hair breaking because of a sew in weave?

When I was a teen, I took this medicine for my acne and it caused major hair loss. I used to have a head full of hair (still do not as I used to) and I am still trying to grow my hair back like what it used to be. How can I bring back my head full of hair back? Last year, when I took out my sew in weave in Dec of 06, my mom said that my hair started to break. She just now told me and its 2007! I am like how is that possible? My hair grew almost mid back. I am trying to grow my hair back to midback and thats how much I wanna grow back. How can weaves break your hair? Did my hair break because of that weave or is it because of new hair growth? There is new hair growth coming in. If it broke off because the weave came out, what other weave technique(s) could I get that won't damage my hair? There are two salons I am going to go to get different different opinions. 

A weave in of itself will not break your hair off.. I have been growing out an EXTREMELY short haircut (Think Fantasia or Halle short) and have been wearing a weave since February of 2005. As of my last takedown (this past weekend), I am happy to say that my hair has grown out to just about 1" past my shoulders.. It's thick and healthy.. No signs of breakage. All of this from healthy haircare while wearing a full weave.

It is difficult based on your post to say with any certainty what caused your hair to break off.. Besides the acne medicine (which sounds like it might be Accutane based on the side effects) you've told us virtually nothing about the rest of your haircare routine.. What products do you use, how often do you wash & deep condition, etc.. All these things factor into hair growth and hair breakage.

But to give you the short answer to your question, no weaves alone can't break your hair off.. However an improperly installed weave or improper haircare while wearing a weave all can contribute to your natural hair's breakage.

HTH

[QUOTE=Divavocals]A weave in of itself will not break your hair off.. I have been growing out an EXTREMELY short haircut (Think Fantasia or Halle short) and have been wearing a weave since February of 2005. As of my last takedown (this past weekend), I am happy to say that my hair has grown out to just about 1" past my shoulders.. It's thick and healthy.. No signs of breakage. All of this from healthy haircare while wearing a full weave.

It is difficult based on your post to say with any certainty what caused your hair to break off.. Besides the acne medicine (which sounds like it might be Accutane based on the side effects) you've told us virtually nothing about the rest of your haircare routine.. What products do you use, how often do you wash & deep condition, etc.. All these things factor into hair growth and hair breakage.

But to give you the short answer to your question, no weaves alone can't break your hair off.. However an improperly installed weave or improper haircare while wearing a weave all can contribute to your natural hair's breakage.

HTH
[/QUOTE]

ive heard from other black women on the myspace groups sayin that sew in weaves breaks off ur hair. i wash my hair twice a week with k-park moisture and recovery, i condition my hair once a week. i put in a leave in treatment (i kinda stopped putting it in cuz it was attracting too many bees) and african pride. african pride since its grease, it does help my hair grow somewhat. yes, it was accutane that i took when i was a teen that medicine is horrible. the way my beautician cornrowed my hair, she cornrowed it vertically and sewed it in, it was tight but not super tight becuz i didnt wanna come back again to have her restitch it. i took excellent care of my weave during the 3 months process. i do want to put in another weave during the summer, what should i have the beautician do? should i have them check my hair again? my mom thinks i should get a different type of technique done.

i forgot to mention, i put in a protein treatment once a week too.

I'm confused, where was your hair breaking? Did you have a full weave?
It's possible you should avoid a weave. Not all hair does well in a weave.

[QUOTE=celestial_night]
ive heard from other black women on the myspace groups sayin that sew in weaves breaks off ur hair. i wash my hair twice a week with k-park moisture and recovery, i condition my hair once a week. i put in a leave in treatment (i kinda stopped putting it in cuz it was attracting too many bees) and african pride. african pride since its grease, it does help my hair grow somewhat. yes, it was accutane that i took when i was a teen that medicine is horrible. the way my beautician cornrowed my hair, she cornrowed it vertically and sewed it in, it was tight but not super tight becuz i didnt wanna come back again to have her restitch it. i took excellent care of my weave during the 3 months process. i do want to put in another weave during the summer, what should i have the beautician do? should i have them check my hair again? my mom thinks i should get a different type of technique done.
[/QUOTE]I'm almost positive that it's not the technique, it's really all about the care of your natural hair.. Now granted if your hair is damaged, then the braids MIGHT further that damage if proper care is not taken.. The braids have to be done with care not to tug and pull your natural hair, and you must have the correct haircare routine for your hair type and to protect your hair from any further damage being done.

The Accutane could have contributed to the initial hairloss. However, if you've stopped taking the drug for a while you will not see the drug in your new growth. You didn't say whether you are all natural, relaxed or transitioning (I am assuming from your product list that you are a woman of color).. You also did not say if your breakage is occurring at the roots of your hair or further down the hairshaft??

