Archive for June 29th, 2006
Caring for long hair takes a lot more time compared to caring for short hair or hair of normal length. Just washing and drying long hair can be quite a task in itself. Below are some tips on managing long hair.
Long Hair Care Tips
Avoid sleeping with tightly braided hair or hair in a tight ponytail. The stress can cause breakage and/or hair loss.
When your hair is braided, make sure that it is not too tight or it could cause breakage and/or hair loss.
If your hair is braided or you have a ponytail, use a specially treated band or scrunchie which will prevent breakage of your hair, limit your use of clips, bows, and untreated bands.
Even if you plan on growing your hair out further you should trim your hair once every 3 months, if not split ends will cause your hair to break off and your hair will begin to lose it’s beauty, if you plan on just maintaining your length, a trim once every month and a half to two months should suffice.
Don’t use a brush to detangle your hair, this will stretch your hair and may cause your hair to break off. Instead use your fingers, a pick, or a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair.
When detangling your hair work your way from the tips of your hair up to the hair roots. Work on detangling one section of your hair at a time and go in a downward direction.
Be gentle when detangling, pulling down on your hair too hard will cause breakage.
If you detangle your hair before washing it, it’ll be easier to dry and style as well as decrease the knots and tangles after you are done washing your hair.
Don’t rub your hair dry with a towell, instead blot the water out of your hair, when you rub, it’ll cause your hair to tangle.
Hair can get caught on cotton pillow cases and break when you are sleeping especially if you toss and turn a lot when you sleep. Using a satin or silk pillowcase where your hair will make it so that hair will slide across the pillowcase without getting caught. Another tactic to prevent breakage is to put your hair up in a ponytail on the top of your head with a scrunchie or specially treated band (that prevents breakage).
An alternative to the silk pillowcase is to wear a satin or silk scarf over your hair before your sleep to prevent breakage.
Brushing your hair is important because it spreads the the hair oils out across the length of your hair. Use long strokes starting from the roots of your hair when brushing and stroke your hand over your hair after you are done brushing to get rid of static.
June 29th, 2006
Head Lice Info
The head louse is a tiny parasitic insect that lives in human hair and subsists on small amounts of blood drawn from the scalp. Human head lice likely evolved right along with people.
Head lice are host specific. Neither able to fly nor jump, head lice are unlikely to leave a host and most often hatch and spend their entire lives on a single individual. Human lice won’t infest your pets, and lice on pets usually don’t infest people.
Head lice are common worldwide. Infestation isn’t an indication of poor hygiene. Head lice are acquired from other infested people. In North America and Europe, children are more frequently infested than are adults, females more often than males, and Caucasians more frequently than other ethnic groups.
Generally, a host has fewer than a dozen active lice on the scalp, but may have dozens of viable eggs. Head lice neither cause nor transmit infections or diseases.
What Head Lice Look Like
There are three forms of lice: the nit or egg, the nymph, and the adult.
Nits are very small and easily confused for dandruff or dried drops of hair spray. They are oval in shape and usually yellow to white in color. Without magnification it is difficult to determine whether nits are viable (fertilized and under development) or just the remaining shells of hatched nymphs. The female louse cements each nit to the base of a hair shaft near the scalp. The nits take about one week to hatch.
Nymphs are newly hatched nits. Nymphs look like adult head lice, but are much smaller. Nymphs mature in about a week.
The adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed, has six legs, and is tan to gray-white. Adult lice can live up to 30 days but need to feed on blood several times daily. Without a host, a louse typically dies within a day or two.
Symptoms of Head Lice
Head lice are most commonly found on the scalp, behind the ears and near the neckline at the base of the head. Unless seen, symptoms of infestation are easy to miss:
Tickling sensation or feeling something move through the hair.
Allergic reaction to the bites, which causes itching.
Scratching the itch can result in sores, which lead to infection and general irritability.
Viable eggs are usually located within 1/4 inch of the scalp. Normal hair growth transports the nits away from the scalp. Eggs more than one-half an inch away from the scalp are usually not viable. Unless adults, nymphs or viable eggs are noticed, the presence of nits doesn’t signify an active infestation. An infestation is diagnosed by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs, or adults and is usually best done by an experienced health care provider. The most effective way to get rid of head lice is with a nit comb, a good light, and a magnifying glass. This is especially true for children under two-years-old, who may have adverse reactions to head lice shampoo and other chemical head lice cures.
Nit combs are available in both plastic and steel and may be purchased from a pharmacy (or often less expensively from a pet supply department). Nit combs for both animals and people are very similar in style and equally effective. Comb through the hair daily for about two weeks, being sure to come into contact with the scalp. This helps ensure that you remove all nymphs and nits as well as adults.
Electronic louse combs are often less effective than the traditional nit comb. Their teeth may not reach the scalp and therefore may not remove viable eggs.
While there are multiple home remedies for head lice, none has been scientifically proven. Frequently the second line of attack is to purchase an over-the-counter head lice shampoo. However, these shampoos contain toxic chemicals. Follow package directions to the letter. In most cases, even over-the-counter head lice cures are best purchased and used only on the advice of a professional health care provider. In a severe case, your doctor may prescribe a stronger head lice cure.
Head lice may be found on eyelashes or eyebrows. These lice should be mechanically removed (plucked) with great care. Don’t use chemicals near the eyes!
Although head lice only live a day or two after they fall off their host, headwear, combs, brushes, bed linen, and pajamas should be thoroughly cleaned. Items that aren’t washable should be either dry-cleaned or vacuumed.
