I’m sure many of you have used cheap hair dryers that are bulky, heavy, and just gets the job done (guilty!) so why bother spend more energy on the hunt for a great product than you have to? Here’s why you shouldn’t only care about your hair.
I personally have used a $30 Conair dryer for 10 years because I didn’t want to spend money on something that I believed wasn’t going to improve much when it came to the technology behind it. It did the job and I was happy, or so I thought.
All of my problems started gradually when I was 15. I’ve always struggled with an oily scalp, but it wasn’t until high school (because looking done-up was expected) where I would wash my hair every day. And blow-dry. AND straighten. Every. Single. Day. For 3 years. I screwed up big time and I wish I had the knowledge back then that I did the worst thing imaginable to my own hair. So the health of my scalp was compromised and it was trying to tell me so, but I brushed it off as something I had to live with for the rest of my life.
Over time I noticed my hair becoming crispy because of the heat from the dryer (around 180 degrees F on the low setting but I’d be on high), and new growth at my roots which meant my hair was literally breaking off. Because of this breakage, I wouldn’t go for regular trims in hopes my hair would grow (silly mistake – go for regular trims!), but my shorter layers more exposed to the elements would become frizzy and it was just a hot mess. I lost full control of managing my mane. Specific hair products to help with all of my concerns didn’t help, and I tried the no ‘poo method which made everything worse. I was at wits end and debated on chopping it all off and starting from scratch.
About 3 years ago I started to develop some really bad shoulder pain. I figured it was just from being a Registered Massage Therapist and an expected injury since my job is extremely physical and I’m also right side dominant – which is another factor. So I did some light rehab and it helped, but it only got worse when I would blow-dry my hair because the dryer was so HEAVY. I couldn’t handle raising my arm above my head to round brush for more than 10 seconds because of the pain. How am I supposed to do the rest of my hair when it normally takes 20 minutes to dry and style? This is BAD. My husband would see me hunched over in my attempt to not raise my arms to help with the pain, or resting my elbow on the doorframe, but I shouldn’t have to do that. Plus that was giving me back pain. Basic strength in your arms is necessary to handle your activities of daily life, and if I was feeling this at 25, I’m screwed for what the future holds. I feared that I would have to find another career, but I didn’t want to. I wouldn’t.
Then along came the holy grail of dryers. The Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer. At first I thought who on earth would spend $500 for a hair dryer? That’s crazy! But I researched, and my husband researched, and he actually suggested it might be time to invest in myself (because he was sick of hearing of me complaining my shoulder hurt). The Dyson weighs 1.8 lbs and it’s claimed that it reduces drying time, so you better believe we went to Sephora and I held this dryer for 10 minutes above my head. No one questioned me or did a double take once though, so I can’t be the only one with this problem.
After some time of using the Dyson, I was able to handle drying my hair without hunching over, and I didn’t have shoulder pain anymore. I still currently do some light rehab to maintain the mobility and strength now as preventative care and it has helped tremendously, but not using something that weighed a brick helps a lot too!
So let me put it this way, if my previous dryer lasted me 10 years (I stopped drying my hair in the summer because the humidity would ruin all work put into styling), I can definitely spend at most $50 a year on a product that will not cause me pain, and because of its no extreme heat, my hair has gradually become healthier (also in conjunction with hair training and using more natural hair products).
For rehab purposes, I would strongly suggest seeing all types of manual therapists and strength coaches to help with whatever ailments you have and to find the therapy that you vibe with the best. I recommend the staff at The Movement Lab as I have had great results for my needs.
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