Coconut oil is the new health care craze that has been recommended for everything from treating skin problems to curing cancer. Whether or not coconut oil helps or not is up to science, but we do know that coconut oil is a bad choice when applied directly to the hair. This unique oil has a lot of features to it, and has gotten a lot of good publicity—much of it deserved. That being said, it isn’t useful for everything, and applying it to your hair may cause big problems.
Here are the top 3 dangers you should be aware of before entrusting your hair to coconut oil.
Coconut Oil Can Cause Hair Loss
It might seem counterintuitive. You probably investigated coconut oil because you’ve noticed hair loss or other common problems like thinning and breakage. The problem is that coconut oil is unique from other hair oils in that its molecular composition makes it a problem for your skin and hair.
While many oils coat the surface of hair but have molecules too big and bulky to enter the hair shaft, coconut oil can. In small amounts, this might be good, but in large amounts, it can cause protein loss in the hair as the coconut oil takes over.
More concerning, these small molecules can also enter your follicles and plug them up, causing the follicle to no longer be able to produce hair.
Coconut Oil Can Cause Hair Breakage
The same issue that causes hair loss can also lead to your hair becoming more brittle and can lead to hair breakage. Coconut oil repels moisture, which is essential for your hair. The more you use it, the drier and brittle your hair becomes, leading to more breakage.
Coconut oil should never be used on dry, coarse, or brittle hair because these hair types are particularly vulnerable to breakage from coconut oil use.
It Can Stop Other Treatments From Working
If you have a problem with your hair, you probably use a lot of products to help it along. If you are using coconut oil, you are creating a barrier that prevents helpful products from penetrating the scalp to provide a healthy environment for the hair follicles to grow stronger.
You might try a new hair treatment and think it isn’t working when there is no way of knowing whether it would have helped or not due to the coconut oil barrier. To give new treatments a chance, you need to make sure you’re not preventing them from getting down to your hair follicles at all.
Coconut oil is not an enemy. It is a healthy oil when ingested and can help your hair when you add it to your diet by supplying essential nutrients. Coconut oil should not be slathered on your scalp, because of the problems it can cause.
If you want to use coconut oil to improve your hair, make it part of your diet and not your shampoo. You’ll get better results, and save more of your hair.
For more information, or help with hair loss, thinning or balding hair, contact the hair loss specialists at New Look Institute today.
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