Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Doctor's Guide to Reduce Hair Damage Due to Hard Water

does hard water cause hair loss

Of course, no matter how diligently you fight against hard water hair damage, your efforts will be fruitless if you continue to shower and bathe in hard water. Clarifying shampoo is ideal for people who need to restore their hair quality. It’s formulated to trap impurities (like hardness minerals) and wash them away, and acts as a sort of hair detox. A study of 70 men reported that hard water reduced hair strength compared to deionized water. Let’s look in more detail at some of the effects of hard water on hair. Other factors such as exposure to pollutants, inadequate nutrition, and an improper hair care routine combined with the use of hard water may increase your chances of hair loss.

The Best Products To Use In Hard-Water Areas

Use a nourishing hair mask at least twice a week (preferably after washing hair) and work it from the roots to the tips of your hair. "Hair loss is very complicated, and the differences among various forms of it are nuanced," says Dr. Wang. However, it also noted that the results may be different for females, and with different levels of water hardness and different sample sizes. “You’ll find that a mixture of water, vinegar, and a citrus juice of some sort is a good natural solution for treatment,” Lin says.

Shower filter

Leave the hair mask for at least five minutes before giving your hair a final rinse. This will enable the moisture from the mask to penetrate the strands. First off, you need to restore shine and moisture into your hair.

Is hard water affecting your hair and skin? What to do about it

Now, it’s nothing a deep-cleansing shampoo can’t flush away, but we’re not in the business of daily shampooing (and in many cases, not even in every-other-day washing). And if you want your hairs to dry every day free of mineral buildup (and your scalp, too, for that matter), then you'll want to do something about it. Aloe vera is typically thought of for skin care, but it can help protect your hair from hard water effects too. Aloe vera juice can be applied directly to the scalp, and if you leave it on for 2-3 hours and rinse away, you’ll strengthen your hair, while reducing scalp inflammation. Hard water can make hair brittle; aloe vera can restore it before you comb it out.

Thankfully, there are some things you can do to counteract these effects.

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You can also use a deep conditioning treatment to help restore moisture to your hair. Additionally, avoid using heat styling tools on high heat settings, as this can further dry out your hair and make it more prone to frizz. Finally, consider investing in a water softener or using a filtering system to help remove minerals from your water and prevent damage to your hair. To avoid the negative effects of hard water on your hair, it's critical to understand the science and take precautions. Using a clarifying shampoo, a water softener, and a deep conditioning treatment can all help to prevent mineral build-up and restore moisture to your hair.

Hair Growth

High levels of calcium and magnesium in hard water can dry out your hair and scalp. There are many deep conditioning products that can help fight dryness and hair damage caused by hard water. Use natural moisturizers such as almond oil, jojoba oil, or argan oil to make your hair soft and shiny. A water softener might help with hair loss by removing calcium and magnesium minerals from water, preventing soap scum and thinning, which could make hair brittle and more prone to breakage. However, a water softener won’t prevent you from losing your hair if your problem is caused by another unrelated lifestyle factor. Although metals like calcium and magnesium in water do not have any potential health risk, it does affect the health of your hair strands.

Mineral Buildup

Want to spend less time and money on treating your dull, dry hair? Consider installing a water treatment system that can eliminate the hardness minerals in your shower. You can get your hair treated to restore it to its former, healthy self.

Use A Clarifying Shampoo

First, you can soften your water by installing a filter to your water system. Water softener systems are available for most homes and they can be easily installed to ensure all the water that comes out of your taps – all of them – is softened to limit the mineral concentration that water contains. It removes calcium and magnesium (limescale) and certain other metal cations from the hard water – making the water soft, drastically improving water quality.

does hard water cause hair loss

"Vitamin C is also an excellent mineral-removing ingredient to look for," according to Marcus. Whether it's apple cider vinegar or Vitamin C, chelating agents cleanse the hair thoroughly, so some may find them stripping. With all the potential for issues when using hard water, it's easy to see why fears about it causing hair loss would arise. Despite the laundry list of complaints caused by hard water, neither expert cited it as a direct cause of hair loss. While it may contribute to issues that increase the likelihood of hair loss, no direct link has been found.

If you’re experiencing elevated levels of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), your body will respond by shrinking your hair follicles and reducing the length of the hair growth cycle, according to Cleveland Clinic. The high copper content in water boosts the natural hair coloring process and provides the strands a much darker tone than they are naturally supposed to have. Copper causes discoloration of blonde hair and gives it a greenish tint.

While strengthening your hair effectively prevents hair loss, something else you can do to prevent hard water hair loss rinses the build-up away. The hardness of water does not interfere with the tensile strength and elasticity of hair. Of course, it’s an extra step that can get expensive quickly, and it’s ultimately ignoring a bigger problem since hard water is damaging your skin besides, as well as your shower head, pipes and maybe even laundry. We’ll now turn to the solutions to hard water hair damage and the appearance of hard water hair loss.

Another study, this one conducted in 2018, also looked at the effects of hard water on hair’s tensile strength. Some people choose to install a water softening system to produce softened water at home, which eliminates the water quality effects of hardness minerals. K18 Detox Shampoo ($38), a color-safe formula, tackles metals like nickel, cadmium, lead, zinc,and iron to deliver a deeper cleanse without disrupting hair or being harsh on the scalp,” says Franco. K18 Detox Shampoo removes up to 76 percent of copper, 99 percent of product buildup and 95 percent of sebum while keeping hair strong and soft. A shift in your hair color, especially a green or brassy tint, can be a sign that metal is messing with your hair.

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While hard water can adversely affect all hair types, those with fine, fragile, and colored-treated hair may notice the biggest impact, says Garren, a hairstylist based in both Miami and New York City. In terms of your skin and hair products, hard water reduces their ability to lather and can make complete rinsing difficult, says Iris Rubin, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in Washington DC. In this guide, we’ll be sharing everything you need to know about the signs and effects of hard water on hair, and how to treat and prevent hard water damage to your hair. The excess mineral content of hard water can lead to dry, brittle hair that breaks easily. The mineral deposits in your hair can also make it feel greasy and limp.

From personal experience, after my move across the Atlantic, I noticed a lot less volume and texture in my hair and my roots got greasier, faster. “Everyone has some form of metal, either from your shower or swimming in a pool. So inevitably, it is affecting your hair,” says celebrity hairstylist Marty Harper. Water can erode the metal piping in the shower and then deposit particles into hair with every wash, warns celebrity colorist and L’Oréal Professionnel global ambassador Min Kim. Although metal’s effect on hair is pervasive, not everyone is knowledgeable about it. We talked to experts about the various kinds of damage metal can do, signs your hair might be affected and products that can help protect and detox strands.

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