Top 5 Healthy Hair Tips for Men

While every woman you know probably has a cabinet full of products to keep her skin and hair looking healthy and beautiful, you’ll be lucky to find a guy who uses conditioner after his morning shampoo, much less pays attention to keeping his hair healthy. It’s sort of surprising, then, that men get so obsessed with their hair the moment it starts to fall out. Balding in men is not uncommon, and yet, many men haven’t the foggiest notion of why it happens or what they can do to preserve a healthy head of hair. Most may assume that hair loss is a foregone conclusion, or that they’ll have to take extreme measures to keep their hair. But whether your follicles are just starting to recede or you’ve noticed significant thinning, there are steps you can take to keep the hair you have, regain the hair you lost, and enjoy a healthy scalp and hair overall. Here are some healthy hair tips for the guys out there that have decided they want to preserve their pates.

1. Treat wet hair with care. If you’ve seen a guy towel off his head and start yanking through his hair with a brush following his daily shower, then you know the rough treatment that most men inflict upon their follicles. This is the absolute worst offense when it comes to maintaining a healthy head of hair. In case you didn’t know, hair is made up of keratin proteins that are weakened by water and much more prone to stretching and breaking when wet. So washing less, patting hair dry with a towel rather than rubbing it, and switching to a wide-tooth comb instead of a brush are a good start when it comes to keeping hair healthy. Skipping heat treatments (i.e. blow drying) is also a smart idea.
2. Choose the right shampoo. Some shampoos strip hair of essential nutrients while others pile on heavy waxes that can do just as much damage. Choosing the right shampoo is an important aspect of keeping hair healthy. But for men that suffer from follicular loss, a product that contains minoxidil may be in the cards. Although not all hair loss responds to this chemical, it does help to halt the process for many users.
3. Limit styling products. Not only are many styling products damaging to hair thanks to the inclusion of alcohol, but they may require additional lather and scrubbing to remove, both of which can also hurt hair. Luckily, products like conditioner and serums can add a bit of control while helping to seal hair cuticles. While they certainly won’t help mold hair into gravity-defying styles, they can add just enough hold to make hair a little more manageable.
4. Consider diet and exercise. You might scoff at the idea that nutrition and activity have anything to do with the health of one’s hair. And yet, the overall state of health and wellness can have positive or negative effects on every bodily system, including the hair.
5. Frequent trims. Whether a man’s hair is thick and lustrous or starting to thin, regular visits to the salon can help to keep it healthy and looking as good as possible. Any rookie at MEI barber school can tell you that long hair requires more care. And if you happen to have thinning locks, keeping them long will only make the condition more apparent. So men should keep their hair neatly trimmed if they want it to look and feel healthy.