Is your hair dull, lifeless, brittle, and dry? When you go online searching for the causes of such condition, you’ll see that the majority of sources name heat styling, hair coloring, and excessive washing as the main offenders. And all those sources are right because these issues do cause this exact type of hair problems.
However, what if you do none of these things and your hair is dull and dry anyway?
If this is the case, your problem might go much deeper or be a side-effect of using the wrong kind of products for your hair care routine.
3 Surprising Causes of Dull, Dry, and Lifeless Hair
1. Static electricity
Do you know how hair sometimes gets staticky if you cover it with something like a synthetic scarf or if you are in some very dry place? In these situations, the friction of your generates static electricity. And that thing is more than annoying. It’s also damaging to the hair shaft.
The best protection from this problem is to keep your hair well-hydrated and conditioned. You should also use an anti-static brush. Note that you should try wearing hats, scarves, and beanies made from natural materials. However, some of them, like wool, will generate static electricity anyway.
2. Dry Shampoo
Dry shampoo literally turns your hair dull because it diminishes its natural reflective power as well as absorbs oil. Therefore, the only way to avoid the dullness caused by the use of dry shampoo is to stop using it. Note that it doesn’t matter how healthy your hair is, dry shampoo will dull its shine anyway.
The matter of shampooing, in particular, is one of the main causes of dry and dull hair. However, with not-dry products the issue usually boils down to using a poor-quality shampoo or the one that doesn’t fit you personally.
This problem is easy to solve as today there is a type of shampoo to address any possible hair issue, from strengthening to detoxing to tinting, and dozens of other options. Therefore, anyone can find affordable pro-grade solutions that will fit them just right. So, if you aren’t using dry shampoo but your locks are dull for seemingly no reason, try replacing your other shampoo with a more suitable type.
3. Disease
You might not know it but dry and dull hair can be a symptom of some serious health conditions. And if your case has no obvious cosmetic cause behind it, this beauty issue might be the alert you need to catch some of these conditions early.
The most common health-related causes of dull, dry, and brittle hair are:
In the case of hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism, you will need to consult your doctor to take tests that will confirm the diagnosis. Both these conditions affect your hormones, and both mean that the glands do not produce enough of them. Therefore, the treatment is drug therapy that will provide your body with the exact hormone it’s lacking in.
Note that dry and brittle hair is one of the earliest symptoms of hypothyroidism. Therefore, you should never dismiss this cosmetic issue.
If your problem is caused by hypoparathyroidism, the low level of hormone secreted by that gland prevents your body from absorbing calcium. This means that it’s not only your hair that will be affected. Your nails, teeth, and bones will all suffer, and in severe cases, the condition will affect other tissues and might cause depression, seizures, and vomiting in children. You’ll need to take calcium supplements alongside other treatments prescribed by your doctor.
As to anorexia nervosa, this eating disorder affects your digestion, thus resulting in nutritional deficiencies. Sadly, anorexia can turn fatal and there is one person dying as a direct result of a food disorder every 62 minutes, about every fifth death caused by anorexia is suicide. This means that if you suspect yourself or one of your loved ones might have this disorder, you should seek help immediately.
Restoring your body through a healthy diet will allow your hair to recover as well. But be aware that this diet should be developed by a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Recovering from an eating disorder takes time and your body will need to get used to better nutrition gradually.
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