Tell me about your breakage. . .

I've been transitioning to textlaxed.
I started on Feb 5th 2009 (that was the last day I relaxed my hair bone straight) I used ORS Regular.

Since then I've textlaxed with Hawaiian Silky Mild lye and I <3 it.
Now. I am having problems. I have about 3.5/4 inches of textlaxed hair
and about 4.5/5 inches of relaxed hair and it is breaking like WILD FIRE.
I'm concerned. I dont know if I want to do a Little chop, which I've been doing - cutting like 2 inches at a time. Or if i should just wait it out.

I also switched up my products too. I use things like Loreal EverPure Moisture and I just purchased Jason's natural tall grass protein poo/condntr.

I dont know what to do. I'm just so stressed out.
I'm considering wearing it up from now until December Then Big Chopping.
I'm just stressed out and really need some incouragement.
I'm starting to rethink if being textlaxed is really more helpful than it is problematic. However, I havnt seen the full results yet so I'm still unsure

i hv da same problem. and it braks when i style it everyday..im trying to change that tho.

I cried for a very long time today, I took my sew in out of 2 months and lost half of my hair...I can barely get my hair in a ponytail now...I dont know what happenend

I'm having problems with breakage at the top and back of my hair.  The damage was very noticeable after my last relaxer (Oct 13th). My stylist chopped it off, but there is still alot of damage to that particular area. The texture of this part of my hair feels completely different than the rest of my hair. I believe the breakage is a result of using too much heat and no moisturizer (advised by stylist),  as well as stress related scratching to the top of my head. For the past month I've incorporated daily moisturizer (and sealing),  little heat (3 times total in the past month) and co washing into my regimen. Prior to this regimen I shampooed, deep conditioned my hair weekly,  as well as added shine drops to my hair daily. This regimen was given to me by my stylist. My stylist also told me that I should not put anything else on my hair because it will clog my scalp.

During the 1st week of Oct I was experiencing alot of irritation and itching at the top of my head, so I went to see a dermatologist. That visit was very upsetting. She barely looked at my scalp and prescribed me very expensive anti itch shampoo and oil to massage my scalp with. The oil made my scalp itch more, but since I've started with my new regimen, the top area of my scalp doesn't bother me anymore and I've stopped scratching.

I could really use some advice on how to reconstruct my damaged hair and get it back to the same texture as the rest of my hair.


I've posted pics I took of my hair in October below. Please excuse the different sizes, they seem to have gotten screwed while uploading.

    
    

 

Edited by phenomenalkei - 23 Nov 2009 at 7:13am

Originally posted by phenomenalkei Originally posted by prettigurl My advice to the ladies with breakage is to clarify, use nexxus emergencee as directed and deep condition with moisture afterwards. Your hair should improve a little at each treatment. How often should a person clarify?

I was experiencing breaking in the front of my hair and I realized its from my turban towel.  What an idiot I am. 

I've always had crazy breakage, and for some reason, I thought it was normal lol I thought it was because my hair was damaged from being overprocessed. Whenever I did my relaxers, I did my whole head, not just NG, stupid, I know. Right now, I have my hair in a bun to retain length. I have never clarified, nor had any kind of protein treatment done to my hair in all of my 22 years of living. So I know I need to do that lol But, and this could be because I've never clarified before, but whenever I moisterize my hair (I recently starting using Kids Organics Shea Butter), my hair gets hard, but when I let it dry and then comb it, it's soft. What does that mean? 

When i was about 10-15 weeks post relaxer it would break, i thought maybe if i got a relaxer it wouldnt break as bad and its still breaking..Its shedding too but not as much as the breaking.

Originally posted by Ashley0710 I've always had crazy breakage, and for some reason, I thought it was normal lol I thought it was because my hair was damaged from being overprocessed. Whenever I did my relaxers, I did my whole head, not just NG, stupid, I know. Right now, I have my hair in a bun to retain length. I have never clarified, nor had any kind of protein treatment done to my hair in all of my 22 years of living. So I know I need to do that lol But, and this could be because I've never clarified before, but whenever I moisterize my hair (I recently starting using Kids Organics Shea Butter), my hair gets hard, but when I let it dry and then comb it, it's soft. What does that mean?

my hair does the same thing when I use kids organics detangler. It's a great detangler, but it makes my hair feel weird at first. Then, when I comb it out it's soft

Ilovesteaksubs- do a protein treatment asap and follow with a moisturizind dc. Afterwards detangle with a wide tooth comb and add leave ins, oil, etc. Try not to play with the fragile spot. I do the same thing with my coarse, fragile nape and it just snaps off : (. I've stopped playing with my nape and I haven't had a problem with that area anymore.

Originally posted by prettigurl Originally posted by m33lah09 When i was about 10-15 weeks post relaxer it would break, i thought maybe if i got a relaxer it wouldnt break as bad and its still breaking..Its shedding too but not as much as the breaking.  It ranges from short little pieces to loooong peices...I'm going to see if a trim will help..If not, maybe its something i'm doing wrong with the protein/moisture[IMG]http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/smileys/smiley5.gif" height="17" width="17" align="absmiddle" alt="Confused" /> I get long broken pieces too, but only when my hair is wet. I think I need more protein. I've recently started prepooing with joico protein reconstructor and I don't see nearly as much breakage. Add some protein to your regimen and see if it helps

What about spraying some of that aphogee keratin spray after moist. and sealing???

How you handle your hair plays a significant role too. One who has a good combing/detangling routine can avoid this. It doesn't matter what type of shampoo or conditioner you use. If rush the comb through hair, it will break. Message water-based creams into hair sparingly. Comb with a fat tooth,round or flat-ended comb.

Losing 100 strands from follicles a day... I don't think I, myself lose that amount. Maybe for others though.