Some Myths and Facts on Hair

The constant tension and traction on hair by styles that are pulled tight — including ponytails, braids, weaves etc can cause a receding hairline or breakage that leaves hair thinner, weakened and damaged. In fact, traction alopecia can mimic female pattern baldness, so catch the damage before it becomes irreversible. Change your hairdo and loosen up.

Here are some basic yet not very known facts about hair that everyone needs to be apprised about.

All hair that we can see is dead.

Yes, the only hair that is not dead is the hair that is still inside the epidermis of our scalp. How weird is that?! This is indeed surprising given the fact that we often focus only on the hair that is visible and lies on the outside of the scalp, whereas we should pay close attention to what goes inside our bodies as that directly affects the hair that we can see!

Curly hair is drier and frizzier than straight hair

Curly or 'kinky' hair has a different biological structure from straight hair. It tends to be much drier than straight hair. This is because the oils secreted into the hair shaft by the sebaceous glands can more easily travel down the shaft of straight hair. People with very curly hair may experience that this hair type can often be very frizzy too.

Causes of greying

Grey hair is considered to be a characteristic of normal aging.The tendency of older people to develop grey hair is due to a build up of hydrogen peroxide that is caused by the wear and tear of the hair follicles. The age at which this occurs varies from person to person, but in general nearly everyone 75 years or older has grey hair. In general men tend to have grey hair at younger ages than women.

Tightly tied hair aids alopecia

Absolutely! The constant tension and traction on hair by styles that are pulled tight — including ponytails, braids, weaves etc can cause a receding hairline or breakage that leaves hair thinner, weakened and damaged. In fact, traction alopecia can mimic female pattern baldness, so catch the damage before it becomes irreversible. Change your hairdo and loosen up.

Frequent trims make hair grow longer faster.

False. Hair grows from the follicles in the scalp; the rest is dead. Every six to eight weeks, get a mini trim at the ends to prevent split ends from creeping further up the hair. This will keep long hair from looking stringy and every hair length or texture looking thicker. Split ends cannot be mended or sealed back together, as some products claim. They are a result of damage from bent brush bristles, broken-tooth combs, ultra-hot drying and styling, overprocessed colour ... and age.

Brush 100 strokes a day for healthy hair.

Brushing is a form of friction that, if done to excess (as in 100 strokes) will damage all hair, particularly the thin, weak and fragile locks. However, there are some benefits of brushing gently and briefly. This stimulates scalp circulation and helps distribute natural oils from the roots to tips. A few strokes with a natural bristle brush on dry hair does the trick.

Flakes on black T-shirts and tops mean dandruff.

Truth: Hold on! Dandruff is caused by an oily scalp or fungus that stimulates dead cell build-up and shedding. Usually the flakes are big and yellowish and the scalp appears greasy. Also flakes might just be due to a dry scalp lacking moisture, styling product overload or a skin condition such as psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis or eczema. Try an over-the-counter dandruff shampoo with pyrithione zinc, salicylic acid or selenium sulfide for a few weeks. Weather changes, stress and even eating too much sugar can promote an itchy scalp. So can a reaction to hair colour. See your doctor for a diagnosis if there is no improvement.

Plucking a grey hair makes more grow

If you are reluctant to pluck a stray grey out of fear of 'grey-hair contagion' you can take comfort in this busted theory. But you should still put the tweezers down. Plucking hair puts stress on the follicle and your scalp and pulling a hair out can cause it to grow back with a courser texture and weird growth pattern.

Natural oils are good for your hair

Contrary to popular belief, most raw food ingredients (like avocado oil, coconut oil, and honey) are incapable of penetrating the hair shaft deep enough to make any lasting improvement. Aside from the incapability to actually impact the hair, they can leave a sticky residue and leave strands feeling greasy. However, with the advent on good serum that makes our hair look shinier , use of oil on hair has come down in recent days.

Source: Internet search engines and accumulated knowledge over the years.

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