How To Fix Heat Damaged Hair

Many of us are ashamed of our heat damaged hair because of the different heat-styling tools we use as a regular routine. These tools can be a blow dryer, curling iron, or hair straightener. These tools make it easier for us to achieve our style goals. While there are many aesthetic benefits of using heat on your hair, unfortunately, there are also several drawbacks to the overall health of your hair.

If you use heat regularly on your hair, you’re maybe familiar with heat damage. These tools dry out the cuticle of your hair and change the structure of your hair proteins. This can cause you to have split ends or ends that break off easily. Your hair may develop a rough or stringy texture, thereby making it difficult to style or brush it. Other consequences of heat damage include tangles, knots, and breakage.

Heat damage can make it difficult to manage one’s hair and chopping it all off may seem like your only option. Luckily, this article is aimed at giving viable procedures and solutions that can help fix heat-damaged hair. So, wait a bit before you grab the scissors to cut off your hair.

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How to identify heat-damaged hair

The signs of a heat-damaged are usually obvious. . When you’ve had quite a number of blow-dry sessions, your hair may start to show the signs of over-styling: This can be hard to manage, and it is not easy to style.

Some signs that your hair has been heat-damaged include:

• split ends or ends that easily break off
• white nodules at the end of your hair shaft
• Excessive dry hair
• rough or stringy hair texture
• difficulty styling your hair or brushing it out
• hair that tangles and knots easily
• hair breakage.

 How to treat heat-damaged hair

Treatment options for heat-damaged hair will vary according to the hair type and the extent of the hair damage.

Curly hair

• Heat damage isn’t kind to curly hair, resulting in frizz, tangles, and an unpredictable texture. To restore a natural curl, focus on sealing moisture back into your hair follicle.
• Hair masks and deep-conditioning treatments that are rich in moisturizing ingredients, such as shea butter and argan oil, can help bring your hair back to its bouncy best. Choose moisture-rich conditioners with coconut oil, avocado, or aloe Vera to help your hair follicles.
• Avoid shampooing your hair daily, as shampoo strips hair of its natural oils. Only apply shampoo to your scalp and the roots of your hair. Wash your hair once every couple of days — at least until your hair starts to retain its curly shape again.

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Straight hair

• Heat damage can make straight hair appear dry and brittle. It can also exaggerate the appearance of split ends and make it harder for your hair to lie flat. To get your hair back to its glossiest, focus on restoring its natural proteins.
• A DIY hair mask may be able to improve the look of your hair for a night out, but that won’t solve long-term heat damage.
• Leave-in protein treatments with yogurt, honey, and olive oil can help restore the natural bonds in your hair so that damage is less obvious. Conditioning sprays rich in keratin can also soothe broken bonds in the hair follicles.

Chemically treated hair

Coloring your hair with bleach or changing your hair’s shape with a perm can result in heat damage. Your hair can be burned by salon treatments, especially if they’re left on for long periods of time.

To help hair that has heat damage from chemical exposure, you may need to speak to the salon or hairstylist where your hair was treated.

A hair mask or professional deep-conditioning treatment from the salon may be the first step to restoring your hair’s sheen. Hot oil treatments designed for home use are another option.

While you wait for chemically treated hair to recover from heat damage, try not to wash your hair every day, and avoid using hot styling tools completely. This is especially important in the days right after you bleach or perm your hair.

Conditioning sprays with spirulina may also help restore the bonds in your hair.

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When to see a professional

If your heat damage is severe then you may need a professional to fix it up for you. Also, if you’ve tried several home remedies to make your hair more manageable, cutting a couple of inches is probably the best way to minimize the appearance of heat damage. For a good rule of thumb, be patient with your hair for a month or so. Use a routine of hot oil masks and leave-in conditioners weekly to try to restore its natural balance. If you find that your hair is still appearing significantly damaged after several weeks of at-home treatments, see your haircare specialist to make a treatment plan.

How to limit further damage

1. Stay within the shade of your natural hair color; you can choose a dye within three shades of your natural color and opt for shades that are darker rather than lighter to limit the damage. It can be quite difficult to maintain colors they are unnatural because they have to be touched up more frequently.
2. Dye less often: It is advisable to extend the time between touch-ups to help reduce damage. If you can wait between 8 to 10 weeks or longer!  between dye jobs.

Also, make this more feasible:

• Wash your hair less frequently.
• Only use shampoos formulated for dyed hair.
• Rinse shampoo and conditioner with cool water. Hot water can cause the cuticle to open, or lift, allowing the dye to rinse out.

3. Go to a professional: Salons can be expensive, but coloring is often best left to the professionals. A professional colorist knows how to use the correct products to minimize damage.
4. Opt for semi-permanent: Avoid treatments that can alter your hair permanently. This can change the hair so aggressively that the only fix is to grow it out and start over.
5. Stick to one service at a time. If you want to chemically relax, straighten, or perm your hair, it’s best to do it at least two weeks before your hair color appointment. This gives your hair time to recover between treatments.
6. Blow-dry from a distance. Blow dryers are notorious for causing damage. The good news is that you may not have to give it up entirely. A study found that holding the blow dryer 15 centimeters (about six inches) away from your hair and moving the blow dryer continuously can help reduce damage.
7. Lower the temperature. The hotter the temperature, the more damage you can do. Excessive heat can damage your hair regardless of where it’s coming from. Use the lowest heat setting on any product and limit the time the hot air, iron, or curler touches your hair.
8. Treat your hair well: Pay attention to your hair and follow good hair care practices to prevent damage so your hair looks great when you go longer between cuts.
9. Bleach less frequently or not at all: You can’t be too careful with bleach, they always damage the hair to some degree. The less you do it, the better. It’s advisable to add moisture before bleaching and pay extra attention to moisturizing your hair and avoid other damaging activities, like heat styling, for a couple of weeks.
10. Use sun protection: The sun’s UV rays can harm your hair. Bleached hair is highly prone to UV damage.

Also, try wearing a wide-brimmed hat or hair wrap to protect your hair and scalp. You can also use a UV protection hair spray to protect hair that peeks out.

How to ease existing damage

• Use olive oil.

This common cooking oil is also extremely popular in hair care. Oils have proven to be effective for the rejuvenation of damaged hair they help to rehydrate the hair and smooth the cuticle. Olive oil, in particular, is said to help soften the hair and replenish much-needed moisture. It’s also easy to work with and relatively inexpensive. Just be sure to wait a few days post-coloring before you do an olive oil treatment.

• Use color-safe shampoo and conditioner.

These products are formulated with the proper pH to prevent hair shaft from swelling and allowing the dye to leak out. Your color will last longer, and your hair will look and feel better.

Use almond oil. This amazing oil can help soften and strengthen your hair texture. Apply a dime-sized amount to the ends of your hair before drying to rehydrate the strands and decrease frizz.

• Try a rice water rinse.

This is weird but research has shown that the water you pour down the drain while rinsing rice can help your hair. Inositol, an ingredient found in rice water, has been shown to penetrate damaged hair and repair hair from the inside out.

Final thought

One foremost way to prevent overall heat damage is to give your strands a break from all styling tools at least once a week. To reduce the actual heat damage from your styling tools, select ceramic versions — these heat up more evenly so you don’t have to keep using them on the same sections of hair repeatedly. It’s also important to protect your hair before you apply the heat.

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