“Hot Water and Dandruff: What’s the Real Connection?”

Nothing feels better in the cold weather than jumping into a hot shower to warm your bones and relax your tired muscles. This heat-based therapy is used around the world to tackle various forms of ailments. However, using hot water might be more troublesome than helpful when it comes to your scalp and hair.

Washing your hair with hot water can make a big difference between a bad hair day and a good one. The water temperature you use is crucial as it impacts your tresses significantly.

So, should you be washing your hair with hot or cold water? While hot water might feel soothing and instantly relaxing, it can actually be troublesome for your scalp, making it more prone to dandruff. Opting for lukewarm or cool water can be more beneficial, helping to maintain the natural oil balance and keeping your scalp healthy.

Does Hot Water Cause Dandruff? The Answer

 Dandruff is characterized by itchy skin, redness, and flaking. Hot water can exacerbate dandruff by stripping away natural oils, causing the scalp to overproduce oil, which fosters fungus growth. This can lead to inflammation and redness, damaging scalp tissue and increasing hair shedding. Frequent hot showers can disrupt oil production and dry out the scalp, making it more prone to dandruff and infections. To avoid these issues, be cautious with water temperature when washing your hair. Hot water shower is not itself core reason of danduff. 

How Does Water Temperature Affect Your Hair?

Overusing very hot water can cause stress to your tresses, making your hair frizzy, brittle, and dry. The heat can also lead to hair loss as it makes your hair weak and prone to fall. Does this suggest you need to completely forswear washing your hair completely with hot water and shiver every time?

Absolutely not! Using lukewarm water does not cause any harm to your hair. Both warm and cold water work for washing your Treasure. What matters is the order in which you use them.

Is It Good to Wash Hair with Hot Water?

Hot water can cause severe stress to your hair. It enhances hair porosity, making it frizzy, dry, and brittle. When you shower with hot water, it breaks the keratin and opens the cuticle layer of your hair strand. This outermost layer protects the core of your hair from damage.

Once this layer is open, it is unable to prevent moisture from escaping, and instantly changes the texture, weakening the hair structure and increasing hair breakage.

Direct use of hot water can also lead to inflammation and redness on your scalp while opening up the pores. This affects your hair roots and can damage skin tissue, making it easier for your hair to fall. People tend to see excessive shedding with frequent hot showers in cold weather.

How Dandruff Affects the Scalp and Hair?

Dandruff is a common scalp condition that affects many people, causing itchiness and the appearance of white flakes on the hair and clothes. It is characterized by the excessive shedding of dead skin cells from the scalp.

This is often accompanied by itching and can be a source of discomfort and embarrassment for those affected. Dandruff can occur in people with any hair or skin type and is not linked to personal hygiene.

The exact cause of dandruff is unknown, but it is believed to be related to a combination of factors like genetics, allergies, sensitivities, and an imbalance of skin microbes.

An overgrowth of microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts, and fungi on the scalp can lead to dandruff. These microbes consume the natural oils on your skin, producing byproducts that trigger shedding and inflammation. This cycle continues, causing persistent dandruff issues.

Does Hot Water Cause Dandruff?

Dandruff is a common scalp condition identified by itchy skin, redness, and flaking of dead skin cells. People often wonder if hot water can cause dandruff. To understand this, it’s important to know how our scalp works. The scalp is covered with numerous sebaceous glands that secrete a waxy oil substance called sebum.

This sebum is vital in protecting the scalp from pollutants and germs, and in trapping moisture in the skin. Sebum flows down the tips of your hair, covering it in a protective layer.

When you wash your hair with hot water, it can strip away this natural oil from your scalp and hair, leaving it dry and brittle. This can make the scalp produce even more oil to make up for the loss, which can trigger the growth of a fungus called Malassezia Globosa.

This fungus feeds on the excess oil and breaks it down into oleic acid, to which many people are sensitive. This reaction can lead to dandruff.

Washing your hair with hot water can also cause inflammation and redness on the scalp by opening up the pores. This affects the roots of your hair and can damage the skin tissue, making it easier for your hair to fall out. This is why some people see excessive shedding when they take frequent hot showers in cold weather.

Additionally, the instant change in temperature from a hot shower can disrupt the production of oil on your scalp, making it more prone to dandruff. Using hot water regularly can make your scalp dry faster and more vulnerable to infections. It’s best to be cautious with the water temperature you use for washing your hair to avoid these issues.

Should We Wash Our Hair with Hot Water or Cold Water?

When you shower, rinsing and washing your hair with hot water is often the first step. Hot water opens the cuticle and helps your shampoo and conditioner do their job. However, the benefits of hot water end there.

It’s essential to switch to cold water when you rinse the product out of your hair. Cold water is good for your hair as it seals the cuticle, locks in moisture from the conditioner, and leaves your hair hydrated, frizz-free, and shiny.

Using hot water in your showers can break down oil build-up on your scalp and remove grime and dirt. It can also unclog pores, allowing cleansers to work effectively. But the problems start when every shower is a hot one.

On the other hand, washing your hair with cold water can overcome the challenges posed by hot water. It helps preserve the natural oils on your scalp, and conditioners can lock in moisture within the hair strands. Cold water can seal the cuticle layer, prevent excessive moisture loss, tighten pores, and reduce hair fall.

Cold water also has a calming effect on irritated skin and can increase blood circulation, bringing essential nutrients to your scalp. However, it may reduce the volume of your hair, making it look flat. It’s important to select the right temperature based on your hair type and the oiliness of your scalp.

If you have extremely fine hair, you should avoid hot water as it can increase porosity and lead to breakage. For an excessively oily scalp, using hot water occasionally might be beneficial, but for a dry scalp, you should avoid hot water entirely.

Is Lukewarm Water the Most Appropriate Choice for Hair Washing?

To impede the problems of hot and cold water, it is advised to use warm water for your shower. This should be slightly above your body temperature and can help solve your dilemma. Warm water can stimulate blood flow to the hair follicles and boost hair growth.

It is also an effective way to clean the scalp. It should be warm enough to clear away the grime and build-up, but not so hot that it strips away the natural oils. This prevents a sudden jump in temperature and maintains the volume of your hair.

You might want to apply moisturizers that act as dandruff remedies, like aloe vera, argan oil, neem oil, or tea tree oil. Along with these hair care tips, there are other effective methods to remove dandruff as well, like the Head and Shoulders Neem shampoo, which cleanses your scalp and gets rid of the dandruff flakes.

FAQs

Is Cold or Hot Water Better for Dandruff?

Keeping the practice of using warm water helps close the cuticles that were expanded earlier, while also sealing in moisture. This can be deeply relaxing for your scalp and skin after all the dandruff and itching it has been through.

Do Cold Showers Help with Dandruff?

Cold water can work against fungi-causing dandruff effectively and help keep it away.

Does Hot Water Damage the Scalp?

Hot water can irritate and damage your scalp. With excessive exposure, your weakened scalp becomes vulnerable to further damage from factors like styling products or dandruff-causing microbes.

Is it Good to Wash Your Hair with Hot Water?

Using warm water at the beginning of wash day helps with cleansing your hair and scalp. Warm water allows the cuticles of the hair and pores on the scalp to open, helping to deeply cleanse and remove any dirt, residue, or buildup that is tightly packed in the cuticles and pores.