Once you understand what causes dry hair, you can easily treat it, and even prevent it from happening again. So if you’re dealing with frizzy, dry hair, and want to fix it, then read on. You might learn something new.
What Causes Dry Hair
Prevention is better than cure, or so they say. But how can you prevent dry hair when you don’t even know what causes it? We’ve listed just some of the things that are known to cause dry hair so we can take steps to fix it later.
Overwashing and Over-styling
Although it may seem hygienic, washing your hair too often can actually cause it to dry out. Why? Because your hair, or rather, your skin produces oils that help lock in moisture inside your hair. If you wash your hair too often, then you’re also washing these natural oils away, which makes the moisture inside your hair vulnerable to evaporating.
Styling your hair too much, especially when you’re using heating irons too often can also cause the moisture inside your hair to boil away and evaporate. So if you’re dealing with too much dry hair, either don’t wash your hair everyday, or use proper hair care products that help lock in moisture in place of your natural oils. Also, avoid plaiting, ironing or perming your hair too often.
Lack of Vitamins and Protein
Have you ever noticed that people that are slightly malnourished, or suffering from some sort of dietary deficiency also have bad hair? Having any sort of deficiency in vitamins and protein will have noticeable effects on your entire body, and this includes your hair. Protein itself is particularly important, since it’s a huge structural component for your hair, which means if you’re deficient in protein, you can expect brittle and dry hair.
Stress
If you’ve always found yourself in a bad mood, or are suffering from a condition that causes severe stress, you’re not only prone to have brittle, unhealthy hair, you’re also prone to losing them. That’s why dry hair is common amongst people with chronic illnesses, injury, pregnancy and as we’ve mentioned before, poor nutrition. So if you notice your hair starting to feel frizzy or if your hair seems to be thinning out, try to relax a bit
Sudden Changes in the Environment
Ever noticed that your hair seems the most unruly during winter or summer? That’s because both seasons are bad for moisture in general. Winter is generally accompanied by dry atmospheric conditions, which means the moisture in your hair is being sucked out by the surrounding air.
The higher temperatures you get from summer, on the other hand, also accelerates the rate at which the moisture in your hair is evaporated, leading to dry hair. These changes in the environment are minute, but their effects are actually quite noticeable.
Hormonal Imbalance
Every hormone in your body generally has a very specific job. They’re protein messengers that are produced in one part of your body and have an effect at a totally different place. They regulate certain body conditions, such as your appetite, sex drive, your mood, and of course, the health of your hair.
This is why certain health conditions that affect your body’s hormone production are also known to cause your hair to dry out. Women undergoing menopause, hypothyroidism and Menkes Syndrome are known to limit certain hormones, and have noticeable effects to your hair’s health
Things That Can Help
Now that we understand what can cause dry hair, we can start treating, and even protecting your hair from further damage. Listed here are some of the things you can do to have a lovely, luscious head of hair.
A Healthy Diet
Having a well-rounded diet is Making sure that you eat healthy is just one of the things that can help you retain moisture in your hair, and reverse any damage caused by malnutrition.
1.1 Reduce Your Salt Intake
Elevated levels of salt in a person’s diet is known to cause toxic effects on your hair. Sodium from the salt can build up around the follicles on your scalp that inhibit other nutrients from getting into your hair. The sodium will also absorb whatever moisture is being stored inside your hair as well. Simply eat less salt, and you should be fine.
1.2 Increase Vitamin and Protein Intake
Taking vitamin supplements and increasing your protein intake can help strengthen your hair, making them less brittle. If you’re picking out supplements, make sure that they also have trace minerals, because some minerals, like potassium, are essential to healthy hair growth.
1.3 Keep Hydrated
What’s missing in dry hair? Water, of course! If you can’t seem to avoid the conditions that dry your hair out, simply replace the moisture that’s being sucked out of your hair. Drink lots of water, at least 3 – 4 liters per day, and you should replenish any water you’ve lost in your hair throughout the day.
Proper Hair Care Products
If you can’t avoid washing your hair too often, or are just put off by the idea of not washing your hair everyday, then at least use the proper hair care products. By doing so, you’re not only minimizing the damage on your hair, you’re also helping protect it.
2.1 Amino Acid-Enriched Shampoo With No Silicon
If you ever remember biology, then you should know that amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and protein makes up a lot of our body’s structure, including your hair. So why not use shampoo that has been enriched by amino acids? Not only does this nourish and strengthen your hair, amino acid, when united chemically with certain fatty alcohols or fatty acids, gain cleansing properties.
Your hair not only gets cleaned, you’ll also be moisturizing it in the process, and help improve its water retention properties. This basically negates all the negative effects of washing your hair too often, and would actually help your hair maintain its moisture, regardless of the current climate.
2.2 Hair Conditioner and Essential Oils
Another good way to maintain your hair’s moisture retention is by using hair conditioner. Some of these products actually have vitamins and minerals in them that help nourish your hair, aside from keeping them from drying out. Of course, if hair conditioner isn’t enough, you can also make use of essential oils.
Essential oils, like Argan oil or Lavender oil, help retain lock moisture inside your hair. Since water and oil don’t mix, you’re basically putting an impassable barrier between your hair and the atmosphere, preventing evaporation. Some essential oils also have the added benefit of helping your relax, and helps alleviate stress.
Protecting Your Hair
Now that we’ve explored ways to recover from dry hair, it’s time to find ways to protect your hair from drying out again. These procedures aren’t all that hard, and doing them at home is possible.
3.1 Weekly Evaporation Care
Making use of an evaporation cap at least once a week can help limit the damage you get from dry hair. You’re basically steaming your hair, helping it with nutrient absorption and moisturizing it at the same time. You’re also moisturizing dry hair without drying out your scalp. Doing it weekly will negate any damage the intense heat would do to your hair, which normally would do more harm than good.
A weekly evaporation care also helps mitigate some of the damage done when you style your hair too often.
3.2 Sunscreen Protection
Sunscreen isn’t just for protecting your skin anymore. Since the sun is one of the primary reasons why your hair dries out during hot days and especially summer, using sunscreen on your hair can help maintain its healthy looks. Some sunscreen products made for hair even have nutrients that can help keep your hair looking fresh and less brittle.
3.3 Massaging Your Scalp
Another way to maintain a healthy head of hair is by improving the blood circulation to your scalp. You can do this by using a simple comb, hair brush or even head massagers. It not only soothes you, helping you relax, it also helps improve blood circulation to your hair follicles, making sure than any hair you’re growing comes out healthy.
Changing Your Environment and Lifestyle
It’s never an easy thing to go out of your comfort zone, no matter how stressful or unhealthy that comfort zone is. We’re used to it, after all. But staying away from what stresses you out or simply moving locations can not only be beneficial to your dry hair, it’s also good for your overall being.
While dry hair isn’t necessarily a huge health problem, it can be a good indicator that something needs to change. It doesn’t have to be overnight. Do it one step at a time. Most people fail at change because they try to change too much in a short amount of time and end up being too overwhelmed. Take things slow, change your habits, relax a little, and before you know it, dry hair will be a thing of the past for you.