Head Lice Prevention
Teach children to avoid activities that are likely to spread lice.
Avoid head-to-head contact during play.
Don’t share headwear whether it’s a hat, helmet, or hair ribbon.
Don’t share combs, brushes, or towels.
June 29th, 2006
All people lose hair on a daily basis, but unfortunatley many people will go through rapid hair loss without new hair coming in to replace it which results in thinning hair and possibly lead to some degree of baldness.
Hereditary plays a major role in the severity of hair loss but improper care of your hair along with an unhealthy lifestyle may cause early hair loss.
Hair Loss Prevention
Getting proper nutrition is essential for healthy hair.
Water, protien, biotin (part of the vitamin B complex), vitamins A, B6, B12, C, copper, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, zinc, calcium, folic acid, and magnesium all play a part in maintaining a healthy scalp, skin, and hair.
Use your fingertips to massage your scalp which will increase circulation in your scalp which is important for hair growth.
Gentle combing or brushing of your hair will help break up hardened oils that clog your pores. It is recommended that you comb or brush 100-200 strokes in the morning and at night.
Avoid excessive wind, sun, and heat (such as from hair dryers, hot showers, and curling irons) on your hair.
Tight fitting caps and hats will cause poor circulation in your scalp and will also cause build-up of sweat and grime.
If you have live a high stressed life try reducing stress by taking some time out daily just to relax, excessive stress is believed to induce hair loss.
If you color your hair, limit coloring it to once ever 2 months. Hair coloring damages your hair and the less frequently you color it the better.
Avoid putting too much physical stress on your hair, brush/comb your hair gently, don’t pull your hair when you brush and avoid braids and ponytails if possible, they place constant stress on your hair.
Get enough sleep.
Use a conditioner and trim any split ends.
See your doctor or a dermatologist for advice if you have concerns about hair loss and want to seek treatment.
June 29th, 2006
What is Dandruff?
Dandruff is simply dead skin shedding from your head at a fast rate. Almost everyone has had dandruff at some point to one degree or another. People with a strong degree of dandruff will experience an itchy scalp.
Causes of Dandruff:
The following are items that may cause dandruff:
Hormone imbalance.
Excessive perspiration
Allergic reactions
Excessive stress
Poor hygene
Poor nutritioin/health
Lack of sleep
Inherited genetic trait
Inadequete shampooing and rinsing of the hair.
Tight fitting hats.
Excessive use of hair styling products (gel, mouse, hair dye, hair curler…)
Cold weather
Dry enviroment.
Excessive Heat
Even though dandruff is known as the drying of the scalp, it is most common in people with oily hair.
Dandruff Treatment
Unfortunately there is no cure for dandruff yet (once you get it you may continue to have it), but there are ways that you can control and limit dandruff.
If you have only a mild case of dandruff, shampooing your hair with a regular shampoo daily or twice a day will usually do the trick.
Start out by trying a mild shampoo, stronger shampoos can irritate and dry out your hair making dandruff flaking worst.
If your standard shampoo doesn’t get rid of your dandruff, buy an anti-dandruff shampoo and your dandruff condition should improve signifigantly in a couple of weeks.
Picking the right shampoo for your hair can be a process of trial and error, try out different shampoos to see which one works best for you and also rotating shampoos periodically can be good for your hair.
Once you have found an anti-dandruff shampoo that works for you, keep on using it or your dandruff will most likely reoccur.
Lather and rinse twice when using anti-dandruff shampoos, the first time cycle will clean your scalp, the second cycle will medicate it.
June 29th, 2006
The following are some basic hair care tips that you can use to improve the health and look of your hair.
General
A healthy lifestyle will mean healthier hair for you. Excessive stress, smoking, not exercising and not eating nutritiously are not healthy for your hair.
Get enough sleep.
Hair Products (Gel, mouse, hair spary…)
Avoid using hair styling products with alcohol which dries out hair.
Avoid puting hair styling products directly on your scalp, if you put it on your scalp you’ll clog the pores on your head.
Swimming
Before entering a pool, wet your hair so your hair will soak up the initial water instead of the chlorinated water.
When swimming where a cap to protect your hair from chlorinated water, if you choose not to wear a cap make sure you shampoo and condition your hair right after you are done swimming.
Drying
Hot air can be damaging to your hair so when using a hair dryer use the cool setting.
Don’t leave the blowdryer in one spot for more than a few seconds, keep it moving and at a good distance away from your hair.
To speed up the drying process, pat your hair dry with a towell and let the remaining moisture in your hair dry naturally.
Gently use your fingers or a pick to untangle any knots while your hair is drying.
Combing/Brushing
Use a brush whose bristles are made from natural animal hairs, it is softer and more flexible which means less damage will be done to your hair.
Hair is most fragile when it is wet so avoid brushing or combing when it’s wet, or else it will cause breakage, wait until your hair is almost completely dry before brushing it.
Use brushes/combs with widely spaced bristles/teeth and smooth tips. Sharp tooth combs can damage your hair, cause split ends, and scratch your scalp.
To keep your brushes and combs clean, wash them weekly using soap or shampoo.
Comb your hair to remove any tangles before brushing it.
Begin by combing your hair gently at the ends to get any tangles out and work your way up to the base of your hair.
Always brush/comb with a downwards stroke.
Avoid using plastic brushes/combs which create static electricity
Shampooing and Conditioning
Buy shampoos & conditioners that match your hair type, trial and error is the best way to find out what specific hair product is best for your hair.
Shower with warm water, hot water can dry and/or irritate the scalp.
June 29th, 2006