very very damaged hair

Hi,Sorry about your hair.First of all I am not sure what the hot line meant about you damaging your hair worse by trimming the split ends????Unless you are doing the trimming yourself and the hot line person meant that you need to have it done professionally...I am not sure what they meant. You could do more damage to your hair is you did not have the highest quality of scissors cutting the split ends because dull blades could actually make it worse and stretch or rip healthy hair in the process. That is the only thing I can think of.The only...and I know people hate to hear this...the only way to get rid of split ends is to have them trimmed above where the split is. There are no magic potions..there are no magic pills. Once it is split...it is done for. It has to be removed or it would migrate up the hair shaft and damage more hair.Over 10 years ago when I was religiously using Nice & Easy to color my hair white/platinum blonde my hair would not grow below my shoulder blades and it was fried. I had split ends just like you described. I also colored my hair every month and did the entire head... so my hair was like cotton candy. I used a blow dryer every day, I used hot rollers and I used horrible grocery store products. Whatever I could find on sale.My hair was horrible and it was breaking off in chunks. SoI went to a long hair specialist who told me that to get my hair back in shape I had to do the following things:1. Get all the split ends trimmed off. Period. Trimmed off completely.2. Stop coloring my hair completely and switch to a better way.3. Do a hot oil treatment 3x a week for at least 1 month4. Switch to the best products I could afford for my hair5. Have my hair trimmed every 8 weeks until the split ends stopped happening6. Stop brushing my hair with a bad brush and use only a soft hair pick with smooth teeth.I cried because I was so proud of my long blonde hair. Now I laugh when I see how awful my hair was damaged by my lack of knowledge about my hair.I will include photos of my hair back then in my book if I ever finish it. :-) I do have photos and it was horrible. :-)Here is what I did 10 years ago.I had my hair cut so that all the split ends were totally removed. Yes, I cried because my hair was so much shorter but it was instantly healthier. No split ends.I switched from my favorite grocery store Shampoo and conditioner to a very excellent salon quality product line. I also threw away my Nice & Easy and started having just my roots highlighted by the cap method only 4x a year. This made my hair revert closer to its natural color of reddish/strawberry/honey blonde.After just a few highlights my hair looked great and soft and shiny and healthy and even though it was darker....it was still blonde and I had no roots because it was close to my natural colors.I did 3 hot oil treatments religiously every week for 6 weeks. I used disposable plastic shower caps and made sure I left the hot oil on my hair overnight on the weekends to really saturate the ends.I had my hair trimmed every 8 weeks religiously...like clockwork.My hair is now at the middle of my tush and would be a lot longer if I had not gone on a starvation diet in 1990 for 6 months where a bunch of my hair fell out. I had to have close to 6 inches trimmed off in 1991 because of damage from the dieting. It was a form of Opti-fast...not Opti-fast...but a competitive brand. It ruined my hair.So if I would not have dieted I would have hair that was below my tush by now.Was it worth it? Would I do it all again?Yes...yes...yes.I still have my ends trimmed every 10-12 weeks, I still only highlight it 3-4x a year and I use the best products I can find. I am always looking for better.I won't deny that it takes a lot of dedication, time, energy and money to grow hair like this but if you are willing to make the committment and follow a good program...the results are definitely worth it. At least they are in my opinion. :-)Let me know if you have other questions.Hang in there.Best wishes,Karen> I have been coloring my fine hair for years. It has> always> been dry, but it started breaking off a few years ago.> I've been trying to grow it out- I used to have hair> down past the middle of my back- now I can't get it> past my shoulders. I've decided to quit coloring my> hair for now. I know that I have been damaging it even> more by coloring it. My problem is split-ends. I have> them all the way up my hair shaft. I always thought> that the only way to get rid of split-ends was to trim> them, but I called a hotline and he told me that I was> actually harming my hair even more.> How can I get my hair into better condition? I don't> use hot rollers, or blow dry. I can't figure out why> it's in such bad shape. I've tried the hot oil> treatments, leave in conditioners, but they are only> temporary solutions. I hope I'm not stuck with dry,> frizzy, split-end hair. HELP!!!

