What is hard water and what can you do to protect your skin and hair from it

Pre-mature hair loss, sensitive and dry skin are often caused due to hard water. which is chlorinated This is a common phenomenon for people who live in the cities and are forced to use this water for bathing purpose.

How to recognize hard water

If you find any hard or calcified or green deposits on the bath fittings at a point or white spots on the utensils, they are called lime scale and is a sign of hard water. These minerals and salts can get deposited on the skin and prevents any moisture to get deposited. Even the pores of the scalp could be blocked and could lead to problems like dandruff or frizzy hair.

Despite the fact that you might be using some of the best products in the market for your skin and hair, but most of them become less effective, once they react with the minerals in the hard water. Such a problem could usually lead to scalp calcification as the scalp gets coated with calcium carbonate. Here the hair follicles fail to get the nutrients that they need to remain healthy.

How to protect the hair and skin from hard water?

1. Wash with RO/drinking water – You can make use of RO or drinking water for bathing. If not for the entire shower, you could just use it for the last rinse.

2. Use water softeners – This could be a little expensive option as it requires some level of maintenance. These are usually fitted to the inlet line of the geyser in the bathroom. The process reduces the hardness of the water.

3. Install shower and tap filters – These are affordable as you just need to have showers and taps that have inner filter cartridges that can give you clean water. They are easy to install and you could also replace the old bathroom fittings.

4. Hard water shampoos –These are shampoos that are easily available in the market and help to cleanse the deposits which are caused by hard water on the hair and scalp.

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