The Seven Reasons Why Your Hair Stinks

For ladies, hygiene is a top priority. Women spend more time for bathing time and more bucks on beauty and hygienic products.  Because of this demand, most hair growth shampoos and conditioners are scented to ensure that your tresses smell and feel clean.

However, when your hair starts to smell funny, then there could be something wrong. What could be the possible reasons why your mane’s stinky? Find out the causes of your smelly hair days and learn some ways to treat your hair right.

Stinky Problems: Seven Reasons Why Your Hair Smells Funny

You don’t cleanse your hair thoroughly.

Let’s debunk a myth: It is essential to shampoo your hair thoroughly every day. Washing your hair doesn’t only involve wetting it with water. It’s also necessary to use a cleansing shampoo to eliminate the gunk and oils on your scalp. When bacteria feed on your scalp’s sebum, they release a foul odor due to digestion. Thus, the greasier your hair gets, the more it becomes attractive for microbes, resulting in smelly hair.

You wash your hair too much.

Yes, overwashing your hair can also make your hair smelly. Excessive shampooing can overdry your scalp, pushing your sebaceous glands to secrete oils once more. Eventually, you may end up having a greasy scalp instead, thereby attracting odor-causing bacteria. To prevent drying your tresses and triggering sebum problems, you should clean your hair with shampoo for three minutes only, regardless of hair type and length.

Hormonal imbalance can affect your odor.

Hormones are chemicals that regulate and affect every process in your body, including how much sebum your oil glands secrete. Unfortunately, hormonal imbalance, which can be triggered by stress and other illnesses, can mess up your scalp’s oil production, leading to sebum build-up and bacterial growth.

You overeat spicy foods.

Your diet affects your hair’s condition, especially its odor. When you eat spicy foods, you also tend to sweat more, thereby attracting bacteria that feed on your sweat. These microbes release stench when they break down the proteins and sugar present in your perspiration.

You don’t wash your hair after you exercise.

Sweating is actually healthy for your body. In fact, your perspiration is your body’s way of cooling down. However, when you work out, your body temperature increases, causing you to sweat more than usual. Hence, it is essential to wash off sweat to prevent the onset of body odor.

You drink too much booze.

As much as you’d like to spend beer and wine nights with your family and friends, excessive consumption can take a toll not only on hair growth but also can make your hair smelly. According to studies, alcohol is treated by the body as a toxin, so your liver breaks it down.

However, too much alcohol is difficult for the liver to handle. Thus, alcohol oxidation takes place, resulting in the secretion of acetic acid. This substance is then excreted through your urine and sweat. The more you sweat after drinking alcohol, the higher the chances of attracting bacteria that release a filthy odor.

You sweat when the weather’s humid. 

When the weather’s humid, your sweat doesn’t evaporate quickly, so it stays longer on your skin, thereby enticing microbes that feed on it. Humidity is another reason why many people sweat during their sleep since the body is pre-programmed to cool down at nighttime. Because sweat doesn’t evaporate immediately, it seeps on your skin the whole night, giving enough time for bacteria to digest and release an odor.

You cover up your hair with hats, caps, or beanies for a long time.

Covering your pate protects you from the harsh weather or the environment’s pollutants. However, it can also warm your head and cause you to sweat, which, of course, attracts odor-causing microbes. Thus, remove your headwear immediately if you think that you can’t handle the heat.

Say Goodbye to Your Smelly Hair Problem.

Sweat can cause your hair and scalp to smell. Thus, you should ensure that your scalp and tresses are properly cleansed to prevent oil and sweat from attracting bacteria and releasing stinking odor. It would also help to use naturally scented shampoos and conditioners so that your hair smells fresh and clean 24/7.