> Hi,> Sorry about your hair.> First of all I am not sure what the hot line meant> about you damaging your hair worse by trimming the> split ends????> Unless you are doing the trimming yourself and the hot> line person meant that you need to have it done> professionally...I am not sure what they meant. You> could do more damage to your hair is you did not have> the highest quality of scissors cutting the split ends> because dull blades could actually make it worse and> stretch or rip healthy hair in the process. That is> the only thing I can think of.> The only...and I know people hate to hear this...the> only way to get rid of split ends is to have them> trimmed above where the split is. There are no magic> potions..there are no magic pills. Once it is> split...it is done for. It has to be removed or it> would migrate up the hair shaft and damage more hair.> Over 10 years ago when I was religiously using Nice> & Easy to color my hair white/platinum blonde my> hair would not grow below my shoulder blades and it> was fried. I had split ends just like you described. I> also colored my hair every month and did the entire> head... so my hair was like cotton candy. I used a> blow dryer every day, I used hot rollers and I used> horrible grocery store products. Whatever I could find> on sale.> My hair was horrible and it was breaking off in> chunks. So> I went to a long hair specialist who told me that to> get my hair back in shape I had to do the following> things:> 1. Get all the split ends trimmed off. Period. Trimmed> off completely.> 2. Stop coloring my hair completely and switch to a> better way.> 3. Do a hot oil treatment 3x a week for at least 1> month> 4. Switch to the best products I could afford for my> hair> 5. Have my hair trimmed every 8 weeks until the split> ends stopped happening> 6. Stop brushing my hair with a bad brush and use only> a soft hair pick with smooth teeth.> I cried because I was so proud of my long blonde hair.> Now I laugh when I see how awful my hair was damaged> by my lack of knowledge about my hair.> I will include photos of my hair back then in my book> if I ever finish it. :-) I do have photos and it was> horrible. :-)> Here is what I did 10 years ago.> I had my hair cut so that all the split ends were> totally removed. Yes, I cried because my hair was so> much shorter but it was instantly healthier. No split> ends.> I switched from my favorite grocery store Shampoo and> conditioner to a very excellent salon quality product> line. I also threw away my Nice & Easy and started> having just my roots highlighted by the cap method> only 4x a year. This made my hair revert closer to its> natural color of reddish/strawberry/honey blonde.> After just a few highlights my hair looked great and> soft and shiny and healthy and even though it was> darker....it was still blonde and I had no roots> because it was close to my natural colors.> I did 3 hot oil treatments religiously every week for> 6 weeks. I used disposable plastic shower caps and> made sure I left the hot oil on my hair overnight on> the weekends to really saturate the ends.> I had my hair trimmed every 8 weeks religiously...like> clockwork.> My hair is now at the middle of my tush and would be a> lot longer if I had not gone on a starvation diet in> 1990 for 6 months where a bunch of my hair fell out. I> had to have close to 6 inches trimmed off in 1991> because of damage from the dieting. It was a form of> Opti-fast...not Opti-fast...but a competitive brand.> It ruined my hair.> So if I would not have dieted I would have hair that> was below my tush by now.> Was it worth it? Would I do it all again?> Yes...yes...yes.> I still have my ends trimmed every 10-12 weeks, I> still only highlight it 3-4x a year and I use the best> products I can find. I am always looking for better.> I won't deny that it takes a lot of dedication, time,> energy and money to grow hair like this but if you are> willing to make the committment and follow a good> program...the results are definitely worth it. At> least they are in my opinion. :-)> Let me know if you have other questions.> Hang in there.> Best wishes,> KarenTO KKKarens response is right on as far as reccomendations go. I might add do not let anyone cut your hair with a razor only very sharp shears when wet. While it is sad that you must cut your hair, believe me it will be a lot less now than in 6 mos if you elect not to. The split end can travel all the way up to your scalp! GI Jane look not wanted!! Try Redkens PPT, EXTREME, and Wheat germ oil mixed equally, heated in a microwave until warm and left on for extended lengths as karen described, then finish with a very cool rinse. The Redken products are available at better salons and the wheat germ oil at health food stores. Also, try to find a white "REVLON" brand comb available at beauty supply stores to use, the one I am talking about only has 5 or 6 teeth and is very smooth between the teeth. This is the best comb I have ever seen for long thick hair to use to minimize distress when detangling and normal combing! william