Why do I get split ends?

Trim on schedule: every 8 to 12 weeks removes the fracture before it travels.
Cut the big three: high heat, bleach, and rough mechanical handling drive the damage.
Condition every wash: deposited smoothing layers measurably cut fiber-on-fiber friction.
Get seen if: breakage is sudden, extreme, or comes with shedding from the root - that is a hair-shaft disorder question, not a trim one.

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Because hair is dead fiber, not living tissue - it cannot heal, so everything it endures accumulates until the shaft fractures lengthwise. Biomechanics research that simulated combing forces in the lab shows how it happens: the protective cuticle scales wear off first, then microcracks form inside the strand under repeated bending and friction, and in damaged hair those splits propagate far along the fiber; in the same experiments, bleaching healthy hair made it split like naturally damage-prone hair. That maps onto the daily causes: heat styling, bleaching and dye, rough towel-drying, tight elastics, dry brushing, and plain length - the ends of long hair have simply survived more years of wear. What does not work: serums that "repair" split ends - a split shaft cannot be welded, only glued down visually until the next wash. What works: trim every 8 to 12 weeks, lower the heat and add protection when you use it, condition every wash (conditioners deposit smoothing layers that cut fiber friction), and go gentle on wet hair, which stretches and snaps at its weakest.

Why do I get split ends?

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