Dry Hair

We always say that good and healthy hair is a sign of extensive well-being and sweet sixteen. And you know what, the ramification of hair in human beings is always agitated. Hair caters for a great aesthetic ornament and channel of voiceless communication despite all these questions.

It is strongly marked that good and shiny hair can remarkably rehabilitate an individual’s outer appearance, whether it’s a man or a woman. And thus, also alter his/her complete physique.

However, most of us go through with dry hair which creates a lot of issues related to self-esteem, overall look, etc. Dry hair is one of the hair problems that create a rough and rash look of an individual.

What Does it Mean?

Dry hair refers to a specific hair care problem where the hair loses its sheen and texture due to the lack of moisture & oil present in it.

To put it clearly, once the hair loses its sheen & texture and becomes dry, it doesn’t retain enough moisturizer to keep its texture bright and shining.

This is undoubtedly the most common hair problem which crops up even among the younger generation of both men & women. There are a lot of factors responsible for this. Surprisingly, this also happens due to some critical health conditions. But the primary reason behind dry hair is nothing but ineffective oil glands, which lead to dryness of the hair.

Suppose you have dry skin; simply, you will have dry hair as well as your skin is not producing the right amount of oil for your hair. But those who have no dry skin nor have dry hair still deal with dry-hair problems opening to different responsible factors.

According to various reports, hair can harm both men and women of any age, but you’re more likely to face these issues as you get older.

Causes of Dry Hair in Men & Women

A lot of things together are responsible for the cause of dry and dead hairs in me & women. Now, this could be a lot of things. From environmental factors to your hormonal in-balance to some of the changes in your hair care routine. Let’s have a look at some of them:

Sun exposure: You already know how dangerous exposure to the sun is; it is the primary cause of skin tanning. But sum exposure isn’t only limited to skin-tanning; extreme exposure to UN by coming in contact with sunlight is also responsible for the damage of the cuticle, the outer layer of your hair.

Chlorinated water: You might not be known, but excessive use of chlorinated water can be proven harsh for your hair. The research suggests that thyroid hormones stimulate hair growth. This being said, both hypothyroidism & hyperthyroidism can also adversely affect your hair and cause dry hair.

Frequent shampooing: Do you know that using shampoo frequently is one of the reasons for dry hair? When you shampoo your hair excessively or frequently, its protective oil strips your hair, and as a result, your hair turns dry.

Health & Environmental Problems: Health & Environmental problems equally contribute to hair drying. If you have any health-related issues and it results in hormonal imbalance, it can directly impact your hair. And similarly, any pollution and other irritants involve factors that adversely affect hair wellness.

Thyroid dysfunction: Much more presence of prolonged hypothyroidism & hyperthyroidism result in dry or hair loss. Thyroid dysfunction slowly scalps the hairs, splits its end, and makes them dry.

Use of Hair Products: Most hair products we use aren’t free of toxins and other harsh chemicals added in them for manufacturing. And thus, the excessive use of these products reduces the shininess & oil present in the outer layer of the hair and makes it dry. It is also the reason for oxidative stress, which is one of the primary causes of dry hair.

Classification of Dry Hair in Men & Women

Why do we consistently focus on the type or classification of hair in both men & women?

This is, of course, a tough question. But the answer, however, is very simple. Firstly, your hair type is important to know as it gives us an idea of how to solve hair dryness. It is also just as important to understand how the right products in hair care can help figure out the preferable hair care products and routine. Remember, not each & every certified product will work on every hair category. Therefore, it is better for you to correctly identify your hair type.

Dry hair in most men & women is a sign that your hair is damaged owing to various factors, but how to know or classify dry hair in men & women? Subsequently, the dry hair in men & women can be classified as:

Frizzy hair: Frizzy hair or frizzes in hair is a situation where the day owing to dryness is unable to align properly, creating an irregular or fuzzy texture.
Rough hair: The structure becomes fragile and breaks easily, making it more unruly.
A lot of split ends in hair:This condition of dry hair looks more like a straw-like structure; it becomes stiffer upon a little movement.

Diagnosis of Dry Hair in Men & Women

Diagnosis is important for men & women who have extremely dry hair, and it shows improvement in witnessing changes in the hair care routine.

