Hard water is not literally hard!!! But following a technical approach, hard water is referred to that kind of water which possesses abundant mineral content. Two substantial names in the list of malice ingredients of hard water are Calcium and Magnesium. Pure soft water is believed to gather such minerals, sulphates or bicarbonates from soil or rock and result into the malign solution that we know as hard water. The infamy of hard water turns evident when a person undergoes direct contact with the same via skin or hair. Hard water starts showing out adverse reaction over timely usage.
It is important to know more about what hard water does to our overall wellbeing in the long run. Some dangerous effects of using hard water for skin and hair conditioning are as follow:
Eczema in Children
Eczema is a dreadful condition that leaves no moisture on the skin, particularly in children. Grey and parched patches start surfacing over the face of the victim. Sometimes, when the hard water consumption is raised, red throbbing skin irritations begin to annoy patients to extreme degrees. It is well understood that dryness leads to irritation. Soaps and shampoos are recorded to worsen child’s Eczema. Whenever your child suffers from eczema, take care to minimize the usage of soaps, shampoos and detergents as hard water heavily surges on the usage of such products.
Plausible Ageing Effects
The constituents of hard water like calcium, iron, lead, magnesium etc. are found to make essential bonds with vigorous skin cells. Once the bondage is made, the minerals stimulate a chain reaction of extinguishing skin cells of the hard water-treated area. This sudden breakdown could possibly result in skin irritation and redness. The minerals in the hard water steal away moisture content from the victim’s face. Further continues to develop fine lines, cracks or wrinkles on the person’s face, making the face look dull and older.
Unavoidable Hair Loss
Hair loss turns inevitable if the person continues to bath in hard water. Due to the obstruction at the hair follicles, diminishing and rupturing of hair starts. . Excessive use of hard water eventually leads to uncompromising hair loss.
Brittleness of hair
When a person uses a soap to cleanse his hair, he unknowingly invites dullness, dryness and roughness into his hair. The hair starts falling off. Even waning of hair colour is a possible after effect of using hard water
Skin Infections
The insoluble minerals present in the hard water leave germs on a person’s face whenever he or she washes face with hard water. On account of this harmful germ penetration, the body’s organic oil fails to approach epidermis of the skin and ultimately leads to dreadful skin infections.
Some Easy Fixes and Solutions for Hard Water
To considerably reduce the above mentioned effects due to the use of hard water in daily life, you must adhere to following preventions.
Prevention for Skin Damage
The first thing to do is to determine the hardness of the water you use. If the results are above the tolerable limits, intense care should be exercised. Soap, after its amalgamation with hard water is found to create insoluble compounds that stays on the skin and causes dryness. It is recommended to use soaps that contain less pH value.
Prevention for Hair damage
Showerhead water filters available in the market lessen the damage caused due to the hard water. Using clarifying shampoos instead of ordinary ones helps greatly in preventing the hair impairment. Useful home remedy includes washing your hair with lime juice and vinegar.
In some parts of the world, hard water is inevitable due to lack of other choices. In such cases, try and use distilled or mineral water while washing hair and for bathing purposes. The damage might reduce significantly.