Desperately need help, worried hair permanently damaged

[schallerjasmine]

So, I never do heat to my hair at all, no styling etc. I'm not gonna lie I have super thick naturally shiny hair that is hip length without much effort at all. I had an allergic skin reaction to a product that caused me to get every single micro pore on my face to get clogged and nothing would get it out. I was finally able to get rid of it by going to the dry heat sauna 4-5 hours every other day for a month. Now 2 weeks post not going to sauna my hair still looks really good, but it no longer has its natural silky shininess, even my sister said it looks "fuzzier" (her words) (I noticed that the strands just look less smooth) than usual and that my hair doesn't look "healthy". She later said it looks healthy, but noticeably drier and fuzzier. I have tried oils in my hair, egg mask, mayonnaise mask, etc for the last 3 weeks and nothing has actually made it better. Like I now have to apply product to my hair and it still doesn't look as good as is used to. Before I never put anything in my hair and it just looked awesome. I am worried that I basically fried my hair and that there will be nothing that actually repairs the dryness level. Do you guys think that's the case or will it just take time to re moisturize it! Can anyone help me and tell me whether my hair is partially ruined because of my own stupidity? Does dry heat sauna damage hair like this?????????? PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I think all your hair needs is more moisturising. Give it time, and moisture (maybe try an SMT?) and be patient with it, and it will improve, I'm sure.

[Deborah]

I don't think a sauna is hot enough to have done any permanent damage to your hair. Just treat it as you usually do and give it time to get back to normal. I'm sure it will be fine.

[truepeacenik]

Electric heat or far infrared sauna?

[lapushka]

What is your routine? Products you use (yes, name, kind, brand, the lot).
Have you been changing up your products, lately? Anything that you do differently?

[Johannah]

Sauna isn't that hot it can fry your hair. But the heat will take the moisture out of your hair and you need to put it in again.

Like lapushka said, we need more information. Also, what oils and masks did you use, how did you use it and how often?

In general, food masks won't do much. It can't penetrate the hair, so leave that for what it is and focus on real masks. SMT is a really good way to put moisture back in your hair. Also, take a good look at the conditioner you are using. Personally for moisturizing masks, conditioners without silicons work best for me, also for SMT. This might be different for you though.

There are many oils that are 'meh' for my hair, but others work wonders (avocado, macadamia and jojoba for instance). Try different ones. You can leave it in overnight so it protects your hair before you start washing it.

Do you use a leave-in after you washed your hair (when it's still wet)? What do you use? This is key to lock the moisture in.

[Mimha]

Hi schallerjasmine ! :)

First of all, welcome to the LHC ! :)

Now, concerning your problem, don't panic. If your skin has been exposed to the same level of heat or the same "ray" (what was it ? infrared lamps ? UV lamps ?) without being cooked, your hair should not be cooked either. What I personally think is that your hair "just" suffers some transitory dehydration. As it is more fragile right now, I would avoid any un-necessary handling (= heavy treatments that require lots of washing, rinse out and repeated detangling). I would just oil or condition with whatever leave-in product you trust and let it be as long as possible without washing it, in order to allow your sebum to re-coat it as much as possible (even if I had to be a greasy ball for a week or two). Then, wash as softly as possible, not to clean off all the protective lipidic film you have just rebuilt. And it should be fine.

I have medium/fine - but ultra healthy - hair, and I hate using a lot of products because I have strong environement concerns (due to health related problems), especially conditioners (which I hardly ever use). My philosophy is to wash my hair as little as possible (once or twice a week, max.) with just a little amount of diluted shampoo, in order to avoid cleaning off all my sebum, but just getting a clean fresh scalp. If I can go with water only, I do so and shampoo the next time only. It works well for me : in normal time, my hair is butter soft and fluid. If I undergo some transitory dryness (like in the summer when I go to the beach or swimming pool and undergo both too much sun and heat + too much washing), I do what I just explained : wait until it is very oily, brush the sebum down the lenth until the very ends, and softly wash. My hair has always recovered from transitory dryness like this. It's actually a mini sebum-cure.^^

Wishing you all the best, and don't worry : I'm sure your hair will be as beautiful as it used to be ! :flower)

ETA : oh, and if you have to go back to your skin treatment, put some cover on your hair. A simple scarf should do. :wink:

[TatsuOni]

As a finn (my family is from Finland) I just have to say that sauna has never damaged my hair and even though many finns, sauna on a regular basis and has done so for generations, there are finns with amazing hair!

[Zebra Fish]

Maybe try a clarifying shampoo - you might have now put too many stuff in your hair. After that, do lots of moisturizing (you could try SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128) as Sarahlabyrinth suggested). Don't do too many stuff at one time coz one of them could do you worse (if it worked wonders for one person, doesn't mean it will for you). Especially if you didn't use any of them by now. And have patients until you find what works for you. It might take time, but I don't believe sauna would fry your hair. Maybe if you have to go there again, use some heat protectant or (coconut) oil. There are divided opinions on oil and heat, but where I live lots of people use olive oil during summer and spend all day in sun frying and never heard of problems with hair, and olive oil had lower boiling point from coconut.

[Mya]

If I undergo some transitory dryness (like in the summer when I go to the beach or swimming pool and undergo both too much sun and heat + too much washing), I do what I just explained : wait until it is very oily, brush the sebum down the lenth until the very ends, and softly wash. My hair has always recovered from transitory dryness like this. It's actually a mini sebum-cure.^^

This is interesting. How do you get your sebum to reach your very ends? You brush your hair for a good amount of time, or what?

Also, how do you make sure your scalp comes out clean even if you "soft" washed? What's your technique?
While I use diluted, delicate shampoos, I loved how healthier/moisturized my hair looked when I used a "oil shampoo" for a while. Alas, my scalp is so delicate it cannot tolerate the handling/massaging that oil shampoos require, so I stick to my regular delicate shampoo. My scalp also gets angry if it's not clean. I'd like to know the magic that would get me a clean scalp and more moisturized hair.

[schallerjasmine]

Electric heat or far infrared sauna? It was dry heat, I know it was not infrared sauna, there was a box in the place that heated it so I'm assuming electric.

[schallerjasmine]

What is your routine? Products you use (yes, name, kind, brand, the lot).
Have you been changing up your products, lately? Anything that you do differently?

Bed Head TIGI Moisture Maniac moisturizing shampoo and conditioner and Natures Gate aloe vera and macadamia oil moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. I just use those because there in my house, I didn't specifically buy anything. I have just gotten today Theorie Marula oil transforming shampoo and conditioner. I did a hot oil conditioner treatment and went to the sauna to let it sink in and it really didn't make a difference, I did a Apple cider vinegar rinse after shampooing my hair so that the coconut oil came out. Also I used nightbloomings panacea salve all over my hair and left it in 24hours and then another time 2 days, it felt better but idk if its truly a difference. I have been using nightbloomings (etsy store person) oils like medusa oil and sun soother oil in my hair everyday. I just bought the brand "maroccan oil and it absorbed in my hair and made it softer, but its not as silky as is used to be. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR REPLY'S!! if you didn't see I posted about this again, I thought no one relied to this thread because I was not getting notifications and I couldn't find it for some reason. Even though I'm 18 I have no idea about technology lol !

[schallerjasmine]

Bed Head TIGI Moisture Maniac moisturizing shampoo and conditioner and Natures Gate aloe vera and macadamia oil moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. I just use those because there in my house, I didn't specifically buy anything. I have just gotten today Theorie Marula oil transforming shampoo and conditioner. I did a hot oil conditioner treatment and went to the sauna to let it sink in and it really didn't make a difference, I did a Apple cider vinegar rinse after shampooing my hair so that the coconut oil came out. Also I used nightbloomings panacea salve all over my hair and left it in 24hours and then another time 2 days, it felt better but idk if its truly a difference. I have been using nightbloomings (etsy store person) oils like medusa oil and sun soother oil in my hair everyday. I just bought the brand "maroccan oil and it absorbed in my hair and made it softer, but its not as silky as is used to be. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR REPLY'S!! if you didn't see I posted about this again, I thought no one relied to this thread because I was not getting notifications and I couldn't find it for some reason. Even though I'm 18 I have no idea about technology lol !

