Dead hair is difficult to style, incredibly fragile, and makes it hard to keep your length. Plus, it looks absolutely terrible. So, if you're unsure of what to do about your damaged strands, we're here to help!
In this article, we'll teach you how to fix dead hair by providing some of our top tips. We'll explain what makes them work and help you figure out how to prevent future damage. Read on to find out how you can get your gorgeous mane back.
Can You Restore Dead Hair?
Unfortunately, there's no way to restore hair once it reaches a certain level of damage. Once hair emerges from your scalp, it is essentially dead. And since the hair cells are dead, they cannot regenerate or repair themselves.
That isn't to say you can't improve severely damaged strands.
The good news is that you can temporarily mend dead, broken hair so it looks and feels healthy until you grow it out. Then, after you get the damage cut off, you can get healthy strands again.
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Your hair is already growing. The problem is keeping it.
On average, hair grows a third to half an inch a month, and curlier hair tends to grow more slowly. If your length looks stuck, that’s your hair breaking off as fast as it grows in. Here are the seven causes of breakage and the weekly routine that stops them.
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So can you fix dead hair without cutting it? You can make it look and feel better with the steps below. But the damaged part stays damaged until you trim it off, and a split end can keep traveling up the strand. A dermatologist at Cleveland Clinic compares it to a run spreading in a pair of stockings. If you don't want to lose much length at once, trim a little at a time as your healthy hair grows in.
Can Dead Hair Follicles Grow Back?
It depends on what stopped the hair from growing. Your hair follicles are the tiny openings in your scalp that each hair grows from, and unlike the hair itself, they're alive. Many kinds of hair loss leave them alive, so your hair can grow back once the cause stops. For example, the American Academy of Dermatology notes that hair can regrow once your body gets enough of a missing nutrient, or once the rubbing that caused the loss stops.
But a follicle can also be destroyed. When that happens, scar tissue takes its place, and hair can't grow from that spot again. Two causes are worth watching for.
Tight styles. Constant pulling from tight braids, ponytails, buns, and cornrows can cause traction alopecia. It can become permanent the longer it goes untreated, and once you see shiny, bald skin where your hair used to be, it can't grow back.
CCCA. Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia usually starts in the center, or crown, of your scalp and slowly spreads outward. It's more common in Black women, but it can affect anyone. Starting treatment early can stop it from spreading, and some people regrow hair.
If you notice thinning patches, a hairline that keeps moving back, or a bald spot that feels smooth, see a board-certified dermatologist as soon as you can. No product can bring back a follicle that has scarred, but treatment can protect the ones you still have. Not sure whether your problem is your strands or your scalp? The chart below can help you sort it out.
Original Curl Centric chart
Dead hair or a dead follicle?
Find the row that matches what you see, then start with the last column. The first four rows are about your hair strands, and you can handle them at home. The last two are about your scalp, and they need a dermatologist.
| What it is | What you notice | Why it happens | What to do first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry, rough strands | Your hair feels rough or straw-like and tangles easily, but it isn’t breaking off in short pieces. | The outer layer of each strand is worn down, so your hair dries out faster and catches on itself. | Deep condition every time you wash, and be as gentle with heat and detangling as you can. |
| Split ends | Your ends look thin or see-through, split into a Y, or tangle and knot at the tips. | Your ends are the oldest part of your hair, and every wash, comb-through, and style wears them down a little more. | Trim just above the splits. A protein product can hold a split together until your next shampoo, but it can’t fix it. |
| Heat damage | Some sections stay straight or much looser than the rest of your hair, even when it’s soaking wet. | Too much heat permanently changed the protein inside those strands, so they can’t curl back up. | Trim the straight sections all at once, or a little at a time as your curls grow in. Skip high heat on those sections. |
| Breakage | You keep finding short broken pieces of hair in your comb, on your clothes, or in the sink. | Weak strands are snapping partway down, often from dryness, heat, bleach or color, or rough detangling. | Detangle gently while your hair is damp and full of conditioner, and cut back on heat, bleach, and color. |
| Traction alopecia | You see broken hairs around your forehead, a receding hairline, or thin patches where your hair is pulled tight. | Tight styles keep pulling on your hair. If the pulling continues, hair can stop growing and leave shiny, bald skin. | Loosen or take down tight styles now, and see a board-certified dermatologist. The longer it goes untreated, the more likely the loss is permanent. |
| Scarring hair loss | Hair loss starts in the center or crown of your scalp and slowly spreads outward. Bald areas may feel smooth to the touch. | A condition called CCCA destroys hair follicles and replaces them with scar tissue, so hair can’t grow back from those spots. | See a board-certified dermatologist as soon as you can. Early treatment can stop it from spreading, and some people regrow hair. |
Nothing you put on your hair can bring back a follicle that has scarred. If you can’t tell which row you’re in, a board-certified dermatologist can tell you.
