Straight hair is something a lot of us plan to have when dressing up for an occasion. It is easier to manage and gives a sleek look with both formal as well as casual attire. Due to this, hair straightening is one of the mainstream hair styling options that gives you the look of your choice in a matter of minutes. However, regardless of whether you use a straightening iron at home or opt for a chemical treatment at a salon, it has a wide range of side effects.

These side effects can be disastrous for your hair’s health and appearance in the long run. You must know about the damage it can cause to your hair before you opt for hair straightening the next time. Here are the common side effects of using hair straighteners:

1. Dryness
If you have ever seen smoke coming out of your hair while using a hair straightener, it could be a sign of damage. While straighteners are hot hair styling tools, the smoke that comes out of your hair is steam. A hair straightener seeps out all the moisture in your hair to straighten the hair stands and secure them in place. While straightening, the moisture from your hair can only escape through evaporation, so the moisture turns into steam and escapes the hair strand. This is the reason your hair reverts to its natural style when you wash it. Washing the hair restores lost moisture in each hair strand. This implies that one-off instances of hair straightening can be managed by washing your hair after. On the other hand, prolonged and regular use of chemical treatments and hair straighteners can eliminate the natural oils from your hair, which makes them brittle and dry.

2. Frizz
It is believed that straightening hair is a proven method of avoiding and managing frizz, but using hair straighteners to manage frizz is counter-intuitive. The reason for this is that frequent hair straightening increases frizz instead of alleviating it.

3. Breakage
As both permanent and temporary hair straighteners can cause dryness, they also make the hair strands weaker. This makes the individual hair strands prone to breakage.

4. Split ends
Straighteners can weaken your hair to the point where they start breaking vertically, creating split ends. Not only do split ends indicate the fragileness of your hair, but they also make your hair look unappealing.

5. Dullness
Excessive use of hair straighteners can rid your hair of its natural oils that add moisture and shine to your hair. A lack of these two key components turns your hair dull, frizzy, dry and lifeless.

6. Hair fall
Regular heat treatments like straightening not only damage your hair but also affect the hair follicles. The chemicals used in permanent or temporary hair straightening also weakens the roots, which results in hair fall, affecting the volume and resulting in thin and weak hair.