There are many things that could be happening.. You might actually be drying your hair out with the twice weekly shampooing.. What conditioner are your using for your weekly conditioning treatment, what leave-in conditioner are you using?? Not all products work correctly with all hair types.. The trick is to learn what your hair needs and using the correct products to give it what it needs.. This is not to say that you aren't using good products, but they must not only be good products, they need to be good for your hair and it's concerns too..

You definitely want to have your stylist evaluate your hair. You would need to share with her your full haircare regime, and any medications you may have taken in the past or are currently taking. This will allow her to really understand what's been going on so he/she can  correctly diagnose the corrective measures you need to take to turn the health of your hair around. Furthermore she can diagnose what part of your haircare routine might be contributing to the problems you are having..

[QUOTE=celestial_night]i forgot to mention, i put in a protein treatment once a week too. [/QUOTE]And herein might lie an issue.. Protein treatments can be VERY drying.. You have to know when your hair needs protein, and when it needs moisture. If I had to venture a guess I would say that once a week protein treatments may be contributing to making your hair brittle and subject to breakage.
Divavocals2007-04-19 08:23:20

[QUOTE=Divavocals] [QUOTE=celestial_night]
ive heard from other black women on the myspace groups sayin that sew in weaves breaks off ur hair. i wash my hair twice a week with k-park moisture and recovery, i condition my hair once a week. i put in a leave in treatment (i kinda stopped putting it in cuz it was attracting too many bees) and african pride. african pride since its grease, it does help my hair grow somewhat. yes, it was accutane that i took when i was a teen that medicine is horrible. the way my beautician cornrowed my hair, she cornrowed it vertically and sewed it in, it was tight but not super tight becuz i didnt wanna come back again to have her restitch it. i took excellent care of my weave during the 3 months process. i do want to put in another weave during the summer, what should i have the beautician do? should i have them check my hair again? my mom thinks i should get a different type of technique done.
[/QUOTE]I'm almost positive that it's not the technique, it's really all about the care of your natural hair.. Now granted if your hair is damaged, then the braids MIGHT further that damage if proper care is not taken.. The braids have to be done with care not to tug and pull your natural hair, and you must have the correct haircare routine for your hair type and to protect your hair from any further damage being done.

The Accutane could have contributed to the initial hairloss. However, if you've stopped taking the drug for a while you will not see the drug in your new growth. You didn't say whether you are all natural, relaxed or transitioning (I am assuming from your product list that you are a woman of color).. You also did not say if your breakage is occurring at the roots of your hair or further down the hairshaft??

There are many things that could be happening.. You might actually be drying your hair out with the twice weekly shampooing.. What conditioner are your using for your weekly conditioning treatment, what leave-in conditioner are you using?? Not all products work correctly with all hair types.. The trick is to learn what your hair needs and using the correct products to give it what it needs.. This is not to say that you aren't using good products, but they must not only be good products, they need to be good for your hair and it's concerns too..

You definitely want to have your stylist evaluate your hair. You would need to share with her your full haircare regime, and any medications you may have taken in the past or are currently taking. This will allow her to really understand what's been going on so he/she can  correctly diagnose the corrective measures you need to take to turn the health of your hair around. Furthermore she can diagnose what part of your haircare routine might be contributing to the problems you are having..

[QUOTE=celestial_night]i forgot to mention, i put in a protein treatment once a week too. [/QUOTE]And herein might lie an issue.. Protein treatments can be VERY drying.. You have to know when your hair needs protein, and when it needs moisture. If I had to venture a guess I would say that once a week protein treatments may be contributing to making your hair brittle and subject to breakage.
[/QUOTE]

of course i stopped takin the accutane, i was a teen when i first took it so yea eventually im gonna stop takin it. i was only on that med for 6 months anyway. i took excellent care of my braids. i used to wear braids and it didnt break my hair at all. i had so much dandruff buildup with that weave, i did the best i could to get it out. what the hell is natural? i dont transition my hair or any of that. natural meaning i dont use any chemical crap? im not one of those ppl that wears an afro i hate that. i dont know where ppl are getting their facts from, but every mag ive read said that you should wash ur hair 2-3 times a day. if u wash ur hair once a week, that is just yucky. washing my hair twice a day has nothing to do with drying my hair, ive asked my beautician about that. my hair needs protein treatments all the time, cus it starts to break. the leave in treatment i use is mane n tail. i have to wash my hair twice a week becuz i have a itchy dry scalp and dandruff builds up really quick.

everything i read, it always seems to be different. one person might say wash ur hair once a week, others say wash it twice a week. all shampoo bottles for best results wash ur hair twice weekly or as directed by the doctor. i was recommended to keep doin protein treatments, i was just reading a black mag about leave in treatments they said to buy one that has keratin in it. i found products on blendedbeauty.com that matches my hair type. its not the leave in thats makin my hair break, that cant be it.

