World Water Day 2014: Is hard water ruining your skin and hair?

March 22 is World Water Day. 

Water has several benefits for our hair, skin and body. But often, people who use hard water for daily purposes like bathing, cleaning, etc may find their hair and skin to be in bad shape. Prolonged usage of hard water can have harsh ill-effects on one’s beauty. Hence, it becomes essential that they take adequate steps to ensure this not happen. 

How can hard water affect our hair and skin?

Says Dr Shefali Trasi Nerurkar, ‘Hard water is basically water rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, bicarbonates, sulphates, etc. The more the mineral content, the harder the water. Regular usage of hard water leads to dryness of the skin further leading to a skin condition called dry eczema. In patients already suffering from eczemas and psoriasis this dryness can irritate the skin and aggravate the diseases. 

Another reason for the skin and hair becoming dry is because soaps and shampoos do not lather well in hard water hence people tend to use it a lot. As the result, the scales on the hair become prominent. It looks rough and gets tangled more often. The skin becomes itchy, prone to rash and sensitive to sunlight. ‘

‘Since hard water makes the hair frizzy, dry and brittle, it can even lead to hair loss as brittle hair breaks easily. People who have a family history of skin problems have a tough time with hard water, ‘ says Dr Jaishree Sharad.

How to avoid the ill-effects of hard water?

Dr Sharad advises doing the following: