How To Prevent/Treat Hair Breakage With Ayurvedic Home Remedies

Do you have uncontrollable frizz and split ends in your hair? You must be experiencing the beginning phase of hair breakage.

Broken or damaged hair leads to hair thinning and hair loss eventually. But, don’t panic. It’s never too late to fix your hair breakage problem with Ayurveda.

"Human body has a persistent and incredible ability to heal itself, under the right conditions. Ayurvedic therapies work towards strengthening this innate balance of health, leading to stronger hair," says Dr. Zeel Gandhi, Chief Ayurvedic Doctor at Vedix.

Let's check out the long-standing remedies the ancient and holistic health science has given us to resolve hair breakage naturally.

Highlights:

• What Is Hair Breakage?
• What Does Hair Breakage Look Like?
• Why Is Your Hair Breaking Off?
• How Do You Repair And Control Breakage In Your Hair?
• How Much Hair Breakage Is Normal?
• Does Broken Hair Grow Back Healthy? And How Long Does It Take?

What Is Hair Breakage?

When your hair shaft breaks due to lack of adequate moisture on your scalp and cuticle layers, then it can be termed as ‘Hair breakage’.

Besides occurring predominantly at the end of your hair strands, hair breakage can also happen in the middle part of the strand. It can also be centralized in specific spots like the crown, back of the head, hairline, or nape of the neck on your scalp.

What Does Hair Breakage Look Like?

When you have a hair breakage problem, you may notice that your hair becomes shorter and starts developing split ends. Sometimes, you may also find that your hair loses color before breaking. Also, your hair texture changes to brittle and rough while it is more prone to tangling.

Why Is Your Hair Breaking Off?

According to Ayurveda, the status of your hair health is dependent on the balance of the three vital energies Vata, Pitta, and Kapha in your body.

Breakage of hair is the result of aggravation in Vata levels in your body, which causes dehydration in your scalp tissues. This leads to dryness in your scalp and hair.

Without adequate moisture, the cuticle layers are lifted, and your hair becomes thin and brittle, which breaks off easily.

Here are a few primary factors that create an imbalance in Vata dosha in your body:

• Foods that are baked, dry-roasted, and highly processed spike up your vata levels. Overconsumption of dried lentils, nuts, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, cabbage, aerated drinks, coffee, etc. increase Vata dosha in your body.
• An irregular lifestyle like untimely eating, chaotic schedules, and disturbed sleep cycle aggravates Vata dosha.
• Extreme and frequent physical activities can raise Vata levels in your body.
• The overuse of electronic devices also causes Vata imbalance.
• Overexposure to UV radiation from the Sun results in Vata imbalance. And, Vata dosha is more prone to spike up during the winter season.
• Hair damaging practices like over washing of hair, over-heat styling or blow-drying, chemical treatments [1], etc. can increase Vata levels and cause scalp dryness.

How Do You Repair And Control Breakage In Your Hair?

1. Ayurveda For Hair Breakage

A. Warm Oil Scalp Massage

Massaging your scalp with warm Ayurvedic oil provides deep conditioning to your scalp and repairs your broken keratin structures naturally. Also, massaging improves the blood circulation on your scalp, which enhances the nutritional supply to your hair follicles. Ensure you perform warm oil scalp massaging at least an hour before your hair washes 2-3 times a week.

Use Ayurvedic oils with Vata dosha pacifying herbs to strengthen your hair shaft and promote thicker and longer hair growth. Palandu (onion), cedar, Brahmi (bacopa monnieri), black sesame, fenugreek, etc. are some of the herbs you can look for in ingredients of Ayurvedic oil that treats hair breakage tremendously while keeping your doshas in balance.

B. Hair Washing With Ayurvedic Shampoos

Strictly avoid using shampoos that contain sulfates and their derivatives. Sulfates [3] rip off the natural oils from your scalp and hair, causing more dryness and hair breakage. Prefer hydrating Ayurvedic shampoos to cleanse your hair while you can limit the frequency to once or twice in a week if you have extremely dry scalp and hair breakage.

Shampoos that contain Vata pacifying herbs like kumari (aloe vera), yashtimadhu (licorice), gunja (rose pea), bhringraj (eclipta alba), etc. are highly recommended to treat your hair breakage problems.

C. Ayurvedic Hair Masks

1. Bhringraj Mask (Eclipta Alba)

Bhringraj, which is also known as ‘King of herbs’, can be an effective herb to treat split ends and hair breakage. Also, it reverses premature greying and accelerates hair growth.

Blend bhringraj leaves or 5-6 tsp of bhringraj powder with water to form a consistent paste. Apply this mask to your scalp and hair thoroughly and leave it for about half an hour. Then, wash your hair with an Ayurvedic shampoo. You can use a bhringraj mask once a week to treat hair breakage efficiently.

2. Ashwagandha (Winter Cherry) - Amla (Indian Gooseberry) Mask

Ayurveda suggests ashwagandha as one of the amazing herbs to treat damaged hair and split ends. Amla, with rich nutrients and antioxidants, nourishes your hair and strengthens it from inside. Also, this mask prevents dandruff and premature greying.

