
Brianna Thompson
Brianna is a highly skilled and licensed cosmetologist, stylist, and color expert at Studio 360 Salon in Chatham, NJ. She possesses a thorough understanding of hair products and the science behind hair and hairstyling.
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