Must Use Products to Nurse Your Hair Back To Health
Anyone that has ever experienced any form of hair loss, baldness, or hair damage will tell you how much of a terrible experience it is. Waking up every day to see your beautiful hair fall off one after the other is without a doubt a horrible experience.
Typically, a strand of hair is made up of three (3) basic layers – the medulla which is the inner fiber is surrounded by the cortex, and finally, the outer layer which is called the cuticle.
Any damage to the cuticle will make it possible for the hair to begin losing that healthy glow and thereby leading to more damage.
The problem here is, hair damage is a very common occurrence. In fact, statistics by the American Hair Loss Association (AHLA) have shown that on average, we lose anywhere from 50 to 100 strands of hair each day.
That is not all, the same researchers have shown that well over 50% of women experience hair damage.
And by the time 85% of men clock the age of 50, there is a high chance that they would experience baldness.
Although most times, medical conditions often lead to hair loss/baldness or hair damage, some other factors can also lead to hair damage.
For example, the continuous use of blow dryers and hair treatments, malnutrition, stress, traveling, styling and coloring, etc are also factors that contribute to hair damage. We will get into this in detail later.
Nursing your damaged hair back to health is not something you can rush into. Assuming you are experiencing hair loss/damaged hair, you need to, first of all, get to the root of the problem, before deciding to undergo any form of treatment.
Before we list a few tips or products that you can make use of to nurse your hair back to health, we would briefly discuss some common causes of hair damage/hair loss.
6 Causes of Hair Loss and Hair Damage
- Diet Deficiencies
Top of this list is diet deficiency, because not many people know that their diet can have a huge impact on their hair. A well-balanced diet ensures that every area of your body is in good health/shape – and this also includes your hair.
And quite expectedly, Poor nutrition can lead to all kinds of nutritional deficiencies, which may also affect the health of your hair.
A well-balanced diet should contain essential vitamins, and protein, etc
- Extreme Hair Care
There are times where we tend to go overboard while trying to create a stylish hairdo. What you may not know is the fact that, while undergoing this extreme hair care, or while trying to create a beautiful hairstyle, you may inadvertently cause significant damage and breakage to strands.
For example, repeated use of heated styling tools, blow-dryer, shampoo, etc can all cause breakage to strands which can cause hair to fall off.
- Infections That Cause Hair Loss
This is perhaps the most popular factor that causes hair loss. An infection that causes high fever, skin infection, and bacterial infections such as syphilis, amongst others can be said to have been responsible for balding or hair loss.
- Autoimmune Diseases
Diabetes and Lupus are good examples of autoimmune diseases that are capable of causing hair loss. The most unfortunate thing about these autoimmune diseases is that any hair loss caused by them may not always be reversible, that is, they can be permanent.
- Hair Loss Due to Medications
You can also experience hair loss when you are undergoing medications for some common health problems. For example, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, oral contraceptives, blood-thinning medications, etc can also cause hair loss. The good news about this is, just as hair grows back after undergoing chemotherapy, so can your hair grow back when you stop/finish those medications.
- Stress
If unfortunately, you are going through a period of life-altering events such as the death of a loved one, break up, financial problems, etc you may experience hair damage. What stress does is stop the normal cycle of hair growth.
However, once you overcome that stressful period, your hair will nurse itself back to health.
Must Use Products To Nurse Your Hair Back To Health
- Endeavour purchasing a restorative shampoo
The hair has its own natural oils that keep it shining. However, at times, most of the traditional shampoo or the substandard ones usually strip these oils away completely – and when this happens, that is when you experience hair breakage, hair damage, etc.
So when purchasing your shampoo, study their labels first and go for the ones that have “anti-breakage,” “strengthening,” “restorative,” or “repair” on their label.
What this means is, any shampoo that has these written on the labels uses ingredients that are capable of making the hair grow thicker and also help seal the split ends.
A Restorative Shampoo also helps repair the damaged protein structures in the hair.
- Always Make Use Of A Gentler Brush
The most prevalent cause of hair damage or breakage is the use of a brush with rough, wiry bristles. Another mistake people often make is, when using a brush while blowing out your hair, a metal one heats up pretty fast and this can burn the cuticle.
In order to prevent this, try to get a rubber paddle brush that has smooth synthetic bristles.
- Carefully Condition your hair
The following steps are the best way to properly condition your hair. First and foremost, Wash your hair in the shower. Then after this, use the amount of conditioner recommended on the label, usually, a small drop of conditioner is enough unless you have very long hair though. Then after this, thoroughly apply the conditioner to the mid-shaft and the end of your hair – from there you can extend it to your scalp, as it is very important that your scalp get hydrated too. All these you can do with a wide-tooth brush or even your fingers.
Also note, you should leave the conditioner on for a while, let’s say a minute before finally washing it out.
Do this for a while and watch how your hair grow healthy and thicker again
- Eat a balanced diet
It goes without saying that you are what you eat. Apart from what eating a balanced diet does to the general body system, eating a balanced diet can also help prevent hair damage, and even help nurse-damaged hair back to health.
According to experts, the hair is mostly made up of proteins, therefore it is vital that you eat a balanced diet of protein-rich food.
For example, fish, egg, meat, beans, etc are some of the things you should henceforth add to your grocery list.
Other common hair foods include Avocado, spinach, berries, etc, Or basically anything rich in both vitamin C and Vitamin E which will help boost collagen production thereby ensuring that your strands grow stronger.
- Don’t go for a hot shower everyday
As soothing as it is to take a steamy shower, taking a hot shower every day may also be bad for your hair. It can cause irritations to your scalp. When you take a hot shower every day, you run the risk of weakening your hair as it grows out. Instead, take a warm shower instead, and at the end of your shower, rinse your hair/head with cold water to seal the cuticles shut so as to ensure that your hair stays healthy.
- Use Silk Pillowcase Instead Of Cotton Pillowcase
This is another important practice you should adopt if you want to prevent your hair from getting damaged or you want to nurse your already damaged hair back to health. Silk Pillowcases, unlike the Cotton counterpart, help to protect the cuticle of your hair by reducing the friction between your hair and the fabric.
Conclusion
On average, humans lose about 50 – 100 strands of hair every day. The reason why this hardly gets noticed is that as one hair falls out, another grows back to replace it. When a hair falls off and another one doesn't grow to replace it, then such an individual is said to be suffering from hair loss.
Therefore, endeavor to consult your doctor first before applying any medication.