[schallerjasmine]

Okay I definitely will try, What are some good leave ins I have never used them before. My hair test doesn't seem to be lacking protein just moisture. The thing is I have never really done anything to my hair, just wash it with whatever my sister/mom buys and move on. I have done treatments with coconut oil before, but that was a long time ago before this incident. I have used nightblooming oils before, but rarely because my hair would get very greasy quickly. I have not put any leave in conditioner before, so I will definitely need your advice. Thanks for your help I appreciate it a lot. I have an anxiety problem and this situation has really been freaking me out and all of you have helped put my mind at ease! Thanks!
Sauna isn't that hot it can fry your hair. But the heat will take the moisture out of your hair and you need to put it in again.

Like lapushka said, we need more information. Also, what oils and masks did you use, how did you use it and how often?

In general, food masks won't do much. It can't penetrate the hair, so leave that for what it is and focus on real masks. SMT is a really good way to put moisture back in your hair. Also, take a good look at the conditioner you are using. Personally for moisturizing masks, conditioners without silicons work best for me, also for SMT. This might be different for you though.

There are many oils that are 'meh' for my hair, but others work wonders (avocado, macadamia and jojoba for instance). Try different ones. You can leave it in overnight so it protects your hair before you start washing it.

Do you use a leave-in after you washed your hair (when it's still wet)? What do you use? This is key to lock the moisture in.

[schallerjasmine]

Can you explain more what I should do exactly and what your process is, because it sounds very interesting. Are you saying I should not wash my hair for say a months and just use a boar brush to brush the oils down my hair shaft to remoisturize it. Thanks for welcoming me and helping me I have been really really scared and you have helped put me at ease, I appreciate it a lot! Thanks!
Hi schallerjasmine ! :)

First of all, welcome to the LHC ! :)

Now, concerning your problem, don't panic. If your skin has been exposed to the same level of heat or the same "ray" (what was it ? infrared lamps ? UV lamps ?) without being cooked, your hair should not be cooked either. What I personally think is that your hair "just" suffers some transitory dehydration. As it is more fragile right now, I would avoid any un-necessary handling (= heavy treatments that require lots of washing, rinse out and repeated detangling). I would just oil or condition with whatever leave-in product you trust and let it be as long as possible without washing it, in order to allow your sebum to re-coat it as much as possible (even if I had to be a greasy ball for a week or two). Then, wash as softly as possible, not to clean off all the protective lipidic film you have just rebuilt. And it should be fine.

I have medium/fine - but ultra healthy - hair, and I hate using a lot of products because I have strong environement concerns (due to health related problems), especially conditioners (which I hardly ever use). My philosophy is to wash my hair as little as possible (once or twice a week, max.) with just a little amount of diluted shampoo, in order to avoid cleaning off all my sebum, but just getting a clean fresh scalp. If I can go with water only, I do so and shampoo the next time only. It works well for me : in normal time, my hair is butter soft and fluid. If I undergo some transitory dryness (like in the summer when I go to the beach or swimming pool and undergo both too much sun and heat + too much washing), I do what I just explained : wait until it is very oily, brush the sebum down the lenth until the very ends, and softly wash. My hair has always recovered from transitory dryness like this. It's actually a mini sebum-cure.^^

Wishing you all the best, and don't worry : I'm sure your hair will be as beautiful as it used to be ! :flower)

ETA : oh, and if you have to go back to your skin treatment, put some cover on your hair. A simple scarf should do. :wink:

[schallerjasmine]

Sorry guys you might see this question again today, I could not find this thread and I am not getting email notifications on this thread so I thought maybe I did something wrong and this question did not post. But alas I found it, right after I posted the question again lol. I;m the most un'tech savvy 18 year old you will ever meet. And also I have iii thick hair, It actually weight one pound so I find if I don't brush it conditioner only gets on the surface of my hair, I never really brushed it wet before but I have done it so that it coats all my strands lately.

[mizukitty]

Oils and sebum are going to be your best friend for a while! Don't worry too much - you have not tipped your hair in some direction that it can't bounce back from. It takes time to replenish lipids lost from excess heat such as a sauna, but it'll get there. Try washing less often, apply coconut, avocado, olive or jojoba oils, and don't use very stripping shampoos. Dilute them with water and avoid getting on your length.

