Three Ways to Straighten Your Hair Without Risking Your Health

You may not think that straightening your hair can cause health risks, but it can.

So, let’s explore three ways in which you can straighten your hair without damaging your hair and putting your health at risk.

How can straightening your hair cause health risks?

Before we look at some of the best methods for straightening your hair without risking your health, it’s important that you know how using hair straighteners can cause damage and health issues.

First off, the high level of heat that is produced by hair straighteners can do damage to your hair follicles. If you use hair straighteners regularly, over time, you could find your hair begins to fall out. You could even experience permanent hair loss.

Even worse, if hot hair straighteners come into direct contact with your skin, you could end up with severe burns.

It’s especially important that children’s skin doesn’t come into contact with the hot plates of hair straighteners, as kids’ skin is around fifteen times thinner than that of adults, so it is more prone to serious burns.

You also risk your health if you leave your hair straighteners unattended after using them. Straighteners can stay hot for up to forty minutes after use. If they’re left near flammable items, you could unintentionally start a fire in your home, which, in a worst-case scenario, could cause fatalities.

The chemicals that are used with hair straighteners can also put your health at risk. For example, people who use hair straightening chemicals on a regular basis are twice as likely to develop uterine cancer compared to people who don’t use hair straighteners frequently.

In fact, many people who got uterine cancer after using hair straightening chemicals are now filing lawsuits. To find out more, contact Dolman Law Group, which has a wealth of experience in handling these types of lawsuits.

1. Use Low Heat

If you’re not prepared to stop using hair straighteners, make sure you use them on a low heat setting, and don’t use hair straighteners frequently to help reduce your risk of damaging your hair.

It can be tempting to turn up the heat to get the most out of your straighteners, but if you do so, the water inside the cortex of your hair can actually begin to boil. In turn, that can cause untold damage to your hair and hair follicles.

So, keep the heat to below 450° Fahrenheit. Below 350 °Fahrenheit is even better.

2. Never Leave Hair Straighteners Unattended After Use

If you leave hair straighteners unattended after use and you have children in the house, they could grab the hot straighteners and become burned.

You may not even check yourself that the straighteners have cooled down properly when you go to pack them away and touch them and suffer a burn.

Worse yet, as mentioned above, unattended hair straighteners could cause fires.

So, use heat pads to leave your straighteners on after use, always check straighteners have cooled down before touching them and putting them away, and never leave hot hair straighteners unattended when other people are at home.

3. Brush Your Hair

You could avoid hair straighteners altogether. There are other options for straightening your hair, after all.

One of the easiest methods is to simply brush your hair. Sure, it will take a lot longer to straighten your hair in comparison to using hair straighteners, but brushing doesn’t put your health at risk or create heat that could damage your hair.

Begin by dampening your hair with water and finding your parting with a comb or your fingers. Then, use your hands to brush your hair down and pull it tightly. Do that for several minutes until your hair is dry. Next, use a brush or comb to straighten your hair more.

You could also add a leave-in conditioner or use an oil-based product to smooth your hair out.