10 Ways To Check If Your Hair Is Healthy And How To Treat It Properly
indrani karmakarBA Hons Experience: 2.5 yearsIndrani is a writer and artist who likes to add a dash of humor to everything she does. She has two years of experience in writing articles across beauty, health, and lifestyle genres. After graduatin... more
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Who doesn’t like flaunting thick, shiny hair that makes heads turn when you enter the room? Having glossy flawless hair is a dream we all share. Did you ever look at a girl with gorgeous hair and then feel conscious about how your hair looks? Well, at some point, we all have! Besides having a good hair/bad hair day, sometimes our hair just won’t look the way we want it to. Instead of wrestling them in a messy bun, it’s time to address the real concern. If you are unsure by the looks of it, here are some foolproof ways to find out how healthy your hair is and tips to improve the quality of your hair.
1. Your Hair Feels Great After A Modest Haircut
If your hair looks amazing after you get a quarterly trim, your hair is not really damaged. A quick haircut mostly gets rid of your split ends, leaving the healthy part of your hair intact. Once the damaged ends are gone, make sure you keep your hair moisturized and supplement your hair with proteins and vitamins. However, if your hair is not in a healthy condition, you won’t feel that look coming even after a fresh haircut. It would probably go back to its lackluster state after only a day.
2. Your Hair Has A Natural Shine
If your hair bounces off light, it’s excellent news for you. It means that your scalp is healthy and is evenly distributing natural oils to your hair shaft. If you feel like your hair is losing its shine and getting dry, massaging your scalp with oatmeal does the trick. It helps you retain moisture to your hair follicles and keeps your hair glossy. If your hair feels like it is weighing you down and is very rough to touch, that’s when you have a problem. A light head indicates that your hair is free of any impurities and is in its breezy state. If your head feels heavy and your head hurts too much after tying a ponytail for a whole day, your scalp must be ridden with dandruff, excessive oil secretion, and accumulation of other pollutants. It is making your head feel burdensome.
3. Losing A Bit Of Hair While Shampooing Your Hair
Even though the first sign of hair fall is enough to break our hearts, there is no need to panic if shampooing makes you shed your hair a little. Our hair has a growth cycle, and new hair grows every day. It is the weak hair that falls out and gets replaced by new hair. If you still want to keep the hair fall at a minimum, make sure you blow-dry your hair after shampooing and not comb it till it’s absolutely dry. Note it as a red flag when a single stroke of your hand pulls out long strands of your hair in a bunch. The problem is probably at the root. But if you lose only a few strands there is nothing to worry about.
4. Your Hair Detangles Easily
Combing the entire length of your hair without pulling on a hair knot is an achievement, but that seldom happens, right? We know how painful tugging on matted hair can be, and we strictly recommend not to try it! Pulling on tangled hair causes breakage and weakens the hair grip. If your hair tangles easily, it may be a sign of damaged hair. The best way to detangle your hair without causing hair fall is, apply a serum before combing your hair with a wide-toothed comb.
5. Your Hair Is Growing In A Slow Pace
Hair growth is a sign of healthy hair. Even if you feel your hair takes way longer to grow than others, it’s no reason to sulk. Everyone’s hair grows differently, and the texture and genetics and even various health factors have a part to play in your hair growth. If you feel your hair length has not increased for more than three months and you face massive hair fall, then you can consider consulting a hair specialist.
6. The Hair Ends Are Healthy
If your hair does not have split ends after three months of your haircut, it means your hair is pretty healthy. Split ends are the result of excessive external wear and tear and lack of nutrition from within. The only way to overcome this is to increase the protein and fat content in your diet. You can also try to keep your hair moisturized at full length and cover your hair with a scarf when you go out in the sun.
7. Your Hair Will Stretch Without Breaking
When you brush your hair and it stretches without breaking, it is a sign of strong hair. Weak hair does not have any elasticity, which makes them snap with the first tug of a comb. Including foods like fish, berries, spinach, avocados, and nuts in your diet will keep your hair strong from within.
8. Your Hair Holds Moisture
The extent to which your hair retains moisture is a potential indicator of how healthy your hair is. There is an easy test to check it. All you have to do is, take a lock of your hair and submerge it in a bowl of water. If they float, your hair is healthy as its pores are closed, tight, and immune from foreign particles and dust. If they sink, it means your hair is porous and damaged.
9. It Is Smooth And Soft To Touch
When you run your fingers through your hair, if your hair feels soft and smooth, consider it as a sign of good health. Weak hair will always feel rough and brittle. On the contrary, if your hair begins to feel coarse, condition it deeply after shampooing and keep your hair protected from external damage.
10. Do The Follicle Test
If you want to determine how healthy your hair follicle is, simply pluck a hair near the roots and check for a bulb. If you can see a tiny roundish tuber, it means your hair is healthy. The tuber is what holds together your hair strand to the scalp. It is full of protein which determines the health of your hair. If the bulb is as thin as the hair, you need to start a protein-rich diet immediately.
Women struggle a lot with hair concerns, especially with the increasing stress, lack of time to take care of themselves, and also contributing plus rising global warming factors. You can perform these tests to find out if your scalp is still standing strong even after so many external problems. Your hair is the best way to determine your bodies’ health. If your body is healthy, so will your hair be. Now that you know the ways of testing the health of your hair, are you ready to try them out?