The frizz you are describing is due to cuticles on your hair not laying flat. This can happen for many reasons, but a common one is a loss of the outer natural lipid layer and too much water from either washing or the environment. The lipid layer naturally repels water and when it's lost your hair takes on a lot, more quickly, which causes the cuticles to raise to accommodate it. Kind of like when hair puffs up when it's super humid outside. Adding oil to your hair to mimic your natural sebum will help repel water and tame the frizziness. Coconut oil is popular because it can penetrate your hair and prevent keratin from being lost/chipped away during washing which is important. Some people find their hair to get stiff or crunchy when they use it, but YMMV with that. My favorite for a treatment is avocado (very softening), and my favorite leave ins are jojoba, camellia, and argan.

And finally... the biggest and most important thing... Patience :lol:

[schallerjasmine]

Oils and sebum are going to be your best friend for a while! Don't worry too much - you have not tipped your hair in some direction that it can't bounce back from. It takes time to replenish lipids lost from excess heat such as a sauna, but it'll get there. Try washing less often, apply coconut, avocado, olive or jojoba oils, and don't use very stripping shampoos. Dilute them with water and avoid getting on your length.

The frizz you are describing is due to cuticles on your hair not laying flat. This can happen for many reasons, but a common one is a loss of the outer natural lipid layer and too much water from either washing or the environment. The lipid layer naturally repels water and when it's lost your hair takes on a lot, more quickly, which causes the cuticles to raise to accommodate it. Kind of like when hair puffs up when it's super humid outside. Adding oil to your hair to mimic your natural sebum will help repel water and tame the frizziness. Coconut oil is popular because it can penetrate your hair and prevent keratin from being lost/chipped away during washing which is important. Some people find their hair to get stiff or crunchy when they use it, but YMMV with that. My favorite for a treatment is avocado (very softening), and my favorite leave ins are jojoba, camellia, and argan.

And finally... the biggest and most important thing... Patience :lol:

If the Lipids are lost from my hair can they actually be restored or am I just doing things with products to mimic the lipid layer. I have been unable to find conclusive data. I have just seen when its damaged there is nothing to do, that dryness is damage. I am really scared. I spend 5 years growing my hair and if 4 weeks of sauna have permanently damaged my hair I will be really sad:(! I will take your advice, thank you!

[Johannah]

Okay I definitely will try, What are some good leave ins I have never used them before. My hair test doesn't seem to be lacking protein just moisture. The thing is I have never really done anything to my hair, just wash it with whatever my sister/mom buys and move on. I have done treatments with coconut oil before, but that was a long time ago before this incident. I have used nightblooming oils before, but rarely because my hair would get very greasy quickly. I have not put any leave in conditioner before, so I will definitely need your advice. Thanks for your help I appreciate it a lot. I have an anxiety problem and this situation has really been freaking me out and all of you have helped put my mind at ease! Thanks!

Mineral oil (MO) is a nice way to start if you are not used to anything else. It's actually baby oil, but you need to take a look at the ingredients (which should be as less as possible). A lot of us use the Johnsons brand. So after you washed your hair, put one or two drops (depending on your hairs length) in your hair. Using MO will make sure you lock the moisture in, which is what you need.

Good luck. :)

[lapushka]

The S/C are both fine. What oil did you use? It could depend on the oil. Yeah. Some people can't "take" coconut oil. Maybe try sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil or jojoba oil, or some such oil instead next time.

[Mimha]

This is interesting. How do you get your sebum to reach your very ends? You brush your hair for a good amount of time, or what?

Also, how do you make sure your scalp comes out clean even if you "soft" washed? What's your technique?
While I use diluted, delicate shampoos, I loved how healthier/moisturized my hair looked when I used a "oil shampoo" for a while. Alas, my scalp is so delicate it cannot tolerate the handling/massaging that oil shampoos require, so I stick to my regular delicate shampoo. My scalp also gets angry if it's not clean. I'd like to know the magic that would get me a clean scalp and more moisturized hair.


