What to do if you Suffer from Hair Bifurcation?
Hair bifurcation is a big problem for some women. Lack of nutrition, excess heat and dyeing hair frequently are some of the main causes of hair bifurcation. Simply cutting off the bifurcated hair is not a solution to the problem. Let’s discuss the causes and how to treat it properly to help your hair look beautiful.
What are the Causes of Hair Bifurcation?
1. Not enough Amino Acid in hair
Research shows that the two main causes of split ends and bifurcation are the significant decrease of two types of amino acids (methionine and cysteine). When you lack these amino acids, your hair texture will become brittle and easy to bifurcate.
2. High Temperature and Chemical Stimulation
The hair can also be damaged by chemical substances and high temperatures such as dyeing hair, using hair straighteners, or using a hairdryer. The high temperatures that often come from these appliances can cause the water beneath the hair cuticles to form bubbles which can cause the hair to break. They may cause keratin denaturation or cell death and lead to hair bifurcation.
3. The Hair is Too Dry
Hair bifurcation can also be caused by using alkaline soap shampoo which may reduce the fat and oil in your hair and cause the hair to bifurcate.
How to Avoid Hair Bifurcation?
Here are some steps you can take to help your hair look healthy and recover from being damaged.
1. Use Hair Conditioner to Repair the Hair
The lubricants in hair conditioner can repair the hair. Massage the hair with the conditioner so the hair conditioner can penetrate into each individual strand.
2. Avoid Heat Application
If you blow dry your hair immediately by using high temperature of hairdryer after apply the hair conditioner, the hair conditioner will not be able to stay on the hair for a long enough time. Instead, leave the hair to dry naturally or lightly dry on a low setting.
3. Try Not to Dye the Hair Too Often
If you already dye or curl your hair, you may apply leave-in-conditioner in the afternoon to make the curls stay longer till the next day. Even you wear hair extensions such as micro loop hair extensions, pre bonded hair extensions or clip in hair extensions, try not to dye or curl them, as they may become dry and make their lifetime shorter. You can always buy different coloured hair extensions as an alternative to dyeing.
4. Increase Amino Acid Intake
There are a variety of food sources that a rich in amino acids that we can eat to help achieve healthy hair.
- Cysteine broccoli, chicken, pork, legumes, and dairy products.
- Methionine can be found in nuts, eggs, fish and broccoli.