Home remedies for winter hair problems

Shahnaz Husain *

Can't deal with excessive hair fall ? Dry hair ? Dull hair ? Dandruff ? Is there no hair product that you haven't tried ?

Minor hair fall is a common phenomenon among men and women. An average adult has about 100,000 to 150,000 hair strands and losing between 50 to 100 strands a day is considered normal. Therefore, finding a few stray hairs on your hairbrush is not necessarily a cause for alarm.

However, excessive hair loss can be a troublesome problem, often causing worry and affecting self-esteem, especially for women. Your hair is said to be "crowning glory", a direct expression of an individual's personality and style. There are various causes for hair loss, ranging from medication, hormonal imbalance, the kind of diet you consume, work stress.

Going natural is the best solution for hair problems if you are suffering from Alopecia—a condition that leads to loss of hair in some parts of the head. Simple alterations in your diet, hair care routine and lifestyle choices can slow down hair fall. Dryness, dullness, split ends, dandruff and most importantly hair fall are the most common problems our hair faces during winters.

Hair & skin mostly get dehydrated and lifeless during winters and dealing with these problems is not difficult if you know your hair texture and conditioning. The best is to go the natural way, yes trying natural home remedies. But before starting with home remedies, you need to understand your hair & the ingredients you are using for treating it.

No chemical products can actually treat hair damages, they only maintain hair for the time being. But home/natural hair care treats it without any side effects. The important thing you have to keep in mind while treating hair with home remedies is to not experiment by following others. Every hair has different needs, you may not get good results with what your friend is getting from.

Dryness is the most common hair condition. Dryness is of two types, natural and post chemicals. Both need regular moisturizing. Conditioners, hair spa or any other chemical-based products or treatments only give temporary effects. You need to do something better. Preconditioning is the answer. Apply oil for 5 minutes daily before wash.

Use Mustard oil for this treatment

Mustard oil is the best for hair and preconditioning with it controls dryness very well. It is also important to keep your body hydrated, drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid direct heat with hot styling tools and sun. The dullness of hair happens when it is not maintained well during winters especially if it is chemically treated.

If your hair texture is oily or normal, you can apply henna mixed with water and a spoon of curd. This gives good control to oily scalp and adds a natural gloss to the colour of hair. It adds bounce also to flat hair. Henna should be applied only for 15 minutes before wash. Almost all of us get split ends in hair. They make hair look rough and out of style.

Sadly split hair cannot be treated with any kind of product. Once you have it, you have to cut it. Be regular with your haircuts during winter, be gentle while brushing and washing. If you are regular with Preconditioning, you will not get split ends. So regular haircuts & preconditioning to control split hair.

Dandruff is common and gets severe if not treated on time. To treat dandruff, it's important to keep hair clean all the time. Wash hair daily without fail. Also, mix turmeric (Haldi) with water and apply it on the scalp for 10 minutes before washing once in 15 days. Haldi is very good for treating dandruff but the daily wash is a must.

In case you find oily dandruff in hair, wash hair frequently and do not apply any hair care pack on the scalp. Consulting a doctor in the case of oily dandruff is a must. Hair fall is something you get in every season, but it increases majorly in winters and rains. It happens because of excessive dryness and dehydration during winters.

You must work on a healthy diet having lots of fluids, be regular with haircut and cleaning. Preconditioning & daily wash is the most helpful in hair fall. Apply oil to hair for 5 minutes daily before wash and use normal hair shampoo. If your hair is clean, it will not fall. Haircut takes off the extra weight from the scalp also makes ends healthy which work for hair fall.

No medicine or treatment works better than preconditioning, wash and cut for hair fall. Complicated treatments are not always effective, hair care should be easy which you can regularly maintain. Also do not follow others in hair care, everyone has different hair needs and requires different treatments.

Styles keep changing but not hair health needs. Remember one thing, clean hair is healthy hair and what you eat is what you get! Take care of your hair this winter in the natural style, and forget about all.