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Hair care

How to have healthy hair

Last Updated on 16/08/2023 by Liz @ HealthTenfold

A head full of healthy, beautiful, and luxurious hair is the ultimate crown on a person. Everyone wants to always have a good hair day but unfortunately, this is not the case on many occasions. Everybody has their own share of hair problems and the search on how to have healthy hair has proved futile for many.

In fact, a good number of these hair problems are probably because you don’t treat your hair right and others due to unavoidable biological reasons. Either way, solutions are available to overcome these problems. This article will look into what the most common hair problems are, what causes them, and how to achieve the elusive beautiful and healthy hair. 

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What Causes Hair Problems?

Hair may be damaged because of internal biological factors, lifestyle habits, or external factors that you don’t have control over. Some of these factors include:

Environmental Factors
Environmental factors such as the sun, humidity, and temperature can damage your hair. 

The UV and visible light rays from the sun can damage your hair when you spend too much time outdoors. This happens when the rays help in the breaking down of the chemical bonds in the hair structure. The heat from the sun also makes your hair dry so it becomes more prone to damage.

High humidity, on the other hand, opens up your pores and cuticles so they become exposed to damage from other environmental and external factors. When the humidity is too little like during winter, the moisture from your hair is absorbed into the atmosphere and it becomes dry and prone to frizzing. 

Heat Styling
The frequent use of curling irons, blow dryers, flat-irons, and dryer hood can be very damaging to your hair. Their heat makes your hair able to be styled differently by temporarily breaking down the polypeptide chains that hold together the hair structure. When this is done too many times, the structure of your hair can be permanently altered and damaged. The heat damage can also extend to your scalp and lead to hair loss.

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Poor Diet
Your hair cells are one of the fastest-growing cells in your body. The human head has about 100,000 hair follicles and each one of them needs to be well-nourished to grow healthily. Since your hair is not a vital organ, a lack of sufficient nutrients will make the body redirect the available nutrients away from the hair to other vital body organs. This leads to the stagnancy in hair growth and hair loss. 

Stress
Stress and anxiety can cause damage to your hair by sending it into a resting phase where it doesn’t grow anymore (telogen effluvium). This leads to increased shedding of hair so you’ll notice an unusual amount of hair in your brush, the drain after you wash it, and on your pillowcase. Stress may also cause an autoimmune reaction where your immune system fights your hair follicles and damages them (alopecia areata). A psychological condition known as trichotillomania can also be triggered by high stress levels. This condition causes the patient to pull out their hair unknowingly or intentionally to relieve stress. 

Chemical Damage
A lot of chemicals used in the beauty industry such as hair dyes and perms have harsh chemicals that easily damage your hair. They are made to penetrate deep into your hair up to the cuticle where they can break down bonds that hold the structure of your hair. 

Read more
“5 Ingredients to Avoid – What Your Shampoo Definitely Should Not Contain”

Insufficient Sleep
Poor sleeping habits don’t just weaken your body but your hair as well. Your body’s ability to take up nutrients that make hair healthy is impaired by poor sleep. 

What are the Most Common Hair Problems?

Hair Loss
Humans lose about 50 to 100 strands of hair daily but if your hair loss goes way beyond this, then that’s a problem. Hair loss may be due to many reasons like hormonal imbalance, stress, medication, using certain hair products, menopause, and excessive heat styling.

Dandruff
This is a condition characterized by a scaly or flaky scalp. Although it’s harmless, it’s both embarrassing and annoying. As much as it’s often associated with poor hygiene, this is not the case. Dandruff is caused by a dry scalp, excess sebum production, poor diet, reaction to certain hair products, infection, or slow metabolism.

Read more
“How to get rid of Dandruff: Causes, Symptoms, Best Remedies”

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Most recommended:

Simply Hair oil

Manufactured by Natural Healing Oils.

Split Ends
Over time, the ends of your hair dry up and then split. This happens when the oil from your scalp doesn’t reach the ends of your hair. It also happens because of over-brushing your hair, too much heat, excessive perming, and not having a good conditioner. 

Dry hair
Having clean hair is good but there is such a thing as being too clean. When you wash your hair on a daily basis, your shampoo strips the hair of its natural oils and leaves it dry. Other underlying issues that may make hair dry include menopause, birth control pills, anemia, or hyperthyroidism. 

Oily Scalp
Greasy hair is caused by the scalp producing too much sebum which could be due to a few reasons. These include a poor diet, hormonal imbalance, and genetics. One of the main reasons for having an oily scalp is over-washing. When the scalp is stripped of its oils, it produces more oil to compensate. So as you wash your hair to get rid of the greasiness, the problem only gets worse. 

Frizzy Hair
Your hair gets frizzy when its outer layer isn’t completely sealed so moisture finds its way in. This also happens when the moisture levels in hair reduce. The imbalance in hair moisture levels can be caused by chemicals, hair color, and UV rays. 

Natural Hair Oil

Most recommended:

Simply Hair oil

Manufactured by Natural Healing Oils.

How to Have Healthy Hair

There are a number of tips you can add to hair routine to counter the problems mentioned above and get healthier hair:

Avoid Getting Hair Wet Too Often
To prevent your hair from breaking, drying, and frizzing, avoid washing it all the time. Limit it to every three days and use a gentle shampoo with a pH that’s between 5 and 6. For greasy hair, use a dry shampoo that gets rid of grease and sweat instead of covering it. 

Eat Healthily
Eating a balanced diet is crucial for healthy hair. Make sure your diet is rich in proteins because that’s what makes up the hair. Foods rich in protein include meat, eggs, beans, fish, dairy products, and poultry. 

The hair also needs minerals such as iron and zinc to prevent the loss of hair. Good sources of iron are like spinach and liver while good sources of zinc are nuts, dairy products, seafood, whole grains, red meat, and poultry.

Use Hair Masks
Moisturizing hair masks and deep conditioners keep your hair hydrated and smooth. Use them at least once a week, especially if you heat-style your hair frequently. 

Brush Your Hair Before You Wash It
When hair is wet, it’s weaker and more prone to breakages so avoid brushing it then. Brush it before you get into the shower to get all tangles out of the way and ready for styling afterward. This also helps spread sebum from the scalp to the ends of your hair.

Protect Your Hair from the Sun
Just like you protect your skin from sunburns, do the same for your hair. Wear hats or apply hair products with an SPF of at least 30. They not only protect your hair from the sun but also from other environmental elements like pollution.

Get a Trim Regularly
Ignoring split ends will not make them go away; if anything, your hair will break even more. Visit your hairdresser to get your split ends cut off to allow your hair to grow longer and healthier. 

Avoid Scalding Showers
Scalding hot showers might soothe you after a long and tiring day but they are not so great for your hair. They strip it of its natural oils and washes out hair dye very fast. Wash your hair in lukewarm water instead.

Use Silk Pillows
Cotton pillows absorb moisture and oils out of your hair and leave it dry. They also create friction and so make your hair more susceptible to breakages. Exchange your cotton pillowcases for silk ones.

Natural Hair Oil

Most recommended:

Simply Hair oil

Manufactured by Natural Healing Oils.

The above tips on how to have healthy hair are the secrets you’ve been searching for. Implement them and you’ll be blown away by the results you’ll get!

Read more: https://www.healthtenfold.com/how-often-should-you-wash-your-hair/
https://www.healthtenfold.com/why-use-hair-oils/
https://www.healthtenfold.com/soft-and-silky-hair-with-these-7-easy-to-do-hacks-see-the-results-in-no-time/
https://www.healthtenfold.com/which-essential-oils-promote-hair-growth/