How to Fix Dead Hair at Home
Improving the health and appearance of dead hair takes hard work and patience. But it's possible with the right products and techniques. Ready to find out what those are? Here are some of our favorite ways to repair and revitalize dead strands.
Cut Off the Damage
Although there are plenty of products on the market promising to mend split ends and reverse breakage, there's only one way to get rid of dead hair for good. Hair cells can't repair themselves, so you have to get the damaged hair cut off.
You can do it all at once with a big chop or get rid of damage gradually through regular trims. The more of the damaged hair you cut off, the better your hair will look and feel.
It'll also prevent the damage from traveling upwards and putting your healthier roots and mid-lengths at risk.
Note: If you don't want to cut your hair immediately, proceed to the next step. You can always slowly remove the dead ends as your healthy hair grows.
Get a Protective Style
Not sure about what to do with your hair after your haircut? Or maybe you want to grow out your hair before chopping off the dead ends. Either way, a protective style might be just what you need.
A protective style is any hairstyle that protects the fragile ends and mid-lengths of your hair. They're usually long-term hairstyles that you can wear for several weeks at a time.
Because protective styles keep your ends safely tucked away, you don't have to style them on a daily basis. That gives your hair plenty of time to recover, away from the stresses of daily styling.
And since you aren't damaging your hair, you'll be able to retain more of your growth. And the best part is that there are a ton of different protective styles available! Some of our favorites include:
- Wigs
- Sew-ins
- Dutch braids
- Cornrows
Just keep your protective style loose. The American Academy of Dermatology says a style that feels painful is too tight, and it recommends wearing braids for no longer than 6 to 8 weeks.
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Make a Detoxifying Clay Mask
While you probably know clay masks from skin care, they can help your hair too. A clay mask can't repair damaged strands, but it can clear away the buildup that makes them look even duller and limper.
Clay soaks up oil and product buildup, so it works a lot like a clarifying shampoo. It does contain minerals, but the hair you can see is dead, so it can't use them as nutrients.
Want to give one a try? Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Pour half a cup of water and an equal amount of bentonite clay into a nonmetal bowl.
- Add one-fourth cup of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
- Mix well with a nonmetal instrument.
- Apply the finished mask to your hair and scalp and put on a shower cap.
- Let the treatment sit on your hair for five to twenty minutes before rinsing well with warm water.
Clay particles are extremely fine, so keep rinsing until you're sure that you've removed all of them. After rinsing your hair, follow up your clay mask with a hydrating deep conditioner.
Many people, particularly those with curly hair, see an improvement in just one treatment. For others, it may take a few more applications.
Clay can be drying, so use this treatment no more than once a month.
Do a Deep Conditioning Treatment
There's a good reason why deep conditioners are a favorite among people who've struggled with severe hair damage. A deep conditioner can't repair damage, but it can make dry, damaged hair softer, smoother, and more flexible.
A few ingredients, like coconut oil, can get inside the strand, but many conditioning ingredients coat the outside. That helps your strands slide past each other instead of snagging.
And the more hydrated your hair is, the more it can bend without breaking into pieces. If your hair is severely damaged, deep condition every time you wash. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends using conditioner after every shampoo, so on wash day, your deep conditioner can take its place.
If your hair starts to feel limp or weighed down, cut back to every second or third wash. You should also choose a deep conditioner formulated for your hair type since various hair textures have different needs.
How to Choose a Hair Mask for Damaged Hair
A hair mask and a deep conditioner are the same kind of product. No rule separates the two names, so read the ingredients instead of the front of the jar.
Look for a conditioning ingredient in the first five or six ingredients, such as behentrimonium methosulfate, cetrimonium chloride, or stearamidopropyl dimethylamine. Those are the ingredients that make your hair soft and slippery so that you can detangle it with less breakage.
