Does Cold Water Make Hair Fall Out
Water in any extreme temperature can have an effect on the scalp and hair health. Hot water can open the pores of your scalp, making it void of all the essential oils. Cold water in extremely cold weather can send stress signals to your nerve endings and give you a headache.
When the temperature is normal or hot, cold water is your best option for hair wash. If you live in a cold country, you can use lukewarm water.
How Does Hard Water Affect My Hair
As you might have already assumed after reading that last paragraph, the biggest problem facing those with hard water is the buildup it can leave behind on both our hair and our scalps. The buildup of excess minerals can not only weight your hair down, making it look flat and lifeless, but can also make your strands feel drier and more brittle, which we all know can only lead to one thing: damage . Hard water is also notorious for interfering with hair color, causing it to become dull, faded, and in some cases, even discolored, while long-term exposure may also cause it to become less manageable .
Hard Water Can Cause Hair Damage And Breakage But Not Permanent Hair Loss
What hard water does when it reacts with the surfactants in shampoo, is it forms chemicals which stick to the scalp and strands. Scalp calcification is often a side effect of shampooing with hard water, which means your scalp gets coated with calcium carbonate. This prevents the follicles from getting the nutrients they need. Not only that, the minerals in hard water can sit on the scalp and cause eczema, which irritates the scalp and causes flaking. Since this is literally the root from which your hair grows, hair thinning is related to scalp health.
But it doesnt end there. Hard water is bad for hair strands, too. The coating of minerals prevents moisture from entering the cuticles and keeping them nourished. So, hair gets dry and frizzy. Thats not all. A lot of the products you use might also become less effective after reacting with the minerals in this water. Your hair colour also fades or becomes brassy. Hair feels and looks flat and weighed down, too. All in all, hard water is not good for hair, and that needs to be remedies if you want luscious locks.
Recommended Reading: How Does A Dermatologist Treat Hair Loss
Do Calcium Deposits Contribute To Hair Loss
Hard water is essentially calcium carbonate, and when this calcium comes into contact with your hair and scalp, this can lead to calcification, which researchers have shown can cause hair loss.
Calcification can start to restrict blood flow to the hair follicles and cause inflammation in the scalp. These are two things that lead to the destruction of the follicles.
Because of this I recommend using magnesium oil in your own homemade shampoo to counteract the affects of the calcium deposits.
Makes Hair Prone To Breakage And Hair Loss
A lot of people who use hard water to wash their hair find that their hair loss is relatively more. Well, this is because hard water makes the hair become dry and brittle.
When the hair is dry, it becomes more prone to breakage and hair fall.
So just to put it out there, hard water will not have a direct effect on your hair falling out, but it makes the hair prone to breakage, which indirectly is the cause for the hair loss.
Did you know water can be hard or soft? Hard water, while not toxic, can damage your skin and hair! Learn how you can prevent hard water from leaving your skin and hair more prone to visible signs of aging here:
City Beauty
Don’t Miss: How To Stop Hair Loss Due To Hypothyroidism
How To Prevent Hair Damage Due To Hard Water
Follow the below tips to prevent hair damage due to hard water:
It Can Stain Bleached Blonde Hair Green Color
Hard water can be a menace to those with blonde or even light-coloured hair. This is mainly because the minerals in the hard water tend to stick to the protein bonds in our hair strands.
Over time, it makes the hair have a greenish tinge.
Now the same effect can take place irrespective of hair color, but fortunately, the greenish tinge will not show on darker hair shades as compared to the lighter ones.
Don’t Miss: What Can Cause Excessive Hair Loss
What Can Be Done To Change Accumulation Of Excessive Copper In Hair Fibers
If your tap is made of copper and hasnt been well-kept, it can lead to an increased level of copper in water. Accumulation of excessive copper in hair fibers have been associated with slow hair growth, damaged hair and pigmentary changes in the hair strands.
Copper can act as both an antioxidant and pro-oxidant. In a controlled amount, it can be useful but excess of it can lead to premature graying. You can resort to water softening treatment to avoid exposure of hair to an increased level of copper.
There are many chemical treatments available to reverse the damage caused by excessive copper in the hair fibers.
Tips To Counteract Hard Water Hair Issues
prevent you from getting clean. Here are some things that can work:
1. Use an Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
The acid in a vinegar rinse like apple cider vinegar can remove the layers of magnesium and calcium build-up from previous showers with hard water.
Mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar with 3 cups of water , then apply it as close to the scalp as you can after shampooing. Let it sit for a few minutes then rinse away. This homemade solution is best applied once a week to neutralize the hair damage from hard water, and it can even prevent hair color from fading.
2. Apply Aloe Vera to the Scalp
Aloe vera is typically thought of for skin care, but it can help protect your hair from hard water effects too. Aloe vera juice can be applied directly to the scalp, and if you leave it on for 2-3 hours and rinse away, youll strengthen your hair, while reducing scalp inflammation. Hard water can make hair brittle aloe vera can restore it before you comb it out.
This process can be done a few times a week.
3. Rinse With Bottled Water After Every Shower
Softer, purified water applied throughout your scalp and hair as youre wrapping up your shower can help prevent scaly build-up from the magnesium and calcium in hard water.
Of course, its an extra step that can get expensive quickly, and its ultimately ignoring a bigger problem since hard water is damaging your skin besides, as well as your shower head, pipes and maybe even laundry.
4. Install a Water Softener for a Permanent Hard Water Fix
You May Like: Do I Have Thick Or Thin Hair
What Is Hard Water & What Problems It Does Cause
Hard water is water high in mineral content like calcium and magnesium. As many as 85 percent of homes in the United States have hard water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, creating issues for everyone from rural well owners to urban municipal customers.
