Can children use hair conditioner?

Conditioner may be a little unfamiliar to boys, but it is definitely a necessity for girls. Many mothers also use conditioner when washing their baby's hair, which is not the correct approach. It is best not to use conditioner on children because their skin stratum corneum is not fully mature and improper use may cause skin damage. This article introduces the reasons why children do not use conditioner, let’s take a look.

Can children use hair conditioner?

It is best not to use conditioner on children. Conditioners are mainly composed of surfactants, auxiliary surfactants, cationic conditioning agents, fattening agents, oils, chelating agents, preservatives, pigments, flavors and other active ingredients. In fact, some chemical ingredients are harmful to the human body, and the process of using conditioners to care for hair is actually a chemical reaction process, which is somewhat irritating. Although these hazards are within an acceptable range for adults, children's skin is relatively delicate and more easily irritated, so it is best to avoid excessive use of chemical cleaning products.

Why is it not recommended to use conditioner on children?

Children's skin stratum corneum has not yet matured, the dermis is thin, the fibrous tissue is sparse, and the skin barrier function is not perfect. The skin is only protected by a layer of acidic protective film on the surface of the skin. It is very tender and sensitive and easily irritated and penetrated by foreign objects. Conditioners are made up of many ingredients. In addition to effective hair care ingredients, they also contain certain additives that can irritate and damage children's skin, and even penetrate into the body through the skin, affecting children's health. Therefore, try not to use conditioner on children.

Precautions for children's hair conditioner

If you really need to use conditioner, please pay attention to the following points:

1. Choose hair care products for infants or children. They should be pure and mild in quality. Their ingredients are non-irritating to the baby's skin. They should not contain soap, contain very little alcohol, and will not cause allergic reactions. They should preferably be neutral or weakly acidic. Do not use alkaline conditioners.

2. Take only a small amount of conditioner each time, try to avoid the roots and skin, and apply it to the ends of the hair. If you apply conditioner to the hair roots or skin or use too much, it can easily irritate the scalp and be harmful to your health;

3. The conditioner should not be kept on the ends of the hair for too long. It should be rinsed thoroughly after about 5 minutes without leaving any residue.

4. Children should not wash their hair too often, and should not rub their hair too hard when washing. When using a hair dryer, the distance from the hair should be greater than 10 cm. When the temperature of the hair dryer exceeds 80°C, the protein in the hair will be damaged. Therefore, it is not advisable to use a strong setting and the temperature should not be too high.

Why Children Need Hair Care

Because children have delicate constitutions and imperfect immune functions, they are extremely susceptible to interference from the external environment, such as irritants such as fungi, viruses, microorganisms, fumes, dust, etc., or due to emotional stimulation such as mental tension, shock, fear, etc., which may cause poor blood circulation at the roots of hair follicles and thus poor development. These problems should be avoided as much as possible in daily life. Children's hair follicles are in a period of rapid growth and development. Whether the hair follicles develop well or not plays a decisive role in the quality of hair throughout life. If the hair follicles do not develop well, the hair will become thin and soft, yellowish in color, and small in total amount in adulthood. Therefore, hair care should start from a young age.

How should children take care of their hair?

Children's hair care should adopt different methods according to different age groups.

1 to 3 years old

Children of this age group grow and develop quickly and have active metabolism, so they should wash their hair frequently. Babies under 6 months old should wash their hair once a day. Because their scalp is delicate, pure, mild and non-irritating baby shampoo should be used. Babies over 6 months old should wash their hair every 2 to 3 days. Use a shampoo that produces foam easily and gently massage the scalp with your fingertips to avoid severe scalp stimulation. Comb the hair frequently after shampooing to promote hair growth.

3-6 years old

Children of this age group have less oil secretion on their scalp than adults and are prone to losing their luster. This is a special period for hair care and a mild, non-irritating children's shampoo should be used. In addition, young children often need to supplement protein in appropriate amounts, because 70% of human hair is composed of protein, and hair growth also requires a certain amount of sulfur-containing amino acids. The human body cannot synthesize this type of amino acid and must be obtained through protein in food. Therefore, if a young child's daily protein intake is less than 50 grams, it will seriously affect hair growth.

6-12 years old

The hair of children at this age has basically completed its development, and the hair has become thicker and more resilient, but they still need to use a mild children's shampoo to wash their hair.

Medicated hair care for children

Children should take reasonable and safe care of their hair. They can refer to the use of Chinese medicine to prepare shampoo. Generally speaking, the main ones are to tonify Qi, nourish blood and promote blood circulation, nourish Yin and clear away heat. Qi-tonifying drugs, such as Astragalus, Codonopsis, and jujube; blood-tonifying and blood-activating drugs, such as Angelica, Salvia, Safflower, and Peach Kernel; Yin-nourishing drugs, such as Lycium barbarum, Polygonatum, Eclipta prostrata, Ophiopogon japonicus, Asparagus cochinchinensis, and Morus alba; heat-clearing drugs, such as Taraxacum, Forsythia, Viola yedoensis, Scutellaria, Phellodendron, and Sophora flavescens. The above-mentioned drug differentiation and application can promote the metabolism of scalp hair follicle cells and increase cell energy synthesis, such as a variety of amino acids, vitamins A, B, E; a variety of trace elements calcium, iron, zinc, selenium; a variety of enzymes, among which superoxide dismutase is beneficial for eliminating free radicals and preventing cell aging. In addition, it also contains a variety of sugars, monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, etc. The drug-formulated shampoo can fully guarantee the nutrient supply of hair follicles and promote their good development.