From hair products to heat styling tools, everything you use on your hair can impact its health and integrity. Even your environment and the activities you engage in can change the look and feel of your hair over time. For example, sun exposure and swimming can impact hair health. When your hair starts to look very damaged, it can be hard to turn back the clock.
Whether you have gorgeous locks or you’re experiencing breakage and hair loss, it’s never a bad time to start prioritizing hair health. Here are five tips for maintaining strong and healthy hair.
1. Establish a Good Hair Care Routine
When it comes to hair health, finding the right products for you is of the utmost importance. It’s not just about choosing high-quality products; you also want to use products that are right for your hair type and your routine. Choose the right shampoo and conditioner for washing your hair. If you use heat styling tools regularly, add a heat protectant to your lineup. Use hair oils for added hydration. Your hair care routine should be unique to you and cater to your specific needs!
For some, hair is already damaged. You may be trying to repair it while you’re simultaneously working to build stronger, healthier strands. There’s nothing wrong with this, you just need to find the right product for the issue you’re experiencing. If you find that you’re losing hair, minoxidil may be the answer to help spur regrowth. If you have extreme damage due to coloring and heat styling, a high-quality hair mask might be the best solution.
2. Focus on Cool Temps & Gentle Brushing
Your shower routine is an important part of your hair health, too. It’s the time when you’re showing your hair some TLC. Just be sure that you’re actually giving your hair the love and care it needs instead of damaging it further. Once you have a solid hair care routine that you like, focus on how you’re executing that routine.
If you’re taking scorching hot showers, you might be damaging your hair more than you think. First of all, hot showers can inflame the skin. This causes redness and itching and can rob the skin of natural moisture. This means you can dehydrate the scalp, leading to hair breakage and poor hair health. Furthermore, make sure you’re not brushing your hair when it’s soaking wet. This is when your hair is the most fragile and vulnerable to breakage. When your hair is more damp, brush with infosportsworld a wide tooth comb to avoid any damage.
3. Focus on Your Scalp Health
It’s easy to be focused on the hair that you’ve already grown. After all, that is what we’re talking about here, right? Yes, and you absolutely should be focused on the hair that you do have. But don’t forget about where all the hair is coming from — your scalp. Scalp health and hair health go hand in hand. The health and condition of your hair will never be up to par if you aren’t taking care of your scalp, too.
To start, wash your hair less often (or as little as possible depending on your hair type and lifestyle). This simple tip for improving the health of your scalp is often easy to thebirdsworld implement and can do so much for the health of your hair. While it’s important to have clean hair, washing it too often can remove natural oils, which have many essential nutrients. It’s important for your hair to be moisturized because dry, brittle hair can more easily break.
Bonus Tip: Don’t just work your conditioner into the middle and ends of your hair. Yes, these are usually the most damaged, brittle portions. But your scalp can get dry, too. If you still have a dry, itchy scalp after following these tips, look for dry scalp hair products to help.
4. Protect Hair in the Sun and When Swimming
Your environment and the activities you participate in can also affect your hair. Be conscious of what you’re putting your hair through and protect it accordingly. For example, if you live in an environment that’s very dry and hot in the summer, focus on protecting your hair.
When hair is exposed to the sun, it can change color and become damaged, brittle, and frizzy. Not to mention, your scalp can burn! During the hot summer months, don’t just protect skin from the dangers of the sun. Wear a hat or use an SPF sunscreen for the scalp.
Before swimming in chlorinated pools, apply a leave-in conditioner to protect your strands and prevent tangling. If you swim frequently, it may not be a bad idea to wear a swim cap. Chemicals that are in pools can quickly dry your hair out and irritate it. If you feel like you compromised the health of your hair by swimming, look into a salon professional hair treatment.
5. Boost Your Vitamin and Protein Intake
Last, but certainly not least, a healthy diet is key to maintaining strong, healthy strands. A diet rich in protein, B vitamins, and essential fatty acids will help your body to produce keratin. Keratin is a structural protein that helps form the outer layer of the skin as well as hair and nails.
What you eat can make a huge impact when it comes to hair health, but don’t forget about water intake as well. Staying hydrated will help keep your scalp and hair hydrated and healthy.
There are plenty of foods that you can incorporate into your diet to maintain strong strands. However, if you think that you’re not getting enough of something in your natural diet, consider using supplements. This can help you make up for the essential vitamins and nutrients you aren’t getting in your daily foods.
Strong, healthy, vibrant strands are something many people aspire for. Unfortunately, having beautiful hair doesn’t always come easy. Behind every gorgeous head of hair is hard work and careful care that went into making it look that way. But as long as you make hair health a priority, there’s no reason you can’t have locks that you love.
