Mop on my head!

morticia

I wasn't entirely sure where I should ask this question, but since I went to college my hair has changed drastically and gotten thinner. My 3b hair has always been thin, I only realized when I first straightened my hair how little I had! At my school I always felt like the water smelt weird like very earthy but my roommate didnt really notice. I was using mane n tail then decided to try no poo method then went to natures gate and now im using shea moisture. So my product bipolar-ness probably has something to do with it. When I was doing the no-poo thing my hair felt really weird and it was always hard to comb through. I straightened it sometimes and started noticing breakage, like random clumps of hair would be superrrrr short. Now I have to wear a headband everyday and tuck in the sides or they stick out and I look like alfalfa...Right now my hair feels very fluffy towards the bottom almost like cotton candy. about two inches down from my scalp my hair is stick straight, I also have dandruff. I literally dont even know what the hell is going on. I was in the protein sensitive folder thinking it could be that? Anyway this has been a long tangent that I hope someone reads I'm planning to cut it a little longer than chin length and just restart and use shea moisture products?
picture with short hair was in high school
picture with long disgusting ass hair is current
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Firefox7275

Firstly establish if you are experiencing mid shaft breakage or hair falling out by the roots, examine the hairs you are losing for pointy ends, splits or root bulbs. If you cannot work it out you might invest in a detailed hair analysis
Komaza Care HAIR ANALYSIS Service - Rave! - Long Hair Care Forum
Flat ironing can irreparably damage your hair in just one session causing breakage or destroying the curl pattern, you might be best to totally lay off that. Maybe practice heat free techniques like wet wrapping.
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2009/05/straightening-factshow-hot-is-too-hot.html
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2010/11/heat-on-wet-hair-bubble-hair.html
http://www.hairfree.bz/Article.pdf

Secondly take your scalp issues to your family doctor for a formal diagnosis and then work with that, there are many possible causes of an itchy, flaky or smelly scalp. Self treating a self diagnosis can do more harm than good: shea butter can worsen seborrhoeic dermatitis for example. You may even have an undiagnosed hormonal issue that is causing your hair and scalp issues.

Might be worth doing a clarifying (to remove product build up: silicones, polyquats, shea butter) and chelating wash (to remove hard water residues).

Last thought is to take an honest look at your diet and lifestyle - are you meeting or exceeding ALL your government's recommendations for healthy eating, are you taking at least 10,000 steps every single day, are you drinking or smoking or taking drugs/ medication?

morticia

Thank you, I just went to the dermatologist and she prescribed lidex to get rid of the dandruff which she thinks is causing my breakage from itching.