IMPACT OF MODERN HAIR CARE METHODS ON HEALTH

Abstract

There was a time when hair care simply meant washing it with soap, or shampoo at the most, and applying a fair amount of oil to keep the hair healthy, black and shining. With change of time, the ways of hair care changed dramatically. Shampoo became a regular feature along with a range of products and processes including hair oils, hair colours, hair gel, hair spray, hair straightening, curling, perming, hair bleach, keratin treatment and so on. The main categories of hair cosmetics include hair cleansing products, hair management products, glossing products , softening products, thickening products, colouring products (or color removal products) and styling products (to be used with curlers, straighteners, dryers and so on). People do all this to their hair under the impression that they are taking good care of it. While the horrendous truth is that all the chemicals and conditions used for these treatments are very dangerous not only to hair but the general health of the body. The present paper digs deep into how the current hair care choices of modern lifestyle affect our health. It describes how the harmful ingredients enter the user's bloodstream through hair follicles, sweat glands and sebaceous glands causing not only minor ailments like irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin, dry hair and skin, hair loss, hair thinning, irritation of mucous membranes, blackheads but also leading to grave consequences like accumulation of toxins in organs and tissues, including the brain ; damage to organs including kidneys and lungs etc, eczema and cancer. The ironical addition to the horror is that sometimes the hair care products sold under 'Natural' label contain multitudes of harmful chemicals. There is need of strict regulations in our country to check the misleading and false information on the product labels.

Full text

National Seminar on ‘ Fight Against Life Style Diseases : Role of Home
Scientists’ organized by Indira Gandhi National College , Ladwa , Kurukshetra, 3
February, 2018
IMPACT OF MODERN HAIR CARE METHODS ON HEALTH
*Parul Gill, **Pankaj Gill and ***Poonam Malik
*Assistant Professor, I.B. College, Panipat, Haryana
**Head, Dept. of Home Sc., Pt. CLS Govt. College, Karnal, Haryana
*** Assistant Scientist, Dept. of Human Development and Family Studies, CCSHAU, Hisar
There was a time when hair care simply meant washing it with soap, or shampoo at the
most, and applying a fair amount of oil to keep the hair healthy, black and shining. With
change of time, the ways of hair care changed dramatically. Shampoo became a regular
feature along with a range of products and processes including hair oils, hair colours, hair
gel, hair spray, hair straightening, curling, perming, hair bleach, keratin treatment and so on.
The main categories of hair cosmetics include hair cleansing products, hair management
products, glossing products , softening products, thickening products, colouring products (or
color removal products) and styling products (to be used with curlers, straighteners, dryers
and so on). People do all this to their hair under the impression that they are taking good
care of it. While the horrendous truth is that all the chemicals and conditions used for these
treatments are very dangerous not only to hair but the general health of the body. The
present paper digs deep into how the current hair care choices of modern lifestyle affect our
health. It describes how the harmful ingredients enter the user’s bloodstream through hair
follicles, sweat glands and sebaceous glands causing not only minor ailments like irritation
of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin, dry hair and skin, hair loss, hair thinning, irritation of
mucous membranes, blackheads but also leading to grave consequences like accumulation
of toxins in organs and tissues, including the brain ; damage to organs including kidneys and
lungs etc, eczema and cancer . The ironical addition to the horror is that sometimes the hair
care products sold under ‘Natural’ label contain multitudes of harmful chemicals. There is
need of strict regulations in our country to check the misleading and false information on the
product labels.

E mail- parulgill1980@gmail.com