If there is other new growth comming in, and you're doing a good care regimne, check the ends of the hair you think is breaking, see if its actually broken or split, or if its more new growth. I remember a few girls a while back, who because of medicine (in their situation, thyroid), noticed 'baby hairs' and couldn't tell if they were broken or if they were new growth. turned out their hair was improving and they were actually new growth. so I'd say before you get too worried, grab a magnifying glass or mirror and a friend and see what condition those short hairs are actually in before you get too worried. 

[QUOTE=celestial_night]of course i stopped takin the accutane, i was a teen when i first took it so yea eventually im gonna stop takin it. i was only on that med for 6 months anyway. i took excellent care of my braids. i used to wear braids and it didnt break my hair at all. i had so much dandruff buildup with that weave, i did the best i could to get it out. what the hell is natural? i dont transition my hair or any of that. natural meaning i dont use any chemical crap? im not one of those ppl that wears an afro i hate that. [/QUOTE]  Afro?? Anywho.. I was simply asking if you chemically straighten  your hair or not or if you are transitioning from chemically straightening or if you simply do not chemically straighten your hair.. Divavocals2007-04-19 11:44:52

[QUOTE=malibu]I'm confused, where was your hair breaking? Did you have a full weave?
It's possible you should avoid a weave. Not all hair does well in a weave. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Divavocals][QUOTE=celestial_night]of course i stopped takin the accutane, i was a teen when i first took it so yea eventually im gonna stop takin it. i was only on that med for 6 months anyway. i took excellent care of my braids. i used to wear braids and it didnt break my hair at all. i had so much dandruff buildup with that weave, i did the best i could to get it out. what the hell is natural? i dont transition my hair or any of that. natural meaning i dont use any chemical crap? im not one of those ppl that wears an afro i hate that. [/QUOTE]  Afro?? Anywho.. I was simply asking if you chemically straighten  your hair or not or if you are transitioning from chemically straightening or if you simply do not chemically straighten your hair.. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=celestial_night] r u sayin i dont take care of my hair? i find that rude just by reading that. when i was younger, no i didnt take care of my hair becuz i was told that blacks didnt need all that crap like white ppl do. i had to go to a beautician and she helped me figure out how to take care of my hair. i was never taught as a child how to care for my hair. like i said i always read articles and mags about african american hair. i wash my hair twice a week, condition once a week and protein once a week. sounds like to me im takin care of my hair[/QUOTE] I never said anything even close to that.. You are assuming things that I never ONCE stated in any of my posts to you.. So let me say this in a different way.. We cannot tell you here WHY your hair is breaking.. We can only tell you the things we all know that MIGHT be the cause based on what you tell us.. Now if you choose to read into my posts that I am saying that you do not know how to take care of your hair then you are certainly FREE to do so, but you would be wholly incorrect. Divavocals2007-04-19 15:04:26

Hey Celestial_Night, I'm sorry for the combative responses you've gotten here. You're a new member and I hope that doesn't turn you away. One person certainly does not represent all of us.

Please feel free to say whatever it is that you wish about YOUR hair and don't feel like it will matter if some ill-advised person jumps on you!

My advise is to see a hair loss specialist. A stylist is not a doctor. Hair loss specialists have tools to investigate the problem. It sounds to me like you're doing everything possible to baby your hair. It might certainly be the weave, who knows?

[QUOTE=mahogany814]

As was stated, there could be many things that have attributed to your hair breakage.  One thing that comes to mind is your using protein every week.  I belive that is too much on your hair.  also, you stated that you left your weave in for 3 months, perhaps you are one who cannot leave it in more than 2 months as your hair will start to matt/tangle. did a professional take your weave out?  that could also be a source of contention because sometimes we are not as patient with our hair and may pull and tug when we shouldn't!  also, do you color your natural hair?. How often do you get weaves?what are you doing with your hair the rest of the time - when it''s not in a weave?Lastly, I would suggest speaking to a Derm - he/she may be able to determine if ther is an underlying reason for your hair breakage.  Good luck1

[/QUOTE] Hey BHM sister!!!! It's always good to see my fellow BHMers make the jump over here.. Great advice girl!!! The dermatologist is an excellent suggestion as well.. There are so many variables in hair breakage and hair loss that there's no way to say with any certaintly what could be causing the issue.. A professional can certainly spot the issue and diagnose the proper solution.. I certainly hope celestial_night works it all out.. Divavocals2007-04-19 14:25:34