But what problems exactly? Weve identified eight problems caused by hard water, including soap scum, skin irritation and yes, hair damage.
Hard Water Hair Products
This is the easiest and simplest way to strengthen hair follicles and remove hard water mineral build-up.
Remember what we mentioned earlier about the ugly scale deposits on your cookware? Imagine that on your scalp and hair.
Those can dry up your scalp and irritate your hair follicles. You can use any of these hair products to prevent that:
Hair Follicle Stimulating Shampoo
When it comes to combatting the effects of hard water, the best way to go about it is to start at the roots. Make sure that your hair follicles are strong to prevent excessive shedding.
Start with a hair follicle stimulant shampoo. It contains 6 ingredients that strengthens, protects, and nourishes the hair from follicles to shaft.
It even has apple cider vinegara popular natural remedy in removing hard water minerals whilst hydrating the hair and maintaining an optimum pH level.
Shampoos and Conditioners with Chelating Agents
The metal ions in hard water can damage your hair through oxidation.
Shampoos and conditioners with chelating agents protect your hair by acting as a barrier between your hair and the metal ions.
Not only that, chelants will strip off hard water impurities that have been clinging onto your strands for a long time.
Argan Oil
Argan oil is known to offer a host of benefitsfrom protecting your hair from hard water mineral build-up to fighting hair loss by keeping your strands and your scalp in healthy condition.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Baking Soda
You May Like: Does Anything Work For Hair Loss
Calcium Carbonate And Magnesium Sulfate
Two of the most common mineral salts found in hard water! Calcium carbonate and magnesium sulfate slowly pile up on your hair as well as scalp and form a layer that prevents the hair from getting nutrition, resulting in hair loss. They also make the shampoo ineffective and create a residue that stays on your scalp.
Both calcium carbonate and magnesium sulfate cling to your hair shafts, weigh your hair down, and make it limp and heavy. Some hair professionals also state that these minerals in hard water also make your hair susceptible to fungal infections.
Can You Prevent Hair Damage
Excessive hair breakage or textural change due to hard water is a reversible condition. The first step is to stop using hard water altogether and work on bringing life back to your hair. Consult an experienced dermatologist to understand how to change your hair care routine and which products to use to undo the hair damage.
You May Like: What Foods Are Good For Hair Loss
How To Reverse The Effects Of Hard Water On Your Hair
While you cannot always control where your water comes from, there are things you can do to either reduce the hard water in your home or combat its effects on your hair. Here are a few tips to consider.
Soften the Water
It is best to treat the problem at the source. This means replacing old, malfunctioning pipes or even rerouting pipelines.
Unless you have a well, you cannot control the source of your water. The good news is that there are various ways you can soften the water before or after it enters your home.
The best option is to add a filter to your homes pipes at the location where water enters from the city plumbing system. Before doing so, you should have an examination of your plumbing done to ensure there are no mineral deposits in your own pipes. Otherwise, the filter will be for naught.
You can also add filters to the individual taps in your home. The downside to this option is a decreased flow rate, but the payoff is the significant reduction in mineral content in your water.
Use a Chelating Shampoo
If hard water is a problem and you are unable to treat it yourself, you can also use shampoos that help to negate most of the hard waters harsh effects.
A chelating shampoo is one formulated to remove minerals, metals, and other buildup from your hair and scalp. It is stronger than a clarifying shampoo which is most effective for removing product buildup.
Wash Your Hair Less Often
can Soft Water Cause Hair Loss
Name: Rick
Question: I moved house a couple of months ago and my hairs been looking thinner since we moved and the only difference I can think of is that we moved from a hard water area to a soft water one. Can soft water cause hair loss? If it does, what can I do about it because Im not moving house again!!
Answer: Hi Rick. This is an interesting question as there are a few possible reasons why this move may have caused your hair to look thinner, not all of which involve actual hair loss.
Firstly, moving house as Im sure youre aware can be an incredibly stressful experience, not just on the day of the move but all during the negotiations beforehand and the unpacking afterwards.
This type of stress can cause a temporary hair loss condition known as Telogen Effluvium which tends to occur around three months after the trigger incident. It presents as thinning hair all over the scalp and tends to last up to 12 months. Time-wise and in relation to the thinning, this would fit in with what you describe. If you do have this, your hair should regrow naturally although there is Telogen Effluvium treatment available to help promote regrowth.
Male pattern hair loss can also be exacerbated by stress so, if you are predisposed to this hereditary condition, it could be as straightforward as that. It is important to note that, if you are already genetically prone to Male Pattern Baldness, Telogen Effluvium can either bring this on or make any existing signs of hair loss worse.
You May Like: Will Cutting Hair Help Hair Loss
So What Can I Do To Combat This
If youre worried that your water at home may be of the hard variety, fear not. Our team of MIT-trained scientists has assured us that there are some quick and easy things you can do to adjust the quality of your water . First, consider installing a filter in your shower. It sounds a bit extra, but filtered showerheads are specially designed to cut out all of those gross mineral mixtures, including calcium sulfide, zinc, copper, and chlorine, thus protecting your hair from their damaging effects. For an editor-approved option, we recommend the T3 Source Showerhead.
Not into switching up your showerhead? Try adding our soothe scalp and nourish rootshair goals to your customized formula instead. Not only do they soothe and moisturize the scalp to help promote healthy hair growth, but they also help rid the scalp of buildup and facilitate the transport of key nutrients to the hair, thus ensuring that your strands stay clean, hydrated, and well-nourished. If you live in a hard water area, its also strongly recommended that you avoid products that contain sulfates , as theyre not only incredibly harsh and drying but may also react negatively to the minerals coming through your water. Luckily for you, your Function of Beauty formula is free of those too!
Ready to say goodbye to your hair damage once and for all? Start by creating your perfect customized hair care formula here!