So you just got this new hair style and you can’t keep still! A new sleek hairstyle can be inviting and for sure you’ll want to keep twirling and touching your hair. But you should keep your hands off.
Read this article to understand why.
It’s bad to touch your hair. This habit can be annoying especially when you do it in the middle of a conversation. No matter how tempting it is, keep your hands off . Not just for the sake of etiquette but also for your hair’s health.
Why You Shouldn’t Touch Your Hair
Here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t touch your hair all the times.
Disruption of the moisture level
Too much touching results in a disruption of the moisture level in your hair. By touching the hair, you may remove the natural oils coating the hair strands.
No matter how well you take care of your hair, research has shown that excessive manipulation of hair causes physical damage. From frequently brushing it to simply touching it all the times, the hair fibre can easily get damaged and lose it moisture content.
Over manipulation of hair through frequent touching could also lead to damage of the protective cuticle making your hair porous.
Makes hair greasy
Unbelievable as it sounds; touching your hair all the times can make your hair greasy.
This may also sound counter to the first point we mentioned above but there two ways you could end of with greasy hair by touching your hair:
- If you have naturally oily hair then by touching your hair too frequently, it means you actually make the natural oils to spread even faster. Over handling your hair also stimulates the glands to secrete more sebum making your hair very oily.
- Another way you could end up with greasy hair is when your fingers are oily, these oils could easily be transferred to your hair.
Leads to tangling and breakage
As the author notes in page 127 of this book, whenever the hairs cuticles are lifted, the potential for friction between individual fibers increases.
The roughened surfaces of each strand brush past and catch on one another leading to tangling and breakage. To reduce breakage caused by tangling hair should be touched minimally.
Touching the hair leads to dirt transfer
You may enjoy touching your mane every so often, but touching your hair too many times may lead to transfer of dirt to and from your hair.
Just like using an unclean hair brush can transfer dirt to your hair, your finger tips are no exception.
To avoid this, it is important to minimize manipulation of hair by exploring hair styles that support low manipulation of hair.
May cause hair thinning
Hair thinning is a condition in which hair gradually loses its thickness and volume.
Hair thinning can result from several causes. Constantly touching your hair or over grooming is one such cause.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, it is normal to lose 50 -100 hairs per day but not more than that is a cause of concern.(1)
When you touch your hair all the times, chances are high that you will weaken the hair which will fall off leading to hair thinning.
Leads to frizz
Frizziness is a condition that causes tangles, knots and loss of curl definition. Managing frizzy hair can be pretty exhausting to say the least.
Before you understand how to deal with frizzy hair it’s important to know what is causing it in the first place.
Frizz occurs due to lack of moisture in the hair. The hair is forced to look for moisture around it, mostly from humidity. This leaves it a worse state.
Over manipulation of hair can cause your hair to become frizzy and brittle. From washing every day to drying your hair with a rough towel, frizz is an indication that you need to stop touching your hair and let it hair breath for a while.
How to Stop Touching Your Hair
Here are practical ways to help you stop touching your hair all the times.
Know your triggers
Hair pulling can be triggered by stress or anxiety. (2)
Knowing your triggers is the first step in being able to know how to handle the condition.
Acquiring as much information on the subject also goes a long way in helping you know how to identify your trigger and deal with them.
Different case studies indicate that it’s possible to stop excessive touching or hair pulling if you have a good support system, understand your triggers and deal with them appropriately and seeking treatment when it is a severe case. (3)
Keep yourself busy
Boredom could be one of the reasons why you touch your hair too much. Find something that you love doing and focus on it. This will make you busy and keep your hands off the hair for a while.
Wear protective hair styles
When worn open, the temptation to keep touching the hair is quite high. You can wear a protective hairstyle to help you keep your hands off the hair.
Not only will the protective styles preserve the hair and retain moisture, it will make it make it uncomfortable to keep touching all the times.
Protective styles are also efficient because they hide the ends of the hair which are easily prone to breakage from excessive touching.
Some of the common protective styles you could try include bantu knots, flat twists, box braids, weaves amongst others.
Cover your hair when you are at home
If none of the above is working for you, you could try covering your hair when you are at home.
Over time the habit of touching your hair will go away because you will have put a physical barrier between your hands and the hair and your hands will get used to not touching the hair.
Tie your hair
Tying your hair helps in protecting the ends of the hair which are easily prone hair breakage that may result from excessive touching of the hair.
Not only will tied hair be less tempting to touch, tying your hair in a bun for example is a great way to protect your hair from rubbing off your face and clothes which would easily cause it to break.
It also prevents hair from tangling, promotes hair growth and can hold up for a few days without excessive manipulation.
By now I hope you understand the importance of keeping your hands off your hair, and the best ways to avoid touching it.
Just like nail biting excessive hair touching can be a very difficult habit to break. Speaking from experience.
But if you are really determined to break the habit, you can. If you have come this far in the article, it simply means you are on the right path to stopping the habit of touching your hair all the times. Congratulations!
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