Can you explain more what I should do exactly and what your process is, because it sounds very interesting. Are you saying I should not wash my hair for say a months and just use a boar brush to brush the oils down my hair shaft to remoisturize it. Thanks for welcoming me and helping me I have been really really scared and you have helped put me at ease, I appreciate it a lot! Thanks!


Hi schallerjasmine and Mya ! :)

Ok, I will try to be as explicit as possible, I hope this will make sense ! :o

How do I spread my sebum down to my ends with a minimum handling ?

As my hair is medium/fine and quite prone to frizziness, it doesn't like too much BB-brushing (because it erodes the integrity of its delicate scaly surface). So I use several personal techniques that have proven efficient with my own hair.

1) Scalp sebum self oiling technique : I softly massage my scalp (or just touch it) with my fingertips and slowly finger detangle, alternating the scalp touching and the hair detangling with my "oily" fingers, just like furry animals or birds do. They pass their paws on their oily zones and spread the sebum over the rest of their fur or feathers. Interesting technique for thoses who don't have a very oily scalp : by massaging it, it may help sebum production.

2) Forehead sebum self oiling technique : very efficient and extremely low handling ! Advange : you don't excite your scalp sebum glands (which would make your hair get quickly oily). After I have taken my shower and washed my hair and it is almost dry, I gently pass my hair against my forehead like this : I take a big strand, apply it against my forehead, maintain it flat against the skin with one hand while I gently pull with the other hand, so as the whole length slides on my skin and collects sebum). It is working amazingly because a) my hair is at maximum dryness after wash, b) my forehead and temples are super clean, but get oily rather quickly due to the fact that I do a face peeling under the shower (to rub off some pigmentation spots I have there) and it makes my skin produce sebum right after, at the very precise moment where I need it, lol. I sometimes do it too during the week, if my hair is too frizzy or difficult to detangle. It woks wonder ! Skin sebum does neither make my hair look greasy nor creates undesired build-up like other oily products would do.

3) BB-brush reduced oil spreading technique : I use a very narrow teasing BB-brush (that I NEVER use to tease my hair, of course !) and I start with the scalp area, in order my brush to "collect" as much sebum as possible. Then I directly do my ends with it (because they are the most "needy zone"), alternating "collecting" and spreading, and then work my way up the strands. Inconvenient : you need to fully detangle first (with a wide-tooth comb or a wooden brush), so it means double handling anyway. If sebum is not enough, I oil my brush (by oiling my paulms with some olive oil or else, and then rubbing my brush on my paulms prior to applying on the hair (so as to avoid creating "wet look" clumping stands). So I can balance the "sebum-oily" scalp zone with the more "olive-oily" ends. I consider my hair "sufficiently oiled" as soon as it looks nicely flexible and bouncy, smooth, un-static and un-oily. (I may push it to the totally oily-look if I mean it as a treatment).

4) Mixed technique : If I need my hair to be less dry, frizzy, tangly, static, whatever similar, I usually do a little bit of a mix with all what I said, depending if my hair needs more or less sebum in it.

I DON'T brush my sebum down the strands from top to ends with a big rough and stiff BB-brush !! This would destroy (erode) my hair in a few months. I just use the very narrow one from time to time, mainly for my ends, as I explained above, and a larger one which is quite soft and that I like very much but doesn't "penetrate" the hair very well. I usually only use a seamless wide-tooth comb and oil my hair with my fingers + forehead technique.

How do I wash "enough but not too much" ?

Lol. I actually constantly adjust, because the perfect wash is difficult to get^^. I usually only massage the diluted shampoo onto my scalp until it nicely forms a foam, and just rinse it out by gently pressing my length between my hands as the soapy water flows down. It's normally enough. I never massage or rub my length, unless I have some build-up of oil to rinse out. If after the wash I see that my hair is still oily, I usually just wash it again one or two days earlier than my normal washing schedule, which is ideally once a week. And if my hair turns out dry and crispy (= totally clarified), I do my self-sebum oiling technique, or add some oil with my narrow BB, and extend washing to one or two more days. If I feel I absolutely need to wash my hair even if it's too dry to do so (for example if I have sweated), then I just do an in-between WO.

What do I do in case of temporary dryness ?

