In this day and age, beauty is valued over all other qualities. The importance of having a perfect figure, beautiful skin, and healthy, silky hair is emphasized almost everywhere you look. You may go on a diet or work out rigorously to achieve a perfect figure and may spend a lot of time and money on a skincare routine or various types of makeup to give you flawless skin, but there is not much you can do about your hair. Each person’s hair is different and you can style it the way you want but in the end, using too many styling products and applying too much heat is bound to damage it. People mostly want their hair to grow long and are mostly interested in retaining the length instead of the quality. But, if your hair is too damaged and it breaks as much as it grows, you will not see the length adding up. Even if you follow a complex hair care regime, and even if your hair does not show signs of external damage, it can still be damaged. And, the longer your hair is, the more damaged it is.
What Is Hair Damage?
Your hair is said to be damaged when one or more layers of your hair – the cuticle, cortex, and medulla – are altered physically or chemically to such an extent that they are unable to return to their original state. The cuticle can get frayed, the hair shaft can get cracked, which ends up damaging the cortex and medulla, and, in extreme cases, the hair fiber can become exposed and unprotected. You need to have a closer look at your hair strands to know the extent of your hair damage.
What Are The Main Causes Of Hair Damage?
Your hair can sustain mechanical damage and chemical damage. Mechanical damage is caused by tension and friction, which are a result of combing, brushing, running your fingers through your hair, braiding your hair, or tying it up in tight ponytails. Washing your hair with shampoos with a pH higher than 5.5 can also cause a pH imbalance, which affects the cuticle. The chemicals in shampoos strip the hair of its natural oils and make it rough and frail.
Chemical damage is caused when you apply chemical relaxers, permanent colors, and texturizers on your hair. Such chemicals strip away the fatty acids present in the hair strands causing them to become porous. This results in more water entering your hair, causing it to swell. A swollen hair shaft results in a lifted cuticle and more tangles, friction, and damage. The longer your hair is, the more it is exposed to mechanical and chemical damage.
What Is Healthy Hair?
Healthy hair should have a balance of elasticity, porosity, and strength. It should feel soft to the touch, have minimal breakage, appear shiny, have a uniform curl pattern from the base to the ends, have the ability to retain moisture, and should return back to its original position after it is stretched. You may feel that you can repair your hair by using different oils and conditioners, but that is not the case. There is no way to repair damaged hair. The various “damage-repairing” products available in the market only change the state of the hair temporarily to make it look and feel healthier. The only solution is to chop off the damaged areas.
If you do chop off the damaged parts of your hair, you need to focus on how you can preserve its health. Do not comb your hair too often and only use mild shampoos and conditioners. If you are someone who changes their hair color quite frequently, try and stick to a particular for a longer period of time. You will thank yourself later. And, try to use natural ingredients like honey, coconut oil, almond oil, and yogurt to moisturize your hair instead of chemical conditioners, which will do you more harm than good in the long run.