Diagnosis of dry hair isn’t a very pathetic or very heavy technical method. All you have to do is to make an appointment with a dermatologist with a handful of experience in the city. They can detect the underlying cause. And likewise, they’ll provide you with a certain type of therapy & you’ll eventually get rid of the dry and full hair.

Before going for a diagnosis, your doctor will mostly ask you to go for a physical examination and ask about your diet, hair care routine, and medical history. You are likely to go under tests, such as the following:

Blood test- A blood test is considered the preliminary test before going into any further diagnosis process. It helps to uncover any hidden medical conditions responsible for dry hair or hair loss.
Pull test- If you’re new to the pull test, then don’t get worried. This test is as simple as others. The doctor gently extracts a few dozen hairs to examine how many come out. Meaning this helps to determine the stage of the shedding process. According to this, the next step is taken.

Scalp biopsy- The concept of Scalp biopsy is designed to allow your doctor to provide you with the appropriate and suitable diagnosis for any condition which is adversely affecting your Scalp. Generally, the doctor gets samples from the skin, or a few hairs plucked out of the scalp to examine the condition of hair roots and put it under a microscope. This helps them to know whether an infection is causing dry hair or not.

Light microscopy- In light microscopy, the doctor takes the help of a special instrument, a bedside clinical too, to examine the hairs trimmed at their bases. The entire Microscopy procedure majorly helps us expose possible hair disorders and the adjacent hair Scalp.

As mentioned above, the doctor will examine your scalp and hair to know the root cause of the problem as a part of the diagnosis. However, they can ask you for one or more tests in some rare cases.

As in, they can collect some blood samples from your body or a sample of urine to check whether there’s any sign of a certain medical condition or not. Critical conditions could either be hypothyroidism or hyperparathyroidism.

Additionally, when you approach a doctor or dermatologist to diagnose your hair, they not only do various examinations but also ask you to follow some basic precautions to avoid any further hair damage. These precautions are advised for both the men & women to go with:

Avoid shampooing your hair every day: How often do you shampoo your hair? One, Twice or Thrice? We are sure, more than hundreds viewing this would say, we do it regularly. And this answer is very frequent and not surprising as there’s a myth that suggests that frequent shampooing of hair is good and makes it free of dandruff. Nevertheless, we don’t know that the excessive use of shampoo is one of the reasons for the premature greying of hair, because of dry & dead hairs.
Applying condition to your hair every time you wash it: We are habituated to applying condition every time we apply shampoo. And this habituation, knowingly or unknowingly, supplies more and more toxins to the roots and texture of our hair, resulting in damaged, dry and tangled hair.
Shampoo and conditioner meant for your hair type:When the excessive use of shampoo and conditioner can damage your hair, no use of both shampoo and conditioner is not good for your hair. You should consult with your doctor and start using a shampoo and conditioner which suits your hair and is free of toxins and chemicals. There are a lot of organic products in the market designed especially for people who go through hair damage, loss of hair & etc. You can use these certified organic products as much as required for your hair.
Moisturizing styling products: Moisturizing styling products for hair is good for it as these products keep the hair protected from breakage, deadness & dryness. However, as stated earlier, you must know about distinguishing between the right and wrong Product for you. Because there are multiple varieties of products present in the market which are harmful to the hair, choose a product that continuously replenishes the moisture to obstruct or prevent the fizziness.

Best time to apply moisture in your hair for your reference:

Before styling the hair
At the time of or before going to bed
Mostly before stepping out
After cleansing of the hair
After or before combing the hair

Skip chemical hair treatments: There’s a trend of applying different chemical treatments on hair to make it look fancier. But these chemical hair treatments in real divest your hair of inherently happening keratin, driving behind spongy areas that are weaker to breakage and other damage. And end up with hair thinning, drying or shedding.
Blow-dry your hair less frequently: When we blow our hair using a dryer to try it, the hair comes in contact with extreme heat energy. Even though there are options available to control the heat, it isn’t enough. That excessive heat energy is not good for our hair. It damages the base or scalp of our hair and reduces the amount of natural oil and keratin present in it; as a result, it gets dried and damaged.
Avoid flat irons, curling irons, and electric rollers: Similarly, with the regular use of flat irons, curling irons or electric rollers, our hair gets weak as these irons and rollers produce heat energy which is not at all good for the hair. The frequent use of these devices on the hair destroys its natural smoothness and shininess present in the outer layer of the hair. And eventually, it gets damaged.