Whether you wear your hair long or short, everyone wants healthy hair. Common mistakes in diet and habits can damage hair and increase natural hair fall (the amount of hair shed through normal grooming). The good news is that simple changes and tips can improve your hair’s health and appearance.
Protecting Your Hair
Tips from the American Academy of Dermatology for healthy hair focus on washing because it’s a crucial maintenance step. The AAD suggests:
- Washing oily hair more often and chemically treated hair less often
- Focusing shampoo on the scalp
- Conditioner goes on the shaft and hair tips – not scalp
- Choose the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair type
- Protect your hair while swimming
The last item can include wearing a swim cap and/or wetting your hair and applying conditioner to it before you go for a swim. Shampoos and conditioners designed for swimmers might also be a good choice after a swim.
How Can I Make Hair Stronger and Thicker?
Medical News Today makes a distinction between physically making hair stronger, correcting things that damage and make hair thinner, and how to make hair feel and look stronger and thicker. Why? Because a hair strand’s actual thickness and texture comes from the hair follicle. However, things people do can damage hair – making it look thinner – while other choices can improve hair strand appearance.
Common Causes of Thinning Hair:
- Damaging hair treatments (e.g. excessive heat)
- Illness
- Overusing harsh hair products
- Allergic reactions
- Genetics
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Aging
How Can I Get Healthy Hair Naturally?
Healthy hair is a combination of internal and external changes. Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, iron deficiencies, protein deficiencies, and more can all hurt your hair health and quality.
External treatments can also improve the look and feel of your hair. That includes olive oil conditioning treatments, avocado hair treatments, and more are natural ways to recondition hair, especially hair that has been damaged through excessive processing. The Medical News Today link above has more natural treatment options.
How Can I Improve My Hair Health?
- Make sure you have a well-rounded diet with proper vitamins and protein. New vegetarians and vegans frequently suffer from protein deficiency until they get used to alternate protein sources.
- Avoid excessive heat and harsh treatments. That includes blow dryers set too high, curling or flat irons used too often, and even hot showers. Similarly, chemical treatments and hair coloring can be harsh to hair.
- Avoid shampooing more than needed for your hair type and lifestyle. A cool water rinse will make your hair shinier and help close the hair cuticle. Use wide-toothed combs to detangle, especially when hair is wet and fragile. For more on this, check out our post on shampooing do’s and don’ts.
- Keep towels away from your hair. That fluffy terrycloth creates frizz, and the friction isn’t good for your hair. The fancy solution is a microfiber towel… but professional stylists and hair experts swear by “towel” drying hair with an old cotton t-shirt.
Have the Hair You Want with RHRLI
If you have concerns about your hair or its thickness, contact RHRLI for a free consultation. We are the premier hair restoration facility on Long Island and in New York City. As a board-certified hair restoration surgeon with many years of experience using state-of-the-art techniques to create the hairline you want, I can answer all of your questions about hair loss solutions. Call us now for a free consultation to evaluate your hair loss and determine whether you’re a good candidate for ARTAS® hair restoration. Contact RHRLI today.