Split ends cannot be prevented entirely, but better haircare overall helps put off the inevitable. Getting a haircut roughly every six weeks is one of the best ways of preventing split ends and minimizing the damage to healthy hair. Avoiding heat styling products can also go a long way toward preventing split ends. In addition, it is important to steer clear of harsh chemicals, such as the chemicals in strong hair-straightening products and swimming pools that have been treated with chlorine.
While it is not possible to prevent split ends altogether, getting a haircut every six to eight weeks will help. Split ends are sometimes caused by natural things such as sunshine or by hair brushing. The ends of a person’s hair are the oldest bits of hair, and they can be very fragile. If left alone, split ends continue to split up the shaft until people can see at a glance that the hair is damaged. To prevent this, a person can get regular haircuts, which usually requires cutting off less than 1 inch (2.54 cm).
Straightening irons, curling irons and crimping irons apply heat to the user’s hair to give it a certain style. Perhaps even more commonly used are hair dryers, which blow hair dry, give volume and sometimes straighten or curl the hair, depending on how they are used. This heat is damaging to the hair, even if a heat protective is used. Never or rarely using these devices is one way of preventing split ends. There are other, less damaging ways to dry, curl or crimp hair.
Many hair products are not as gentle or healthy on hair as the manufacturer claims. Another way of preventing split ends is to learn the names of harsh chemicals that are commonly added to hair products. When buying hair products, the buyer can look at the ingredients list to find out whether it includes harsh chemicals. In addition, preventing split ends is more than just avoiding harsh chemicals in hair products; swimming pools can wreak havoc on unprotected hair. Wearing a swimming cap, applying a swimming conditioner or both can help people protect their fragile ends.
Lastly, people sometimes do things to their hair that only seems good for it. For example, washing hair with shampoo every day might be overkill and too harsh, especially if the shampoo is non-conditioning. If a person absolutely needs to wash his or her every day instead of every other day or even a few times per week, a conditioning shampoo should be used.