Just what I have said : oil it with my own sebum + some extra oil if necessary (olive, coconut, argan, whatever your hair likes), and avoid BB-brushing it when feeling dry and brittle (too fragile and tangly because the scales are opened). Then I wait until my hair is really greasy to wash it again. And if I plan to go to the beach, I usually don't wash my hair just before, knowing it's far better if it is oily. Then I just thoroughly rinse out the sweat, salt or chlorine with water only if I plan to go back to the beach the next day.

Well, it's all a matter of feeling and adjusting. I don't plan, prepare, calculate anything, and I don't worry about it. I just "feel" how my hair is prior to washing (really greasy or not very much ?) and right after (totally clarified or hardly "clean" ?), and I adjust.

NB : I don't like the notion of greasy hair = dirty hair. Sebum is not a dirty thing. It becomes dirty if let alone with sweat, smoke, dust and pollution. Sebum is not only the tailor-made product to best protect your hair against dryness (air + sun) but also to shelter the natural scalp flora that is meant to be there. Maintaining this flora healthy (= not washing it off with hash repeated washing sessions) is a key element to avoid fungal infestation and all the skin problems so many people encounter nowadays.

Hope this makes sense and doesn't sound too... weird or animal-like ? Lol.

Gosh, this answer took my whole afternoon ! ^^ Need to let you, guys : my stomach is screaming !! :D

[Zebra Fish]

Thanks for the long post Mimha! I find this sebum oiling method really interesting and am wondering how I never got to the idea :P I wash hair similar to you, but use conditioner. I "spread" the sebum just with a wide tooth comb and it is quite enough for it to go down. I know coz I once finger combed, as I forgot my comb while visiting relatives, and turned into a grease ball in 3-4 days. After buying a comb and combing that evening and next morning, the greasiness disappeared and hair was nice and soft. We'll try it :)

[schallerjasmine]

The S/C are both fine. What oil did you use? It could depend on the oil. Yeah. Some people can't "take" coconut oil. Maybe try sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil or jojoba oil, or some such oil instead next time.

I have used cocunut oil, I tried it this time, but trying to get it out dried my hair out. I was reading I should use cone free conditioner to get it out. How often should I do an oil treatment to my hair? Twice a week, Once a week?
Thanks!

[Ophidian]

Mimha: thank you so much for your post! You articulated much of what I discovered on my own experimenting with WO. I decided to start using mild s&c again (I'm thinking diluted, once a week or so), but I learned how much having sebum on the length benefits my hair and your approach really speaks to me.

schallerjasmine: I think that it is common to equate oil/sebum with uncleanliness, but try thinking of it as a protectant for your strands. Mimha's techniques can help you move sebum away from your scalp and down into the length where it can really do some good if your hair is in need of some extra TLC.

Oil treatments are great, but definitely experiment with different oil types if you are not sure about the coconut--different hair likes different oils. Whatever you use, start with a tiny bit (pea-sized or even less to start). Put it on your palms, rub your hands together until they are just barely shiny, press them together, and slide them down sections of hair until you feel that it is evenly distributed. If you use the right amount, you don't necessarily have to wash your hair right away, and you certainly won't need to strip your hair to remove it. I know it's easy to think oil=dirty but try to push this aside for a moment and see what a small amount of oil/sebum left to protect your strands might do to rehabilitate your hair.

If you want to do a heavier oiling (which would leave it *looking* more oily than if you just use a little bit), then yes, I have heard that conditioner-only washing is a gentle way to remove this without stripping like working a shampoo down the length might. Depending on how often you wash you could try this once a week or so.

Honestly, even though the impulse may be to try a bunch of things to "fix" it (a feeling that I totally understand!!), you might be pleasantly surprised if you handle it gently, do some light oiling/sebum spreading, and try a simple wash method like CWC with your normal products (condition from the ears down, leave it in while you shampoo the scalp, rinse, condition everything, rinse). If you want a little extra you could do an SMT like saralabyrinth mentioned. Protective styles are never a bad idea either. If you wear it down a lot try bunning it for a while and leaving it alone as much as possible. It certainly sounds like you have enough hair for it! :flower:

Like the others have said, I highly doubt there are permanent damage issues. I hope everything goes back to normal for you soon!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

So, how are you getting on? :flower: