If your hair grows from the root, why do split ends get worse?

Question

If your hair grows from the root, why do split ends get worse?

Answer 1

Person who answered before me is right

time, wind, sun...

anything that's ever happened to your hair... old people get sick more easily than young people, right? same as your hair, lol. if you get split ends, cut em off, your hair will look healthier and less dull

Answer 2

Right.  If you don't get them trimmed off, the damage will travel up the hair shaft, the way a string on a sweater keeps unraveling.

Answer 3

you ends have been your ends for your whole life almost.

what happens is that the hair will split at the end, and then continue splitting.