Hard water isn’t often the primary cause of hair loss, but build-ups of mineral deposits on your scalp and hair could potentially lead to damage or contribute to faster hair loss and thinning as your hair becomes gradually drier and more brittle.
Hair transplant clients already predisposed to hair loss due to their hormonal changes or genetics may, therefore, find that they need to be proactive about protecting their hair or change their hair care routines to avoid expedited hair loss or thinning due to washing in a hard water area.
Today, we’ll explore the impacts of hard water on hair, how it can worsen thinning and shedding, how to care for your hair and scalp if you’re concerned about hard water, and how it could aggravate naturally thinning hair.
Hard Water and Hair Loss: Quick Facts
- Living in a hard water area alone isn’t thought to cause hair loss, although washing with hard water over time can contribute to damage and brittleness. This can make thinning worse or make hair loss visible sooner than it otherwise might be.
- Noticeable changes in the thickness, shine, and lustre of your hair following a house move to a hard water area are often due to the higher mineral content in the water and the residue this leaves on your hair when you shower or bathe.
- Using filters on shower heads, nourishing shampoos and hair treatments, or using alternative water sources may help – although any ongoing changes to your hair or density can be investigated more thoroughly during a hair restoration consultation at your nearest KSL Clinic.
How to Identify Whether Hard Water Is Damaging Your Hair
Most people who experience hair loss have pattern hair loss in their family. It can, therefore, be difficult to determine whether hard water is contributing to damage or whether you would have seen hair loss or thinning regardless.
Some indications that hard water is part of the issue include increased brittleness, tangled hair that lacks elasticity, limper hair weighed down by mineral deposits, and changes to the shine and colour of the hair.
Hard water can strip moisture from your follicles, which commonly means they lose bounce, gloss, and suppleness and look lacklustre. This is accompanied by irritation to your scalp owing to the minerals that remain on your scalp.
How to Tackle Hair Damaged Caused By Hard Water
Numerous home remedies, like apple cider vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, are thought to have some benefit in balancing pH levels and neutralising the impacts of hard water, but a longer-term solution is to think about your hair care routine.
Our hair transplant surgeons recommend the following:
- Washing your hair with slightly cooler water. Very hot temperatures cause hair follicles to open, which means a larger concentration of minerals can penetrate the strands.
- Using a filter on your shower head or taps. This lowers the mineral content and deposits within the water and prevents build-ups inside your shower.
- Replacing taps or shower heads with those that have built-in water softeners, often designed specifically for areas with hard water.
You can also use specialist hair care products intended to remove minerals from your hair. Those excluding sulphates are often considered best for people in hard water areas who want to repair and restore their hair’s condition.
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Choosing Hair Care Products to Minimise the Impacts of Hard Water
Shampoos and conditioners created to prevent the accumulation of minerals and metals in hair are called chelating products. They contain ingredients that bind with deposits on the hair and scalp and help to clean them away gently.
While you’ll often need to use a regular shampoo afterwards, prolonged use of this type of hair care product can stop deposits from hard water from staying on your hair and building up over time.
Deeper conditioning masks and treatments can also help, smoothing the cuticles in hair strands that become rough, brittle, and damaged by hard water deposits. Many are enriched with natural vitamins or contain plant-based oils like olive, argan, and coconut, which are known for their soothing properties.
If you are worried about hair loss or slowing hair growth rates, we may suggest a scalp treatment or detox. These treatments can remove mineral residues that sit on the scalp, contributing to dead skin and dry tissue that block hair follicles and restrict new growth.
Regular scalp treatments can remove those build-ups from your scalp and improve circulation, helping to maintain healthy levels of cellular activity and prevent damage to the follicles that impedes hair growth.
Fixing Sustained Damage or Hair Loss Caused or Worsened By Hard Water
The tips and advice above are intended to limit the effects of hard water and mineral deposits on your hair or tackle short-term damage, such as lifeless, dull, and limp hair or areas of thinning and breakage caused by dryness.
However, if you’ve lived in a hard water area for some time, have experienced prolonged exposure and sustained hair loss or thinning, or have noticed that your hair has stopped growing in some places completely, a more clinical approach may be advisable.
Non-surgical treatments like laser light and platelet-rich plasma therapy, for instance, are known to stimulate dormant follicles, replenish the health and cellular healing of your scalp, and help reactivate growth and improve the overall condition of your hair and scalp.
Alternatives like a hair transplant, using a minimally invasive FUE technique, may also be a permanent solution. This procedure replenishes targeted areas of hair loss and uses your own donor follicles for a seamless and natural result.
For more information about the links between hard water and hair loss or to discuss your concerns and the best strategies for you, please book a free consultation at your convenience at your preferred KSL Clinic location.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Reverse Hair Loss Caused Partly By Hard Water?
Potentially – you can switch to a shower head with a filter to stop minerals from sitting on your hair and scalp or use one of the conditioning treatments or restoration therapies we’ve mentioned to ensure you eliminate accumulative build-ups.
However, if you have pattern hair loss and sustained thinning or breakage made worse by hard water, an alternative like a hair transplant may be the only permanent solution.
What Can I Do to Protect My Hair From Hard Water-Related Damage?
You’ll find our more detailed advice above, but options like using a filter or replacement shower head specifically designed to remove mineral and metal deposits from the water, using deep conditioning treatments and opting for chelating shampoos may all help prevent long-term damage.
Can I Reverse Hair Loss Caused Partly By Hard Water?
Potentially – you can switch to a shower head with a filter to stop minerals from sitting on your hair and scalp or use one of the conditioning treatments or restoration therapies we’ve mentioned to ensure you eliminate accumulative build-ups.
However, if you have pattern hair loss and sustained thinning or breakage made worse by hard water, an alternative like a hair transplant may be the only permanent solution.
What Can I Do to Protect My Hair From Hard Water-Related Damage?
You’ll find our more detailed advice above, but options like using a filter or replacement shower head specifically designed to remove mineral and metal deposits from the water, using deep conditioning treatments and opting for chelating shampoos may all help prevent long-term damage.