Mix 3 tsp of ashwagandha powder, 3 tsp of amla powder, and 6 tsp of water. Blend the three ingredients to form a fine paste. Apply this mask across your scalp and hair. Leave it for about half an hour. Now, wash it off thoroughly using an Ayurvedic shampoo. For noticeable results, use this mask once a week.

D. Padabhyanga

Excessive traveling increases Vata in the body. In case your lifestyle demands more traveling, then consider pada abhyanga (foot massage) in your weekly routine. Padabhyanga [4] involves massaging the soles of your feet for almost 15 minutes with warm Ayurvedic oil. This needs to be done at least an hour after your dinner and 45 minutes before your sleep.

Ensure you wash your feet and dry them well before sleeping. Padabhyanga, which is best in balancing Vata dosha and keeping your body relaxed, is recommended thrice a week for best results.

E. Ayurvedic Diet

Lack of a nutritional diet that is rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and protein is one of the predominant factors that cause a Vata imbalance in your body. Dairy foods, cereals, cooked whole grains, soups, rooted veggies, etc. help pacify your increased Vata dosha.

1 tsp of melted desi cow’s ghee is highly recommended in a meal to control elevated Vata dosha and thus, treat hair breakage naturally. Also, make a habit to have your meals on a regular time and enjoy it silently in a warm corner of a room.

2. Home Remedies For Hair Breakage

A. Egg Mask

Mix 2 egg whites, 1 cup of milk, and 2 tsp of olive oil and whip the mixture well. Add a few drops of lemon juice into the mixture and blend it properly. Apply this mask across your scalp and hair. Leave it for 30 minutes and wash it off using an Ayurvedic shampoo. Use this mask twice or thrice a month to treat hair breakage issues.

B. Aloe Vera Mask

Mix equal parts of almond oil and fresh aloe vera gel. Apply this super hydrating mask from the roots to the tips of your hair. Leave it for around half an hour before rinsing it off using normal water. Use this deep conditioning mask twice a week for the best results.

C. Garlic Oil

Mince 7-8 garlic cloves and add them into 100 ml of olive or coconut oil. Store the container in a dry and cool place for a week. Apply the oil to your scalp and hair thoroughly and wash it off after an hour with an Ayurvedic shampoo. Use this oil once in a week to heal your damaged hair strands.

D. Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse

Mix a tsp of apple cider vinegar and 2 cups of water. Blend the solution well and rinse your hair with it after shampooing once in a week.

3. Protein Treatments For Hair Breakage

Salon based procedures like keratin treatment and cysteine treatments have been in popular use to treat hair breakage problems. The keratin treatment rearranges the amino acids in the structure of your hair. Thus, it helps the cuticle layers to get integrated, which is sealed using blow-drying.

In cysteine treatment, non-essential amino acids that are found in keratin are used instead of keratin directly. Cysteine is useful to repair the damaged hair, rather than changing your hair structure. Both keratin and cysteine treatments last for 3-6 months under proper hair care routine.

4. Supplements For Hair Breakage

If your diet lacks essential vitamins like vitamin C, D3, biotin, etc. which are necessary for healthy and stronger hair growth, consider taking these vitamins in supplement form after consulting your doctor.

Vitamin C is essential for collagen production. Vitamin D3 is necessary for the production of keratin (hair protein) and biotin is important for stimulating hair growth. However, these vitamins are highly efficient when taken in natural form like citrus fruits, cheese, leafy vegetables, eggs, etc.

5. Other Medical Methods

Hair Botox

It is a cosmetic treatment that involves injecting Botox into the scalp tissues. Botox is a derivative compound of botulinum toxin [5], which can enhance the strength and smoothness of damaged hair strands.

Important Note:

Botulinum toxin in large amounts is toxic and may cause muscle paralysis. Hence, consider this treatment only on the suggestion of your doctor.

How Much Hair Breakage Is Normal?

It is normal to lose 50-100 strands in a day as a process of your natural hair growth cycle. But, it is not normal when your hair breaks off due to imbalanced Vata energy. Hair breakage is unhealthy for your hair growth and it needs to be addressed immediately by bringing elevated Vata levels to balance.

Does Broken Hair Grow Back Healthy? And How Long Does It Take?

When you treat your hair and scalp with consistent Vata pacifying Ayurvedic remedies while avoiding over-styling and treating with chemical-based hair products, you can expect the healthy growth of your hair within 4-6 months.

However, it also depends upon the intensity of damage that occurred to your hair. And, it may take a longer time and require specific Ayurvedic treatments if hair breakage is caused by underlying medical conditions or chemotherapy.

Important Note:

Please consult your doctor or Ayurvedic practitioner before carrying out any of the above-mentioned hair breakage controlling treatments for your scalp and hair.

The Last Word

Strong and healthy hair is all yours if you treat your hair breakage timely with natural and consistent Ayurvedic treatments. It helps you prevent hair loss while Ayurveda keeps your doshas in balance without any side effects.

At Vedix, we formulate a customized hair care regimen for you by analyzing your current dosha levels.