Winter is the most awaited season in India as it gives a break from the otherwise tropical, hot, and humid weather that we usually experience. But it comes with its own share of challenges, the most common of which is accelerated and increased hair fall. People experience increased shedding of hair primarily due to the dip in humidity that robs us of our natural oils leading to dry and dehydrated hair and scalp environment thus paving the way for hair fall and hair damage along with the compromised scalp and hair health. All of this can however be managed with the use of simple haircare products like a Natural Hair Oil and a conditioning shampoo along with a few small lifestyle changes that are proven to helpful in managing hair fall.
What factors contribute to increased hair fall during winter?
The following factors and practices aggravate hair fall during winter.
- Low Humidity: The dip in humidity causes scalp dryness that leads to an accelerated hair fall as the natural oils help keep the hair health optimal.
- Low Sun Exposure: Low sun exposure is directly related to low Vitamin D levels as sunlight is the most abundant source of Vitamin D in our body, low Vitamin D levels are one of the major reasons for increased hair fall.
- Hot Showers: The use of hot/warm water to wash or shampoo hair during winter weakens the hair anchorage and cause increased hair shedding and also makes the hair and scalp drier.
- Use of Heat Appliances: The use of heat styling appliances such as hair dryers, hair straighteners, and hair curlers add to the woes of hair dryness and furthers hair weakening, which in turn contributes to the increased hair fall during winter.
- Diet Shift and Changes: The diet changes and fluctuations that most people experience during the advent of winter also fairly add to the cause of hair fall during winter.
- Lack of Ample Hydration: People consume less water instinctively during winters given the less loss of water through sweat or perspiration. Ample hydration largely contributes to many physiological processes of the body and ensures overall well-being including skin and hair health.
Tips To Manage Hair Fall During Winter
- The first and foremost thing to tend to is diet, to ensure healthy hair it is important to maintain a protein-rich diet as the basic structural unit of hair is keratin, a hardened protein.
- Use natural hair oil to condition hair and compensate for the loss of the natural scalp oil during the colder months. Massaging hair with a natural hair oil composed of essential herbs and bio nutrients also helps in strengthening the hair and stimulates hair roots for better hair growth patterns.
- Maintaining ample hydration levels ensures the body is well hydrated for the proper functioning and interplay of various physiological processes of the body, all of which eventually affect both our skin and hair health.
- Tending to any mineral or nutritional deficiency that one may have, helps address the root cause of hair fall for better hair fall control.
- Adequate restoring sleep also largely affects the quality of hair and overall hair health, our endocrine system requires ample time and restoration to secrete essential hormones, that are required for overall health.
- Swapping the harsh shampoos to a conditioning one, in order to maintain moisture levels in the hair cuticles and a well-hydrated scalp environment, to compensate for the dry and dehydrated hair during winters, fairly helps to maintain a well moisturized healthy scalp and hair environment.
- Using hair growth serums formulated with ingredients like Apigenin, Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1, and Oleanolic Acid helps control hair fall and maintains hair quality.
Quick Tips To Manage Hair Fall During Winter
Other additional tips to manage hair fall during winter include a few lifestyle changes/modulations:
Avoid smoking: Smoking includes not only cigarettes but everything like Hookah, beedi, etc as smoking leads to the constriction of blood vessels leading to a compromised supply of nutrients to the scalp thereby affecting hair and scalp health.
Install A Humidifier: A humidifier compensates for the dip in humidity levels during winter thereby maintains ample humidity levels to help prevent dryness and the consequent loss of natural oils.
Hair Accessories: Investing in hair accessories such as a microfibre and a silk bonnet for wrapping your hair post-shower and while sleeping, respectively minimizes the wear and tear of hair due to the minimal friction these fabrics offer.
Lukewarm water: Always use lukewarm water to wash hair during winters as too cold or too hot water makes hair dry and jeopardizes the hair's health and scalp environment.
Avoiding Hair Treatments: Avoiding invasive hair treatments such as keratin treatment and rebonding may help with controlling the hair fall as these treatments compromise the hair health due to the use of harsh chemicals to straighten or style the hair.
Maintaining hair health and minimizing hair fall requires a holistic approach, starting from diet, and nutritional supplementation to choosing the right hair care products like a natural hair oil or a Conditioning Shampoo along with the right accessories such as including the silk pillowcase and microfibre towel along with avoiding smoking and alcohol consumption to ensure healthy hair throughout the year.