An Inside View Of Damaged Hair

Many people suffer from some form of damaged hair.  Some may not even know that this is the reason they are not able to get all out of their hair style that they want.  To address this issue, this article will discuss the different types of hair damage and the causes of that damage.

Cuticle Or Cortex

There are really only two types of hair damage.  Damage to the cuticle and damage to the cortex.  Each differs from the other and has its own symptoms.  To better understand the structure of the hair shaft, read our article “Anatomy Of The Hair Shaft.”

Cuticle Damage
Damage to the cuticle is easily recognizable.  It often presents as dry or frizzy hair that tends to stick together when wet.  This is because the cuticle has flared open and no longer lies flat against the cortex.

Example: Dry Hair Cuticle

The rough edges rub together and catch on one another.  In this case, the cuticle no longer has enough moisture content for the layers to adhere together as a mostly flat surface.  Not only does the hair feel dry, but it is dry.  In most instances this is type of damage is not permanent.  It can be corrected and managed with the correct hair care regimen.

Cortex Damage
Damage to the cortex is a more complex issue.  It can be caused by the dryness of the cuticle or some type of injury to the hair shaft.  Remember that the cuticle is a protective barrier that protects the cortex from the environment.  The cuticle is a hard flat protein intended to endure exposure to the outside world.  The cortex is not and is more easily damaged than the cuticle.  Because the cortex provides the shape, structure and color for the hair damage to the cortex can exhibit in many ways.  When the cortex is damaged, it is more often than not permanent damage that cannot be repaired.  This is know in the industry as a “blown cortex.”  A blown cortex means that the cortex of the hair has been damaged to the point of no repair.  It will not hold color or style as desired.  There are ways to minimize the impact of a blown cuticle, however, the best option is always to cut off the damaged hair.

Causes of Damage

Hair is made of a protein called keratin.  Like all proteins, keratin is an amino acid with a shape defined by polypeptide chains.  A protein’s shape determines how it will behave.  And a proteins shape is very sensitive to changes in heat, pH, chemicals and radiation.  Including UV radiation from the sun.  When these chains are changed, the protein no longer functions as it should.  An easy way to understand this is to think of an egg white.  Egg white is a protein known as albumen.  When you crack open an egg the white part is actually clear and runny, not white at all.  When you place that egg into a hot pan, it changes in response to the change in temperature almost immediately.  The albumen is transformed from clear and runny to a semi-solid, white.  This change is permanent.  The albumen will never again be clear and runny because the heat has changed its shape.  Being a protein, keratin is just as sensitive to changes in its shape and behavior.  When these changes happen, we recognize it as damage to the hair shaft.  While there are many ways to damage hair, these causes can be grouped into four major causes.  Environmental, mechanical, chemical and thermal.

Environmental Damage

This type of damage is encountered by everyone on a daily basis.  It is something that cannot be avoided, however, with knowledge of the ways in which hair can be damaged the road to prevention opens up.  The four most common causes of environmental damage to the hair shaft in Corpus Christi, Texas are wind, sun, salt and chlorine.  Wind does it’s dirty work through friction and abrasion.  As the hair shafts are tussled back and forth by the wind the bash into and rub against each other.  Over time this contact will thin the cuticle through abrasion.   The sun is a source of UV radiation that can pass through the cuticle and damage the cortex just like it penetrates skin and causes damage to the underlying cells.  Salt water is a very hypertonic solution when compared to our bodies.  It will exert a strong pull on the water in the cortex and strip moisture very quickly.  Salt however does not need to be in solution to cause water to move from inside the cortex to the outside of the shaft.  Leaving salt water on hair to dry or even the salt in the air can strip moisture from the hair shaft.  And finally chlorine.  Although this is a chemical and can be considered to be chemical damage, a better description is environmental damage because so many people encounter it on a daily basis.  While most people encounter chlorine in swimming pools and hot tubs it can also be found in some water sources.  Chlorine is essentially bleach and it will dissolve the keratin in the medulla, cortex and cuticle when given enough time.  While it is not likely that hair will be dissolved to the point of falling off by getting into the pool, frequent exposure will damage the cortex and lead to future problems if not managed.  To learn more about the effects of environmental damage and how you can mitigate this damage, read our article titled “How To Have Happy Summer Hair.”

Mechanical Damage

Mechanical damage can best be described by the stretching, pulling, twisting and binding of the hair shaft during any number of styling activities.  This includes brushing or combing, clipping, pinning, scrunches and razor cuts.  This damage is caused by abrasion during the styling process or over stretching the hair shaft.  Remember that hair can stretch up to 30% but over stretching hair will cause breakage or tiny fractures in the cuticle of the hair shaft.  It is also possible to cause a physical separation between the cuticle and cortex by over stretching hair.  Many hair salons and hair stylists will tell you that a razor cut is more beneficial for your hair than a cut with shears.  Or that your hair will grow more quickly if you use a razor to cut the hair.  This is not true.  A razor cut is not more beneficial or healthy then a cut with shears and predisposes all hair types to split ends.  This is why razor cuts require more frequent visits to the hair salon for reshaping or in other words, to cut off the split ends.  And in some hair types it can actually be quite damaging to the hair end and result in unmanageable split ends.  To learn more about what hair types razor cuts are best for read our article titled “Razor Vs. Shear:  Which Is Right For You.”

