Touching Your Hair Too Much Could Be A Major Problem - Here's Why
Playing with your hair is one of those actions everyone seems to do at least once during their day. Silkup explains that hair touching can be considered a symptom of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in extreme cases, and is sometimes used as a coping mechanism to help people deal with feelings of anxiety. However, even when you aren't compulsively touching your hair, doing so at all is a habit that can cause damage.
The transfer of oils and dirt from your hands to your hair strands can leave your hair and scalp oily, which can then go on to cause other issues that can affect the health of your hair. Additionally, if you're using any force when you're touching your hair, like you would when tugging, pulling, or twirling, you may accidentally weaken the strands and cause breakage, which shows up in the way of split ends and, if left untreated, hair thinning.
When working towards getting your ideal hair goals, you want to stay away from running your hands through your hair to avoid rendering your haircare routine ineffective. While hair products work at getting your hair healthy again, not putting your hands in your hair throughout the day is the easiest way to keep your hair healthy and strong.
The transfer of dirt and oils
Constantly touching your hair could be the reason behind your greasy scalp, but it could also, strangely enough, lead to dry locks. Although that's seemingly contradictory, touching your hair transfers dirt from your hands onto your head. Over time, this can make your hair seem greasy, leading to more hair washing. Having to wash your hair more often is known for drying out your strands, per Healthline. Dry strands will lack the shine from natural oils, and be less elastic as a result.
Besides making your hair greasy, running your hands through your hair also transfers oils from your hair to your hands (via Viviscal). While this might seem ideal, the natural oils on your scalp provide nutrients and moisture to your strands and are essential for healthy hair. Taking these away dries out the hair faster than usual, and in doing so, makes it more prone to breakage.
Natural Hair Insights explains that keeping a healthy scalp is key if you want to continue growing healthy and strong hair. When you touch your hair, the dirt from your hands can accumulate on your scalp and end up clogging your follicles, which will affect the growth of healthy hair. Messing with your scalp health can lead to other issues like dandruff or scalp acne, both of which can be bothersome and painful.
Hair thinning
Aside from creating a greasy scalp and the associated problems, touching your hair can cause breakage to the actual strands. When you twirl and play with your ends, you're twisting and knotting your hair. If you've ever tried to detangle hair, you know that more intense tangles can take harsher brush strokes to get them out, which can then cause damage to your tresses.
One of the most dire consequences of touching your hair too often is the thinning of the hair. When you're pulling, tugging, or twirling your hair with too much force or too frequently, you may actually end up causing your hair to fall out, which will reduce its overall volume and fullness. In severe cases, large levels of hair fall may result in bald patches (via Natural Hair Insights).
All of these symptoms can easily be solved by simply keeping your hands out of your hair. To break the habit, Cordina Hair recommends keeping your hands busy and keeping your hair out of your face to remove the temptation.