Heat-damage sucks, guys. ????

Justkeepswimmin

Hey girls! I am really suffering from heat damage. I used to have beautiful curly hair that was past my shoulders. When I was younger, my mother used to braid my hair every Sunday which made it very strong and healthy. But around the beginning of 6th grade, I would start straightening it behind my moms back. She would hide all of my heat appliances and would even throw them in the garbage. I used to hate her for this but now I completely understand why she did that. Starting in 7th grade, I straightened my hair almost every day. I then began noticing my hair getting a bit thinner, but it wasn't too bad. The hairs along my hairline were getting shorter and breaking. But it didn't stop me from using heat. In 8th grade, I continued to use heat appliances. And my mom kept telling me to stop. I knew that my hair was getting really damaged, but I didn't stop. In 9th grade, my hair got so bad. I told myself to stop. I straightened my hair less, and began trying out some natural products. I also used biotin. Now, I'm a sophomore and I have probably lost more than half of my hair. My hairline has definitely receded and my forehead looks huge. It looks like it's growing back, because there's little hairs around that area which is kind of encouraging. The crown of my hair has definitely thinned out and I just feel so ugly. To make things worse, I've joined the swim team and the chlorine is definitely going to damage my hair. I wear a swim cap but the chlorine still gets in. And I have to wash my hair with clarifying shampoo every day. I really don't know what to do anymore. I have really low self esteem due to my hair loss and it's extremely embarrassing. I try some natural hairstyles but they don't look too nice because my hair isn't very full. I don't know what to do, please help. And thanks for taking the time to read this.

tarynnicole714

I used to bleach and dye my hair a lot. It was also fried from a bad experience with head lice and lice shampoo so it was very dry and damaged. I also used to straighten my hair every day for 2 years, sometimes even while it was damp. This highly damaged my curl pattern and my hair over all. Once I used Mane n' Tail shampoo and conditioner, my hair became healthy and was much stronger. I've heard many people say it helps thicken the hair but since my hair was extremely thick already, I cannot attest to this. Its very good for damaged hair and helps restore health to your hair quickly. And depending on where you go, you can 32 oz bottles for $5 to $7. Good luck!

Neleke

Hi Justkeepswimmin,
I'm on a curlyjourney as well, still trying to find the best way to treat my hair after 6 months as a natural (I straightened my hair for about 10 years, most of the times even twice a day...), and I can't help you with a lot of things.

I do have a couple of things I do in order to keep most of the chlorine out of my hair. Here's what you can do besides wearing a swim cap:
- wet your hair before putting on the swim cap: your hair is like a sponge, if it is already filled with "clean" water (without chlorine), it will "drink" less chlorinewater...
- you can also put a layer of conditioner on your hair before putting on the swim cap: this protective layer will again help to keep the chlorine out of your hair
- you don't have to use a sulfate shampoo afterwards, just make sure your shampoo has "EDTA" in its ingredients, this will normally remove any chlorine left

Johari

Try rubbing oils on your scalp for growth.

Sent from my C5155 using CurlTalk App

Justkeepswimmin

Thanks so much, guys! I will definitely try your recommendations. Good luck on your hair journey! xx