Chemical Damage

This form of damage is the least understood of all.  It is the result of putting chemicals in your hair.  There are many reasons people put chemicals in their hair and there are many chemicals out there that provide a desired result.  For the sake of keeping this article brief we will focus on three types.  Chemicals that deposit color, chemicals that remove color and chemicals that restructure the disulfide bonds in the hair shaft, otherwise known as texturizers which include perms and straighteners.

Chemicals That Deposit Color
Chemicals that deposit color are well known to many people.  The use a combination of developer, ammonia and dye to open the hair cuticle and deposit color on the cortex of the hair.  The major cause of damage to the cortex is the ammonia content in these products.  High concentrations of ammonia will cause more damage than low concentrations of ammonia.  Exposing the hair to low concentrations of ammonia for long periods of time will cause more damage than short exposure times.  It is important to remember this when choosing a hair salon.  Take into account what products they use as many contain more ammonia than others.  And the knowledge and experience of the stylist.  The stylist should be limiting the amount of time that ammonia is on the hair shaft and limiting the amount of ammonia in the product they use in the interest of limiting the amount of damage to your hair.  At Dragonfly Hair Salon we use exclusively Schwarzkopf and Goldwell products.  Industry leaders in color products and low ammonia color products.  Schwarzkopf has been making low ammonia color products before many color companies even existed and has a great deal of experience delivering unrivaled color while still keeping hair healthy.  In the context of hair health, box color should never be used.  The FDA requires makers of over the counter box color to list the concentration of the developer included in the box.  This is because they are only permitted to use 20 volume developer.  To get around the limitations of developer concentration and still provide good coverage to a large variety of hair types they use high concentration of ammonia so that more of the color will deposit faster.  This is not a hair healthy practice and should be avoided if possible.  Especially in individuals prone to split ends such as individuals with fine hair.

Chemicals That Remove Color
Although sometimes misunderstood, highlights are not the same thing as hair color or lowlights.  Highlights remove color from the hair cortex.  To accomplish this, the hair cuticle is opened and bleach is used to remove the color from the cortex.  Much like bleach will remove the color from your clothes.  There are many terms for bleach such as lighteners or blonders.  But essentially they are formulas that use a combination of conditioners and bleach to create a product that reduces the amount of damage done during this process.  Believe it or not, hair lighteners used with high concentration developers that are left on the hair for too long will destroy the hair to the point where it falls off all together.  So just with color, limiting exposure is the key to hair health.  The lowest concentration of developer and the smallest amount of time the product is left on the hair to reach the desired effect is best for hair health.  This is extremely important when individuals are trying to remove a color from their hair that does not occur naturally.  So for instance a blonde that went black, but now wants to be blonde again.  Many hair salons will tell clients this is an easy and quick transition back to blonde.  What they mean is they will put high concentration developer mixed with a lightener on your hair under heat and leave it there until the color comes out.  Unfortunately this more often results in permanent damage that must be grown out and cut off.  Be judicious in your choice of hair salons when considering lightening services.  Dragonfly Hair Salon has always been more concerned with a clients hair health than their cash.  If a client wants a service that will be detrimental to their hair health, we will refuse to provide it.  We will offer an alternative service that is safer and healthier for the clients hair.

Chemicals That Restructure Disulfide Bonds
These are known more commonly as perms, texturizers, straighteners and relaxers.  Those that frequently visit hair salons will instantly recognize the smell of these products.  Remember from the article “The Anatomy Of A Hair Shaft” that disulfide bonds are what determine if an individual will have curly or straight hair.  The products that change that shape use sulfur to break those disulfide bonds and then the stylist redefines the shape of the hair with rods or a flat iron as the bonds are reformed.  This permanently changes the shape of the cortex.  Many years of research and development of these products have yielded a wide variety of formulations to fit individual hair types.  When a product is not used for the correct hair type or is left on the hair for two long it can and will damage the cortex of the hair.  This damage is permanent and cannot be repaired.  There are many horror stories of clients that have had their hair “melted” by a perm.  As a side note, this process opens the cuticle and allows the chemicals to interact with the cortex.  It takes up to 48-hours for the cuticle to close completely and washing a perm or texturizer before that 48-hour time period will directly expose the cortex to water and whatever is in it.  Almost always resulting in damage to the cortex and a frizzy hair style.  Never wash a perm or texturizer until 48-hours after the service.

Thermal Damage

Thermal damage is the easiest to understand.  Heat turns water or moisture into steam.  Frequent use of high heat to style hair will strip the moisture away from it.  This moisture must be replaced or more significant damage can occur.

In the instance of permanent heat damage, think back to the egg white.  Apply enough heat over a long enough period of time and the cortex of the hair shaft will be damaged in a way that cannot be repaired.  Use of the least amount of heat necessary and a hair care regimen that is designed for hair that is frequently exposed to high heat is the best way to avoid this type of damage.