Why Your Hair Keeps Breaking And the Smartest Ways to Fix It

Nothing is more frustrating than watching your hair grow, only to see it snap, shed, or frizz away at the ends. For many women (and men) in Nigeria, hair breakage feels like a constant battle, whether you’re rocking natural coils, relaxed styles, braids, or wigs. 

Hair breakage can be caused by stress, heat, underlying conditions, and more. People can experience hair breakage that affects all types of hair, from straight to curly. It can make hair look frizzy or coarse.

In most cases, hair breakage is temporary, and people can repair their hair and restore its strength by using products and home remedies.

In this article, we'll break down what actually causes hair breakage, how to tell if you have it, and how to repair it with smart treatments and daily routines. We'll also recommend products you can easily buy in Nigeria to strengthen your hair.

If you’ve ever relaxed, dyed, or bleached your hair, you know the silky look often comes at a price. These chemical treatments damage your hair by breaking down the natural protein bonds, which can alter its texture or colour. The disadvantage? Those same bonds are what give your strands strength.

When the bonds start to break down, hair becomes brittle, non-elastic, and breaks easily. For most Nigerians who relax their hair or attempt to colour their hair, this is the most frequent cause of breakage.

How to repair:

• Space chemical treatments, wait at least 8–12 weeks between relaxers.

• Include protein treatments in your routine to restore internal strength.

• Always follow up chemical treatments with a deep conditioning mask to restore moisture.

Price: ₦4,000. Where to Buy Protein Treatment: Shop Bevy Beauty

This award-winning deep treatment is packed with shea butter and nine essential oils to repair brittle, damaged hair. It strengthens, restores, and nourishes over-processed strands, leaving your curls softer, healthier, and ready to shine.

Although flat irons, curling wands, and blow dryers give you a fabulous look, they cause "bubble hair." This is when tiny air pockets form inside the strand from excessive heat, making it weak and prone to snapping.

In Nigeria, harsh weather conditions, including intense sun, dryness, and in some areas, hard water, strip natural oils from hair. All of these contribute to stripping the moisture, leading to dry and brittle hair.

How to repair:

• Lower the heat setting on styling tools and use a heat protectant spray.

• Reduce heat styling to once a week, or switch to heatless methods like overnight braiding for natural waves.

• Protect your hair from the sun with hats or silk scarves.

With heat protection up to 230°C, this keratin-infused formula shields your strands while taming frizz and adding smoothness. It’s humidity-resistant and keeps your style locked in for up to three days.

READ MORE: Eat This Protein Superfood to Cure Bald and Thin Hair

Not all breakage is due to chemicals or heat. It's our own hands that sometimes harm. Over-brushing, yanking combs through tangles, harsh towel-drying, or keeping hair in tight braids, ponytails, or extensions can cause hair breakage. Over time, this friction and pulling soften the hair shaft and edges, and even lead to traction alopecia.

How to repair:

• Carefully detangle with a wide-tooth comb, from the ends towards the roots.

• Replace scratchy cotton towels with microfiber towels or a clean T-shirt to blot hair dry.

• Give your scalp a break between weaves or braids to reduce tension.

• Use satin bonnets or pillowcases at night to decrease friction.

Healthy hair starts from the inside out. Breakage can mean that your body is not getting what it needs. A lack of iron, vitamin D deficiency, protein deficiency, or zinc deficiency can all weaken your strands. Hormonal imbalance, thyroid issues, and even stress can also cause hair breakage.

How to repair:

• Eat a well-balanced diet with lots of lean protein, leafy greens, eggs, beans, and nuts.

• Use supplements like biotin or iron if your doctor recommends it.

• Manage stress through sleep, exercise, or meditation routines.

Breakage isn't always shedding. Here's how to recognise it:

• Dry, brittle hair even after you moisturise.

• Persistent split ends.

• Flyaways and frizz that won't smooth down.

• Hair lengths that are out of balance, especially at the edges.

• Hair growth that looks "stuck" because of constant snapping at the ends.

Noticing all these early signs gives you a chance to reverse things before they get worse.

READ MORE: Get Rid of Hair Lice Permanently With These 7 Steps

Repairing hair breakage isn't something you can do with one quick-fix product. It's about achieving equilibrium: restoring your hair with protein, nourishing it with moisture, and being easy on it daily.

• Protein Treatments: Regenerate the structure of your hair. Use once or twice a month to avoid rigidity.

• Moisture Masks: Moisturise and revive flexibility. These should be included in your regimen weekly.

• Regular Trims: Prevent split ends from travelling up the hair shaft.

• Protective Styles: Braids, wigs, or twists can be beneficial, but only if they are not tight or heavy.

Hair breakage may look daunting, but it does not mean the end of your healthy hair days. Once you are aware of the cause, whether it is chemical processing, heat, stress, rough handling, or even diet, you can start making small but effective changes.

Your hair requires balance. Protein to build strength, moisture to add flexibility, careful handling to avoid stress, and the proper products to maintain it.  Your hair can recover; it just takes time, the right attention, and commitment to being gentle with your hair as you are with any other part of your body.