Damage to the hair can be caused by a lot of various hair damages such as sunlight, heat, drying and other natural causes but most of the hair damage comes from straightening, perming, bleaching and other styling techniques thats been followed in the salons around you. These techniques can cause permanent damage to the hair and the roots of the hair. Permanent damages to the hair are hard to retrieve and cause lifelong damage. Many other methods of hair damage include poor maintenance of hair, irregular schedules of hair wash and poor shampoo and conditioner choices. Poor brushing or combing of hair also leads to sever hair fall.
Record of the hair:
Physical and chemical insults of the hair are recorded in the scalp where in some can be visible to the naked eye and some may be visible through the microscope. They are known as record of the hair. You may not be aware of this but most of these damages can cause an insult to the hair by causing protein and lipid structures to change. So these minute changes cause bigger and mightier changes in the long run and eventually leading to breakage. This is realised by women only when they brush their hair and notice many additional hair that has been falling.
Different perspectives:
The hair scientist, The lady at the salon, the dermatologist you visit or the trichologist that you recently had an appointment with, all of them have different views and perspectives of how the hair damage occurs or can be repaired. Many of these damages are seen with dry hair, split ends or breakage. Be concerned only when there is a reason to be concerned.
Women often complain about why their hair is damaged not realising the damage that they have caused to their hair. Its important to know that to achieve the required style, the person is also said to have a healthy hair to give them its frizz-free shiny hair. A healthy hair means not only to have shiny hair but also to make you look and feel confident.
Specific forms of Damage: There are damages from hair cutting, styling and shampooing.
Cutting: The damages that can be caused by hair cut can be if the hair cut is done using a blunt scissor, the hair cuticle can be prone to more damage. So if you’re gonna get a hair cut done, do it from a good and reputed place.
Styling: Styling of hair can be dangerous to the hair if it isn’t done the right way. Wide tooth combed is known to cause less damage to the hair as it doesn’t damage the follicle. A circular or semi-circular brush is the least damaging to the hair.
Shampooing: This may not seem important but it is the crucial step to hair care. Always use the right shampoo with the right ingredients to avoid damage and split ends. Harsh shampoos causes tangling that cannot be reversed and modern high quality shampoos had low levels of conditioning agents which reduced this problem so high quality shampoos are always preferred.
Hair treatments: Certain over the counter products like minoxidil is used in liquid form where in you massage the liquid in the hair and there is a visible difference in the growth of the hair. Even though it is over the counter, it should be used with utmost care and with precautions. It can have many possible side effects like acne at the site of application or redness, facial hair, bulge in the face or even increased balding in certain cases so it’s always best to use the product under medical supervision. Hot showers are normally avoided for people with receding hair. It is often not recommended to children because it is a continuous treatment and consistency should be maintained. Another drug called Finasteride is used as a prescription drug for men. According to research, around 80% men have claimed that their hair loss has been reduced significantly and around 60% people claim to have hair regrowth in the areas of spotting and baldness. However these drugs cannot be used to grow hair on a completely bald surface. So consult a trichologist for more details about the dosage and usage of these drugs.