The Correct Way To Tie Your Hair At Night Before Sleeping

Have you often woken up with frizzy and knotted hair? Or, a bunch of strands on your pillow? You’re probably not tying your hair the right way before hitting the bed.

Yes, it’s important to know how to protect your hair at night to prevent hair loss during your beauty sleep.

In this article, we share all the essential and easy tips for tying your hair while sleeping, so as to prevent damage.

Our Ayurvedic Doctor Speaks

“Tying your hair tightly can damage your hair roots and cause traction alopecia. Hence, you need to wear your hair in a loose ponytail or braid which does not apply much pulling force on your scalp.”

-Dr. Zeel Gandhi (Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine & Surgery), Chief Ayurvedic Doctor, Vedix

Highlights:

• Is It Good To Tie Your Hair At Night?
• How To Protect Your Hair While Sleeping?
• How To Tie Your Hair While Sleeping?
• What Happens If You Don’t Protect Your Hair At Night?

Is It Good To Tie Your Hair At Night?

While tying your hair during sleep has its own advantages and disadvantages, you need to take the call depending on your hair type.

It is best to sleep with your hair down if your hair length is short. This also lets the air flow freely through your hair, which makes you sleep more comfortably.

On the other hand, if you have long hair, it is recommended to tie your hair loosely to prevent knots and breakage. Leaving your long hair open while sleeping can increase frizziness and cause hair loss eventually.

“Tying your hair tightly can damage your hair roots and cause traction alopecia [1]. Hence, you need to wear your hair in a loose ponytail or braid which does not apply much pulling force on your scalp,” says Dr. Zeel Gandhi, Chief Ayurvedic Doctor at Vedix.

How To Protect Your Hair While Sleeping?

1. Brush Your Hair Before Going To Bed

Make sure you gently brush your hair from the scalp roots to tips before you hit the bed. This helps to detangle your hair while distributing the scalp’s natural oils evenly across your hair.

Ayurveda suggests using a wide-toothed comb or boar bristle brush made of neem wood for your hair every night. You need to comb your hair gently and avoid overdoing it. Also, avoid brushing your hair when it is wet.

2. Never Sleep With Wet Hair

Damp hair is extremely fragile and can attract fungal infections. Sleeping without drying your hair after a shower can result in severe hair fall.

Also, wet hair can become unruly in the morning and tend to break easily. Hence, it is better to avoid washing your hair at night.

If unavoidable, ensure that your hair is fully dried before you go to sleep.

3. Apply Overnight Hair Serum

There is no better time than bedtime to treat your scalp and hair with nourishing hair serums. Applying a natural or Ayurvedic serum to your scalp overnight rejuvenates your hair follicles and boosts your hair growth. Similarly, applying a serum to the hair shaft at night enables you to wake up with soft and frizz-free hair in the morning.

You can spray plain diluted aloe vera gel[3] as a natural serum on your scalp and hair before sleeping.

“Silicone-free hair serums made of natural ingredients are a great choice. However, silicone-based serums may cause product buildup over time,” says Dr. Zeel.

4. Moisturize Your Hair With Warm Oil Treatment

Apply warm Ayurvedic oil [4] on your scalp and hair before going to bed. You can wash your hair the next morning. This not only moisturizes your hair through deep conditioning, but also strengthens your roots by providing immense nourishment.

Besides dosha balancing properties, hair oils contain essential vitamins, minerals, omega fatty acids, phytosterols, etc.. When applied overnight, these get more time to deeply penetrate into your hair follicles.

Also, oils act as a protective layer against any physical damage on your scalp and hair shaft when you are asleep.

Dr.Zeel recommends scheduling a warm oil treatment for your scalp and hair twice or thrice a week. Do not apply hair serums or dry shampoos on the nights you apply hair oil.

5. Massage Your Scalp

Massaging your scalp before sleeping can effectively stimulate blood circulation to your follicles. This in turn promotes healthy hair growth, besides inducing deep sleep.

Vedix Tip: The time between 6 pm-10 pm at night is Kapha dominant and Pitta dosha aggravates after 10 pm. Hence, it is best to go to bed before 10 pm when Kapha is influential and wake up before sunrise (6 pm) when Vata is influential [5]. Staying awake late at night can result in hair loss, grey hair and greasy dandruff due to elevated Pitta dosha. Also, avoid using any kind of electronic gadgets ahead of your bedtime as it triggers Vata dosha, which decreases your sleep quality

6. Use Satin/Silk Pillowcase

If you sleep on pillowcases made of harsh fabrics, it may cause breakage in your hair. Cotton pillowcases absorb moisture from your hair, making your hair dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. Hence, you need to switch your pillowcase to soft fabric such as silk or satin to prevent hair damage.

7. Wear A Sleep Cap Or Scarf

To preserve your defined curls during your sleep, you must wear a hair cap or wrap your hair with a scarf made of satin or silk fabric.

This prevents any form of friction between your hair and pillowcase, giving your hair a smoother texture the next morning.

Note :

If you are a dry shampoo person, it is better to avoid it at night as it is usually made with a lot of harmful chemicals and can get absorbed into the scalp easily while sleeping. It is recommended to use dry shampoos in the morning at moderate levels only when necessary and you have no time for hair wash. But remember, it should never be a replacement for your regular hair wash.

How To Tie Your Hair While Sleeping?

1. Keep your braids or buns as loose as possible while you sleep.

2. If you have long hair, a loose braid at the nape of your neck is one of the best ways to decrease the chances of hair damage during sleep.

3. Tying a high bun is also a damage-free sleep hair style. When you tie your bun in the crown region, it does not interfere with your sleep & can add volume to thin and flat hair.

4. If you have straight hair, sleeping with braided hair is a heat-free styling technique that can give you natural curls in the morning. Also, it keeps your hair tangle-free.

5. Never tie your hair with bands made of metal, elastic or any rough materials. Always use rubber bands/scrunchies made of soft fabrics.

6. It’s best to leave extremely short hair (bob/boy/pixie cuts) open while sleeping.

What Happens If You Don’t Protect Your Hair At Night?

Tight hairstyles or unprotected hair, especially while you are asleep, can cause harsh physical damage or traction alopecia. It could also lead to hair loss, tangles, split ends, frizz and breakage, if not cared for properly.

The Last Word

• Improper hair care routines before sleeping in the night can ruin the health of your hair.
• While you are asleep, your hair undergoes different processes such as repairing, reinforcement, and growth.
• So always tie your hair in a loose bun or braid while sleeping at night.
• Brush your hair gently and use soft fabrics for pillows and rubberbands that stay in direct contact with your hair throughout the night.