Having healthy hair typically takes a lot of patience and work. That means eating a healthy diet and working to wash your hair well. You also need to overcome factors like stress that can limit the overall health of your hair. If you are thinking about ways to improve the way your hair looks and feels, work to address breakage. When it occurs, it can make hair more frizzy and lead it to splinter instead of growing long and thick.
What causes this? There are various factors that can lead to it. Correcting these problems can often help you regain healthy, bouncy, and fuller hair. Depending on what is happening in your case, you may want to focus on the following factors.
Improve Your Diet
One of the most common reasons for hair breakage is a poor diet that lacks proper nutrient content. Specifically, this may be due to a lack of iron, zinc, or folic acid in the foods you eat. It's a good idea to increase access to these through a multivitamin. By increasing protein and antioxidant content, you may be able to see hair grow with less risk of overall damage to it. These nutrients specifically work to encourage hair growth that's healthy.
Reduce Dryness
Dryness can be a critical factor in the development of healthy hair. When the conditions in the home are very dry, such as during the winter months, that can cause added breakage risk. Also, if the hair is dry as a result of damage to it, that can also lead to problems with breakage. If you are using very hot water when you wash your hair, that can pull out a lot of the moisture present as well and, again, lead to the onset of dryness.
If you are facing dryness, it is often beneficial to use a conditioner that offers moisturizing benefits. This can help to provide your hair with added protection and reduce the overall risk of dryness causing problems.
Heat Damage
As noted, hot water can cause hair dryness. However, other sources of heat applied to the hair can also cause a number of problems, including breakage. For example, if you use a hairdryer, flat iron, curling iron, or other types of devices to style your hair and do this often, that can damage the hair. The heat breaks down the shaft the hair grows in, creating damage that leads to early breakage. Skipping these types of tools can help reverse this damage over time.
Overprocessing of Hair
It can be a lot of fun to have a new hair style for a new look. If you have long hair and want to have it professionally straighten. Or you may want to color or get a full head of highlights. All of these treatments – and others that use salon-grade chemicals – can damage the hair and cause breakage. Often, using these types of treatments over a period of time does not lead to this type of damage. However, if you treat and style your hair too often, you'll likely notice significant changes.
Whenever possible, limit these types of procedures to no more than one procedure every 8 to 10 weeks. That gives your hair time to heal and recover. You can also use a hair mask to deep condition your hair and add some of the conditioning it needs to recover from that type of damage.
Washing and Drying Concerns
Another factor that can play a role in the process is the way you wash and dry your hair. For example, if you have very oily hair, you may be washing it often to remove those oils. Having excess sebum production on your scalp may cause you to wash more often. However, if you are using a strong shampoo, it may be stripping your hair causing it to appear dry or break easily. It is best to consult with a hair professional on the correct products to use based on your scalp type.
To learn more about how to treat dry, damaged hair, contact the team at Unique Hair Concepts for a free, private consultation.
