The Cause of My Breakage

I have been meaning to write this post for weeks but have been busy with other things. I visited my stylist about three weeks ago for some routine maintenance and got a chance to ask her about the breakage I was suffering. As it turns out my theory was correct and the breakage was due to the buns I had been wearing. My stylist noticed that I had another area of breakage in the exact spot on the opposite side of my head, and there was a thin line of broken strands across the base of my hair - exactly where the ponytail holder would meet my strands. 

My stylist offered the following tips to minimize breakage:

Cut back on buns
Although protective styling can be beneficial for lenght gains, as with anything too much can end up having a negative effect. She suggested I bun 3 days out of the week or find other protective styles that hide my ends.

Make sure hair is well oiled & moisturized prior to bunning
I though my hair was moisturized given that I was bunning on freshly washed (or co-washed) strands, after applying leave-ins. What I was not doing was using a creamy moisturizer or heavy oil to seal. My stylist suggested the use of a quality creamy moisturizer and at least a dime sized amount of oil to seal.

Use Satin or Silk covered ponytail holders
I was using covered elastic bands without the metal as I thought this was enough to prevent breakage, this is not the case. From now on I will be using satin or silk covered elastics to secure my strands.

Overall the breakage I am seeing is quite small but it really got me thinking about my focus and my hair practices. For the past year my goal has been length retention rather than health. This setback was exactly what I needed to change my focus and remember what is important.

Have you experienced breakage from buns and ponytails? How did you bounce back?