Far too many people settle for having damaged hair. Are you one of them? Do you see people with beautiful hair on TV or in the street and feel sad because yours will never look like that? You might be making a mistake. Even persistent damaged hair problems are often more fixable than people assume. You don’t need to resign yourself to being an unlucky person whose hair will always look bad. These simple solutions could make all the difference. (Image Credit: melancholiaphotography/Pixabay)
Dry hair
Persistently dry or frizzy hair is often a sign of general dehydration or poor diet, which can mean that hair struggles to get all the nutrients it needs when it’s growing. Increasing the quantity and variety of the fruit and vegetables you eat is a good first step. You should aim to drink at least half a gallon of water a day. If you smoke, this is another reason to quit, as nicotine can further dry out hair and make it look drab and lifeless. Don’t wash your hair more than twice a week and when you do, use a gentle shampoo – those designed for babies are often a good choice.
Washing dry hair in cool water helps to protect it from further damage, and you should never wash it without using conditioner. Using a leave-in oil treatment on a weekly or monthly basis can help with restoration. Coconut, avocado or argan oil is usually the most effective choice.
Split ends
There are two approaches to fixing split ends: cutting them off or binding them back together. Most people, naturally, opt for the latter, and today’s products are getting better and better results, but the risk of this approach is that damage can work its way back up the hair strand to cause more serious problems over time.
If you have a short hairstyle, repair products are a great solution and will probably do their job well enough for long enough for the damaged hair to be removed in the natural process of styling. If you have long hair, however, it’s a better idea to steel yourself and get a few inches removed so that you can keep your hair long and healthy in the long term. To prevent those split ends recurring, avoid bleach and heat-based styling. Treat the ends of your hair with oil once a week.
Thinning hair
Hair can become thinner for many reasons. The first thing to do is to improve your diet and concentrate on good scalp care, making sure you don’t have any infections. Sometimes hair will then grow back on its own. If the problem proves to be more complex, this Viabrance review explains how you can use the Viabrance system to stimulate hair follicles and get them back in action. Incorporating Minoxidil, the only FDA-approved hair restorer for women, it also helps to repair and reinforce established hair so that it looks healthier and grows longer. Bear in mind that you will have to wait a couple of months for the results to show and you should keep using the products to maintain the improvements.
Thinning hair can easily be made worse by tight styles which put a strain on the scalp, so opt for something more relaxed. Gently pat it dry with a towel after showering rather than rubbing, which can loosen weakly attached strands. Use silk pillowcases to reduce friction when you’re sleeping.
Tangled hair
Sometimes tangles can get out of control. If your hair has become matted to the point where you can no longer tease it apart by yourself, you may need help. Detangling treatments use a blend of oils to protect individual strands of hair and make them move more easily against each other while they’re gently worked apart from the tips back to the roots. It’s best to have this done at a salon but you can also get a patient friend or family member to do it for you.
Once your hair has been detangled, the trick is to keep it that way. Some of it will probably need to be cut off but the most common issue with what remains is coarseness. Reducing the frequency of shampooing and using a heavy conditioning treatment will reduce this and make hair easier to manage.
These simple but effective methods of treatment will help your hair to recover from damage and regain its natural beauty. If it’s well cared for going forward, and you can prevent the damage from recurring, you’ll have hair you can be proud of.