Can Bleach Permanently Damage Hair Follicles? Short answer: no!!!

 

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: Does Bleaching Your Hair Damage it Forever? What Can You Do Beforehand to Prevent Damage

 

The hair follicle is the part of the skin that gives hair growth by concentrating stem cells.

Also, the hair follicle is a cavity in the skin where hair grows. It goes from the superficial to the deep skin layer.

 

To put it simply:  to think that bleach can damage the follicle would be like thinking about damaging a root by removing all the leaves. 

There’s no way for the bleach to damage the follicle simply because the bleach has no direct contact with the follicles.

Can the follicle be damaged?

 

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: Does bleaching your hair make it thinner? Does it make it grow slower?

 

Some diseases damage the hair follicle, but they aren’t related to bleaching

It starts when follicles are damaged or when the follicles become blocked. For example, this can happen by friction against clothing.

In most cases, the damaged follicles are infected by staphylococcus bacteria. But this happens most often on beard hairs. It rarely occurs on the scalp. Therefore, we can practically rule out damage due to bleaching.

 

It appears when the immune system attacks the hair follicles. The reason could be stressful situations, but never bleaching.

 

Why does bleaching damage the hair?

Bleaching shouldn’t actually damage anything. Otherwise, it would be a problem.

 What actually “damages” is the misuse of bleach. 

What do I mean by misuse?

Let’s see:

 

According to the rules, the strongest peroxide allowed for use in hairdressing salons is 40 volume. This is already a very aggressive product. Imagine using a higher concentration!

 

The results may be whiter hair but also burned, gummy, brittle, and dull hair.

However,  although the hair would perhaps fall out, the follicle would remain healthy, which would help regrow new hair. 

 

There are many different brands on the market, from premium to lower quality ones.

When choosing a product, try to look for the best qualities. They won’t only mean optimal results, but also care for your hair.

 Again: under no circumstances should bleach powder damage the hair follicles. 

 

This is one of the fundamental points in the preservation of hair quality. Either overexposure or underexposure will modify not only the result of the work but also the porosity and the health of the hair fiber.

 

1) Under-exposure: will result in a darker shade than what you were looking for. There won’t be a chance to lighten it further with hair dye. So, you’ll have to bleach again.

 My suggestion, in this case, is to do it with a low volume peroxide not to compromise the quality of the hair. 

 

2) Overexposure: this will be one of the most damaging issues for your hair, as it will not only weaken the inside of the hair core but will also damage it even up to the point that it may break and cut.

 

 Both underexposure and overexposure will damage the hair fiber. However, the hair follicles won’t be affected. 

 

This is the other big problem for the health of your hair. The more times you bleach your hair, the more it will deteriorate.

Of course, the deterioration will be much milder by using low-volume peroxides, but it doesn’t mean it won’t deteriorate. It’ll just be slower.

 

You should remember that in the meantime between bleaching sessions, you should try to keep your hair as hydrated and nourished as possible so that the next bleaching will find the hair in the best possible conditions.

 

On the contrary, if you don’t take care of your hair correctly, each bleaching will continue reducing quality. It’ll continue to thin the hair progressively, which will be the equivalent of overexposure. In extreme cases, it may end up cutting and falling out.

However, as I have already explained, none of this will affect the hair follicles. Because there is no way that this will ever alter the part that is below the scalp level.

 

Conclusion

Overly aggressive bleaching with the wrong peroxide and overexposure for a very long time will cause a disaster in any hair.

It’ll have very serious consequences, such as, for example, the loss of part of the hair. Even blisters may appear on the scalp and water may ooze out, among other consequences.

 

All this will damage the hair, it will severely injure the scalp. Still, it’ll never damage the follicle. So, with time, the hair will grow back healthy.

You can rest assured that bleaching won’t affect the follicle in any way. But that doesn’t mean you can do anything.

 

 Bleaching is one of the riskiest jobs. While you can rest assured that your hair will grow back, it requires a high degree of responsibility   and patience to achieve your goals. You have to know what to mix and how much exposure time each job should take.

 

That’s why I always say that the best is to go to your trusted stylist for such complex and dangerous jobs.

They will be able to achieve the results you’re looking for and guarantee that your hair will be healthy.

Don’t stop looking for your desired color, but make sure that this dream doesn’t end in a nightmare. Go ahead!