Blond-haired people dye their hair black, grey-haired people dye their hair red, black-haired people dye their hair blond. To achieve extreme changes in hair colour, hair dyes must break down the structure of the hair.
Unsurprisingly, this can have the effect of weakening the hair, and can even result in hair loss or hair breakage.
Hair loss from dyeing is not uncommon in people who dye their hair frequently. But it depends on which hair dye is used. Minor changes in colour shades are not a problem. But overly-frequent hair dyeing with permanent colours can lead to hair loss.
There are many ways to change your hair colour. You can have your hair dyed by a hairdresser, or you can buy dye at the drugstore to dye your hair yourself. But there are also many home remedies that can be used to dye your hair.
You cannot expect too much from herbal dyes. They only allow a short-term change in the shade of the hair colour. If you want a radical change, you must resort to chemical substances. But here, too, there are differences.
Which dyes are available for changing hair colour?
1. Temporary colouring is often used for grey hair. For example, silver shine shampoo takes away the blue or purple tinge from grey hair. However, the hair must be washed regularly with the shampoo to maintain the colour shade. The colour wraps around the hair and comes off when the hair is washed.
2. Semi-permanent or tints penetrate only very superficially into the cuticle structure of the hair. They adhere more strongly than the temporary colours, but still wash out after 6-8 hair washes.
3. Demi-permanent colouring does not contain ammonia, which means that no lightening of the hair is possible. Darker shades are possible. However, the toxic nitrogen compound hydrogen peroxide opens the cuticle of the hair, allowing the colour molecules to penetrate the hair.
4. Permanent hair colouring and bleaching. When permanently colouring the hair, first the ammonia and hydrogen peroxide open the hair cuticle. The ammonia destroys the pigments and new pigments are added by tinting.
The aggressive substances contained in the products attack the cuticle of the hair and the scalp, which in the case of a bad reaction can mean that the hairs fall out. But these ingredients are essential for the colour molecules to penetrate deep into the hair shafts. In this way, even extreme colour changes are possible.
How to stop hair loss caused by dyeing your hair
You can counteract hair loss caused by hair colouring most effectively, or even stop it altogether, by colouring your hair with high-quality ammonia and PPD (P-Phenylendiamin) free hair dyes. You should also colour your hair no more than four times a year.
Another good solution is to go to a hairdresser to have highlights done in foil. This prevents the toxic colour from getting into the pores of the scalp. This way you are protected from allergic reactions to the colour and from hair loss.
Take care of your coloured hair with high-quality care products to prevent not only hair loss but also hair breakage.
Can I dye my hair if I have hair loss?
If you are already suffering from hair loss or hair thinning, it is better not to dye your hair. Hair loss is a sign that your hair is not doing well, and you should not put it under further stress by colouring it.
Even though dyes do not contain ammonia, most hair dye products contain PPD (P-phenylenediamine) which is much more often responsible for allergic reactions at the hairdresser. Therefore, if you want to dye your hair despite hair loss, you should use vegetable dye products.
If you are greying and suffering from hair loss, you can also use a product that induces the re-pigmentation of your hair.
In the case of grey hair, there is little eumelanin (black and brown hair) and little phaeomelanin pigment (blond and red hair) left in the hair. The melanin has been replaced with carbon bubbles. Re-pigmentation reactivates the production of the pigments so that the hair grows back in colour.
When hair recover from loss after hair colouring?
Temporary hair loss after hair colouring can only improve when colouring is stopped. Once the stressed hair follicles return to the growth phase, hair growth should then resume as normal.
If the hair follicles have been irrevocably destroyed in the colouring process, then only a hair transplant can help to cover bald spots. However, other causes such as genetic male or female pattern hair loss, telogen effluvium, alopecia areata or diffuse hair loss should be excluded beforehand.
We at Cosmedica – Dr. Acar are happy to answer all your questions. Or take advantage of our free hair analysis without obligation.
