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I was gonna say the same!

Incorrect. Your splits ends, has a piece of hair stuck to it

I knew a guy who’d eat that shit

OP?

I count 16.

Bro... Why tho?

Are they all like this?

You sure that’s not a down feather from your pillow/coat?

Haircut 💈 ✂️ 🧴

Are you a bird?

That is an insect leg

My cockateil has this exact same thing on his head

Poor Boy

I can explain this!

The structure of a strand of human hair is a lot like the structure of a steel bridge cable or a fiber optic cable, with a bundle of long fibers encased in an outer cuticle, which under a miscroscope looks sort of like a bunch of flat scales all pointing in the same direction. You can feel these scales if you rub a strand of hair one way, and then the other; the "wrong" way will feel a little squeakier. Split ends occur when that outer cuticle is damaged enough to expose the inner bundle and allow the fibers to spring free.

This particular pattern, which I have seen before, indicates that the cuticle is super worn away and fragile for a substantial length of the strand, which makes me think of a few possibilities: OP has been growing it out for a long time, regularly makes use of heat styling tools or tight hair ties, is involved in surfing/swimming/sports, or has used a color treatment that incorporates a lifting agent that chemically breaks the bonds between the cuticle scales to allow the treatment to penetrate the strand. All lightening agents and most permanent dyes do this, apart from plant-based dyes with no additives, such as pure henna lawsonia.

Tl;dr nope, it's not a bug leg!

Man, you must really like arguing over trivial details

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Your hair is growing hair

You need a haircut

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

Thanks I hate it

You seem to know a lot about hair.

Why or how do water sports damage the cuticle?

woahhhh.. you have way too much free time....

Your head must look like a Christmas tree.

That’s a thick hair to begin with!

u r correct

A number of factors here! Chlorine and saltwater are huge contributors, and swimming tends to involve a lot of sun exposure, plus there's tangling and agitation.

More specifically, agitation of any animal hair fiber while wet means the cuticle scales have been softened by the water, so they've lifted up a little, and each strand is rubbing with its neighbors, scraping and damaging each other's lifted scales.

Incidentally, this mechanical agitation of strands against one another while they have lifted and softened cuticle scales is also how woolen clothing ends up felted if you throw it in the washing machine.

>split ends

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened

Dad jokes ahoy!

No more empty self possession

Visions swept under the mat

It’s no New Year’s resolution

It’s more than that

But there’s only one “end”. Your hair split in 15 places.

Ugh I used to have suuuuper long hair and I miss finding the rare hair like this. Those were some of my favorites.

Drink more water

I count 17

Lmao Take my free award kind person.

Oh shucks. Thanks

This looks like one of those plastic hair snakes you use to clean the shower drain. :p

this guy hairs

16*

You beat my record by two.

I used to pick at my split ends and loved coming across ones like these. It was always so gratifying.

I've lived more than 3 decades on earth and TIL what a split hair looks like

Pitiful attempt at growing feathers…

You can't fool me. That is a feather and you, OP, are clearly molting.

Split ends can be caused by a variety of factors, including heat styling, chemical treatments, and environmental damage.

Take a supplement with biotin.

You're a bird

That’s a cockroach leg

Have you checked to see if you are growing gills?

OP, this you?

you can go fishing with that thing

I highly recommend Australian 3 Minute miracle conditioner for that head of hair.

That's really interesting info but can we go back to the part about what you did to my compost?

I had to stop reading and make sure I wasn't getting shittymorphed after about 2 sentences.

You can clean your drain with that

It's free nitrogen!

I always find split ends fascinating

oh ok that sounds like a good thing I think, thanks fam

Huh?

Congratulations, you're a fern.

Literally Gabby Douglas

undercover cricket

wait, so is peeing in compost good?

OP is a human barbed wire factory

I'm afraid you may be growing tendrils, sir/ma'am.

I was certain that gratifying was the wrong word. Turns out it's spot on. TIL

Your hair is a cockroach leg

now lets see your fingertips, do they look the same?

Yup. I was thinking the same thing. At this point, it's no longer hair but a feather.

Did you also start with the highest one up and peel them off one by one until there were just wisps left, or was that just me? 👀

Please give us you haircare routine so we can avoid.

Yeah looks like a littld cockatiel crest lol.love when they shed them

Me too, i have a collection. Some curtsey of my other asshole yoinking them out for him lol.

I counted 16

I was so certain!!

Cockroach leg

Water sports is what she does to your compost.

Ok but how do you fix this? What kind of treatment or routine would you recommend for hair that has gotten this bad?

Looks like a fucking mosquitoes leg or some shit. Nasty.

Makes me think of the movie The Fly.

As do I

well when you twist multiple hairs together to make a fake picture that’ll happen

so it's a hairy... hair

Nothing can actually repair a damaged hair strand, since they are non-living cells once they leave the follicle, so the only actual fix once the cuticle is physically damaged is a trim with very sharp scissors. However, any product that coats the hair shaft in molecules that will fill in a little of that damaged surface and provide slip will help somewhat with tangling and visible dullness, such as repairing and deep conditioning hair treatments that contain lipids (oils and fats) and/or silicones (dimethicone, trimethicone, dimethiconol, etc.). Silicones can also temporarily sort of glue very small splits together until the next wash, although a split like this one is far beyond their powers.

The down side to silicones is that the way they coat the hair shaft can also keep moisture and lipids out, leading to dryer hair over time, so if you go that route, it's a good idea to use a harsher detergent like a clarifying shampoo once a week or so, followed by some kind of silicone-free lipid treatment, like a shea butter leave-in.

Oils and fats are great for prevention and conditioning! Sebum is a hair conditioner that your body manufactures, and any lipids with similar properties are helpful. You can apply them straight up as an overnight treatment, or use them as a light daily control and protection product, such as by rubbing a little almond oil or shea butter between your palms and finger-combing it through damp hair, although heads up that with hair as fine and straight as OP's it's easy to accidentally use too much and end up looking a bit greasy. Curly, kinky, and thick hair takes really well to heavier use of oils and fats; this is why the Black hair care aisle is shea butter heaven!

For immediate care after a color treatment that incorporates a lifting agent, especially lightening treatments, a protein treatment product like KeraFix can lead to better long-term hair quality by replacing some of the lost protein molecules and keeping the weakened hair from stretching as easily, which does a ton of damage.

And I'll stop there, since this comment is already very long.

Yes! It's free nitrogen! Everyone should be peeing in their compost! Unless you're taking certain kinds of medications, in which case, maybe don't add e.g. a bunch of lithium to your vegetable garden.

I'm so glad you counted. :)

For the record, I absolutely swear by coconut oil. Literally the kind you buy in the grocery store. One jar is my moisturizing routine for a full year (bc that’s how long it takes to expire).

As a sailor who loves to swim, I suppose I'm doomed to split ends! Thanks for the explanation.