Yes. As strange as it may sound, air conditioning can cause hair loss. Here’s how.
We already know that extreme temperatures can damage the hair. With a considerable rise in the heat outside, you tend to install an air conditioner inside your room for comfort. If you really look at it, you are installing a dry, cold desert right in the middle of your house.
As relieving as it is to walk into a cool room right after being out in the hot sun, the prolonged use of air conditioners can do more harm to your hair than good. It can actually wreak havoc on your hair and scalp.
How does air conditioning cause hair loss?
- The room is arid and dry when the air conditioner is running, which means that the humidity from the air is sucked away
- Air conditioners can peel away any moisture not just the one in the air but in your body too
- When moisture is pulled out of the skin it stretches and dries up
- Your system is generally not protected enough to combat dryness due to air conditioning
- Dry skin feels itchy and becomes flaky – scalp also dries up due to air conditioning and aggravates skin disorders
- Air conditioning robs the epidermis of all its moisture
- There is constant loss of water and lack of replacement of the water that leaves skin tissues undernourished
- With no moisture, the ageing process is hastened
- When you walk out of the cold atmosphere back into the sun, the hair, scalp and skin are greeted with abrupt changes in temperatures – which is extremely harmful
- As a result of all of the above, the skin is constantly stressed out and struggling to maintain its own health
- With exalted comfort levels, we also compromise our diet that further leads to lack of vital nutrients and hair loss
Practical remedies:
- To combat the drying effects of the air conditioner, place a bowl of water in the room
- Service the air conditioner to keep it technologically sound otherwise it can cause drastic skin damage
- Keep yourself hydrated constantly when you are in an air-conditioned room even if you are not thirsty – take a sip of water at constant intervals
- Remind yourself to replenish all the lost water whenever possible
- Have a balanced, healthy diet to keep hair and scalp healthy within the range of comfort
