The sun can be your best friend or worst enemy. While being in the sun gives your body Vitamin D, energy, and can stimulate neurological reactions to better your mood, it can also cause skin cancer, wrinkles, faster aging, and damage your hair significantly via ultraviolet rays. Ultraviolet? More like Ultraviolent, amiright? 

But seriously, while each of these issues from the sun are separate and individually important in their own right, we’re here to discuss the hair damage that the sun can cause. 

There are three types of light waves from the sun: UVA, UVB and UVC. While UVC is the most dangerous, the ozone layer protects us from those rays, so we won’t focus on them much. But we will talk about Ultraviolet A and Ultraviolet B rays, both of which can cause significant damage to your hair in multiple ways. 

The rays with the longest wavelengths are UVA rays. They penetrate the hairs deep, all the way to the cortex, or center of the hair. This is a problem, and can cause color changes and damage to the outer layer. These rays can also penetrate past the hair and damage/burn your scalp. Sunburns on your scalp can cause hair loss and even skin cancer!

UVB rays can penetrate hair just as deep as UVAs, but UVBs dry your hair out, making you lose natural oils that keep your hair healthy, and causing damage to the hair cuticle. 

So what can you do to protect your beautiful locks from these harmful rays? Well, you can do a few different things. 

There are so many products out there that act like sunscreen for your hair. With high SPF ratings and other filters that are included in misting sprays or lotions that help specifically protect your hair from UVA and UVB rays, you have so many options! Also, hats and bandanas are a good deterrent from the sun and its harmful rays. 

The sun is necessary, but sometimes too much sun can be harmful. Just be wary of how often you’re subjecting your body and hair to the sun and its harmful rays, and be mindful of how you can protect yourself from those rays. 

Is your hair damaged, thinning, or shedding excessively? Call Apollo Hair Replacement of Dallas/Fort Worth today for your free consultation on what we can do for your hair! Get your healthy hair back. Get your life back!