Our bodies are perhaps the most vulnerable they have been in the entire history of humankind. The modern world may come with its fair share of ease and advantages but the continuous exposure to chemicals, extreme hairstyling tools, fad diets and fast food consumption is not exactly great for our hair.

There are many things that you are doing very innocently, without knowing the kind of damage they are doing to your hair. Many of these harmful habits have become such a huge part of our lifestyle, and we may face some hassles trying to detach ourselves from them. However, you can definitely change the majority of these harmful habits in order to reduce hair damage.

Here are the 5 habits that are destroying your hair:

1.     Sun, UV Rays, and Heat Damage

Your hair may not get a tan or sunburn the way skin does, but exposure to all those UV rays is doing a number on your hair as well. If the natural heat was not enough, using heating and styling products are not much of a help either.

Bleaching your hair, dying them, using curlers and straighteners and various other tools very often can almost irrevocably damage your hair. Some of the signs of heat damaged hair include split ends, discoloration, and hair that dry up very quickly. If you have curly hair, or finer, lighter hair then you are perhaps more at risk.

Changes You Can Make

• Wear a hat, or use an umbrella
• After the visit to the swimming pool, wash the chlorine out of your hair with chemical-free water
• Go out during the evening or early mornings
• Buy a UV protective hair product or a sunscreen for your hair

2.     Poor Diet

Poor nutrition is perhaps the biggest cause of hair loss and hair damage. Hair is made up of proteins, and like many things, in your body, it needs the energy to grow and remain rich and luscious. If the energy that it gets is low quality, it will show loud and clear.

The major risk of poor diet on the hair is something much more drastic than discolorations, rough texture, or split ends; it is the loss and breakage of hair. This is an internal damage and may take a lot more time to recover from.

 In order to reduce the damage to your hair, you need to add and minus some things on your diet chart.

Changes You Can Make

• Eat things that are nutritive, rather than processed food
• Take in a lot of proteins, iron, and fatty acids.
• Consume fruits rich in Vitamin C and B12 like tangerines and guavas
• Eggs are great for your hair, whether you eat them or apply them topically
• Dry fruits like almonds and avocados are excellent nutrients for your hair.

3.     Handling Wet Hair

A bad habit that so many people seem to do is combing their hair while it is wet, fragile and more susceptible to damage. Another mistake that they make is almost aggressively drying the hair off with a towel, only resulting in more breakage and tangling.

 Wet hair needs to be handled with much more care and caution than any other state that you may put your hair in. If you absolutely have to comb your wet hair, make sure you employ the following tactics:

Changes You Can Make

• Do not manhandle wet hair with a towel, gently pat it dry or leave it to air dry
• Very gently brush your hair
• Try to use a blow-dry before you do so but do not overdo it
• Use a gentle brush, particularly the ones which end in minute balls instead of brushes.
• Detangle your hair gently with your fingers before brushing.

4.     Top Knots and Tying Hair Too Tight

Now most of us do not exactly like to have our hair down at all times; it gets in the way, it’s messy, it gets hot and it is downright annoying. On the other hand, trying out different hairstyles can be so exciting and thrilling and while you may look stunning, you could be causing serious damage to your hair without even realizing it.

You cannot avoid tying your hair, but there are some ways that you are damaging your hair and you can very easily steer clear of them.

Changes You Can Make

• Do not tie your hair too tight
• Prefer alligator clips and hair sticks over scrunchies
• Do not wear your hair in the same height every single day
• Switch up your hairstyles.

5.     Sleeping on Your Hair

We can pretty much control our hair the entire day but how do we protect it in the wee hours of the night, when we are unconscious, and our hair is sprawled all across the pillow? What about when we leave certain hair products like hairspray over the night because we are too lazy to wash it off? Habits like these may work during the day but during the prolonged hours of our sleep? Not a chance. In fact, we can end up damaging it seriously, even irreversibly.

There are some tips available to help you through the night, and most of them revolve around the tying your hair just right, in the most appropriate hairstyle before going to sleep. Here are a few things you should do during the night in order to minimize hair damage:

Changes You Can Make

• Do not sleep with wet hair
• Do not sleep with hairspray
• Do not tie your hair in a ponytail or a bun when you sleep; braid it instead.
• Use pillows and sheets that are soft, satiny and silky
• Tie your hair in a silk scarf
• Comb your hair before bed.

Conclusion

With the simple switch in your routines and daily habits, you can minimize the damage that is your cause to your hair unconsciously and increase its health.