If your hair has been bleached, colored, relaxed, or damaged by heat, a mask with hydrolyzed protein, which is protein broken into tiny pieces that can cling to your hair, can make it feel stronger for a while. If your hair starts to feel stiff or straw-like, stop using it and go back to a moisturizing mask.
Use a Leave-In Conditioner Between Wash Days
Between wash days, smooth a little leave-in conditioner through your hair before styling. It keeps dry hair softer and easier to detangle, which means less breakage.
Focus on your ends, since they're the oldest and driest part of your hair. And if you'll be out in the sun, the American Academy of Dermatology suggests a leave-in conditioner that contains zinc oxide, or a wide-brimmed hat.
Protect Your Hair at Night
Protecting your hair during the daytime is only half of the battle. You'll also have to care for your strands at night, so you aren't undoing all of your hard work while you sleep.
A cotton pillowcase rubs against your hair every time you move in your sleep.
This chips away at your hair and increases breakage, knotting, and tangles. So, to keep your hair safe, switch to a silk or satin pillowcase, or cover your hair with a satin scarf or bonnet.
Both silk and satin are smooth, so your hair glides over them instead of catching as you catch your Zs. The American Academy of Dermatology also notes that a silk or satin head covering is gentler on hair than other materials.
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Rebuild Your Hair
Regardless of what caused your hair damage, one thing remains the same - damaged hair is fragile. It has a highly porous, jagged outer layer that makes your hair rough, brittle, and tangle-prone.
Since hair has no way of repairing itself, strengthening products are the closest thing to rebuilding it. Bond repairers and protein treatments can make damaged hair feel stronger and smoother for a while.
They temporarily fill in the tiny gaps and holes along your hair's surface and make it smoother, shinier, and more resilient. Protein can even hold a split end together until your next shampoo. And in a lab study of bleached hair, bond-building treatments made the surface of the strands look smoother under a microscope, but they didn't measurably restore the bonds inside the hair. So treat both as something you repeat, not a one-time fix.
The best part is that smoother strands tangle less, so they're less likely to snap while you grow out the damage.
Put Down the Hot Tools
Dead hair is synonymous with damaged hair. So, when nursing your hair back to life, it's essential to stop damaging it further. Otherwise, you'll never be able to get ahead.
Once you start your healthy hair journey, cut down on how often you use damaging hot tools like flat irons, blow dryers, and curling wands.
The American Academy of Dermatology recommends using the lowest heat setting and using these tools once a week or even less often.
The same goes for chemical services like color, relaxers, and perms. The AAD recommends having only one done at a time. If you want both, relax or perm your hair first, then wait two weeks before you color it.
Instead, opt for heatless methods of curling, drying, and styling your hair. Then, once your hair is healthy, you can slowly reintroduce hot tool styling back into your hairstyling regimen.
How to Prevent Breakage While Your Hair Grows Out
While you trim away the dead hair, your new growth needs protecting too. These habits from the American Academy of Dermatology help prevent breakage:
- If you have curly or coily hair, comb it while it's damp, using a wide-tooth comb, and work out tangles gently with a moisturizing conditioner.
- Gently massage shampoo into your scalp, and let it flow through the rest of your hair as you rinse instead of rubbing it in.
- Wrap your hair in a towel to soak up the water instead of rubbing it dry, and let it air dry when you can.
- After swimming, rinse your hair right away, then wash it with a shampoo made for swimmers and follow with a deep conditioner.
- Stretch the time between color touch-ups, especially when the air is dry.
The gentler you are with your new growth, the less of it you'll need to trim later.
Do Hair Repair Treatments Repair Damaged Hair?
Not permanently. Products sold as hair repair treatments can make damaged hair feel smoother and stronger, and any protein in them can hold split ends together until your next shampoo. But no product can rejoin a split end for good, make heat-damaged sections curl again, or bring back a scarred follicle.
So use a repair treatment for how it makes your hair look and feel while you grow out the damage, and keep trimming the dead ends as you go.
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So, there you have it! While the methods discussed today are great for nursing your hair back to life, they work even better as preventative measures. After all, damaged hair is much easier to prevent than it is to treat.
And although nursing your dead hair back to life is a process, the end results are well worth it. Just remember to take it one step at a time and stay consistent with your efforts. We wish you the best of luck!
