What Causes Dry and Thin Hair?

Dry hair is not a type of hair. It is a condition of your hair, and it can be treated. Determining what is stripping the natural oils from your hair strands and therefore causing the dry hair is the first step to finding with the appropriate treatment to fix it.

What causes dry and thin hair?

Weather – The sun’s UV rays are harmful to many things in our body, including skin and hair. Overexposure to the sun will dehydrate hair. Extreme cold, followed by too much heat indoors will also leave your hair damaged.

Activities – Swimming in certain conditions, such as chlorinated pools or salt water, for prolonged periods can also cause dry and brittle hair.

Treatments – Smoothing treatments and hair dyes can be damaging to the hair if they are done too frequently and if sub-par products are used. It is always best to seek out a professional to apply any treatments to your hair.

Hormones – Pregnancy, birth control, and menopause are all responsible for hormonal changes and have been known to directly affect the health of your hair. In these cases, it is best to seek the advice of your doctor or hair restoration specialist to make sure that the appropriate treatments can be applied to counteract these hormonal shifts and restore healthy hair.

Using the wrong shampoo and conditioner – This is most likely the biggest cause of damaged and unhealthy hair. Buying your shampoo and/or conditioner from the clearance section of your local grocery store will give you exactly the results that you paid for. My dad even used to use bar soap to wash his hair, so you can imagine the condition his hair was in. We recommend that you use a salon-grade shampoo AND conditioner to wash your hair. If you suffer from some form of hair loss, a product like Revivogen MD shampoo and conditioner would be a smart choice as well.

Brushing wet hair – When hair is wet, it is the most susceptible to breakage. This doesn’t necessarily mean that brushing it while wet will immediately lead to dry and thin hair, but it will make the ends brittle and eventually lead to breakage down the entire strand, therefore causing dry and thin hair. The best way to overcome this is to use some leave-in conditioner and comb when your hair is still wet.

Daily heat styling – Things like a blow dryer or hair straightener can be damaging to your hair if used on a daily basis and at extreme heat levels. This process strips the moisture from your hair and should be limited.

Some tips to fix damage: