Reverse Hair Damage Yourself

Frightened or frustrated by damaged hair? You don't have to be anymore. Why? Because almost all hair damage is reversable and preventable, and you can fix it yourself at home. Although professional products are usually the best for your hair, they can be expensive, there are many products that you can buy over the counter that are less expensive and work well.

Prevent It:The first thing you need to do is care for your hair properly and protect it from chemicals, heat, and bad styling habbits. Cheap shampoos and conditioners contain fillers like wax and alchohol, and can cause wax build up, dry itchy scalp (commonly mistaken for dandruff), loss of moisture, exploded cuticle, loss of shine, severe tangle and breakage. You need to use a gentle but effective shampoo and conditioner regularly.Stay away from dandruff shampoos unless you have been diagnosed with dandruff by a professional because it is a little known fact that many of them actually cause a repeated cycle of dryscalp and dandruff due to their ingredients. If your hair is permed or highlighted use shampoo/conditioner for chemicaly treated hair. If your hair is colored (dyed) use shampoo/conditioner for color treated hair. This is the foundation of your hair care, once you start using the proper shampoo and conditioner on a regular basis you will start to see a cleaner, more vibrant head of hair. If you don't all other efforts to reverse and prevent damage will be thwarted. Always and I mean always use a heat/thermal protecting hair product when blowdrying and curling, and flat ironing. Using these protectants everyday will help minimize structural damage, like exploded cuticle, split ends, hair nodes, and breakage caused by burning and dryness. Keep the heat settings of your blow dryer, curling iron and flat irons to low. Only increase the heat settings when the product is ineffective. Most people set them way higher than they need and burn their hair. Use a light shine syrum on hair after heat styling or non heat styling, it adds shine and seals in moisture. Don't add too much or it will look greasy. Always wash your hair immediatley after swimming because chlorine is a chemical and can cause blonde hair to turn green. Sunlight U.V. rays can damage hair over time, so if you tan, wear a towel aroud your hair and wear a U.V. hair protecting cream if you are out in the sun alot. Protecting your hair as instructed above is essential to preventing hair damage.

Diagnose It: The first thing you need to do to diagnose the problem your self, is ask yourself the following questions: Is my hair dull and lifeless? Does my hair fall out or break off easily? Does my hair feel mushy or really dry? Does my hair look frizzy? Does my hair tangle easily? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then you probably have damaged hair. Second conduct these simple tests on your hair. Node test- check your hair strands for tiny balls(nodes), if you find one tug on the hair below the node, if it breakes off where the ball sits then you have hair nodes. Protein Test Dry- before you get in the shower take a few strands of hair out and pull on each end, if it stretches more than one half time longer than it's normal length then you need protein. If it breaks easily it needs moisture. Protein test wet- Now get your hair wet in the shower and test new strands of hair if they stretch more than two times it's normal length your hair is missing protein. Now after you get out comb your hair, if the comb gets stuck easily and your hair tangles alot, then you are probably missing protien. Now let your hair air dry. When it's dry take your some strands of hair between the tips of your finger nails and firmly scratch it all the way from the root to the ends, if you see white powdery, creamy or ball like residueon your fingers, you probably have product build up. Now look at your hair if it seems really frizzy all the time , dull and lifeless, then you most likely have product build up, exploded cuticle, breakage or split ends.

Reverse It: Nothing can bring back hair that has fallen off, but you can reverse most any other damage. Remove build up with a clarifying shampoo only when needed. Apply a protein treatment to supply the hair with missing protein, you can buy them at any salon. Follow the directions exactly, rinse well and never abuse protein treatments because you can use too much. Don't apply more than one in a month to be safe. Use a moisture treatment to feed dry hair back to health, this treatment will also seal down exploded cuticle putting the shine back into your hair and making your color more vibrant. These treatments can be done consecutivley if you seem to be missing protein and moisture. Apply protein treatment first, rinse, then the moisture treatment, rinse. You can repeat a moisture treatment once a week if you like. Finally if you have severe split ends you need to get your hair trimmed, and continue regular trims no less than every eight weeks. If you don't you're headed for trouble because split ends can start to travel all the way up the hair strand. If you have followed these instructions loyaly for more than three months and see little to no improvement then you may have a chemical breakdown of the bonds that form your hair, a serious condition that cannot be reversed, you should see a professional for diagnosis.

Other Causes: Excessive coloring- causes the hair strand to swell and become tangly. Excessive highlighting- causes protein loss and structural breakdown. Using rubber bands- in the hair securing them too tightly or using them on wet hair will cause hair breakage. Brushing wrong- do not brush from the top of your head first start at the bottom of the strands first, then work your way up. Drugs- your hair excrets anything you eat, or drink including medications. If you have a build up of mineral deposites from hard water or take alot of medications you may need to have a special treatment done at a salon at least once every six months to strip them out.

I wish you good luck and hope that this helps freshen your image.