Need hair help, please!

[runamuk]

My daughter started swimming lessons in September and she loves it. But I hate what it's doing to her hair. Her hair is nearly waist length and is slowly becoming a dried out, tangled mess. I've tried wetting her hair before letting her get in the pool, putting some conditioner on it before she gets in the water and using a chlorine-removing shampoo. I've bought heavier conditioners and deep conditioners. I bought her a swim cap, but her hair still got wet under the cap!

 

I don't know what else to do. It seems fine when it's wet, but once it dries, it's knotty, tangly, and dry. Leave-in conditioners don't make a difference, either. I can brush it in the morning and an hour later it's a knotty mess.

 

She loves swimming and wants to continue (and since this is pretty much all the physical activity she's willing to do, I don't want to pull her out of lessons). She doesn't want to cut her hair (and I'd hate to see it cut, too) but I'm afraid that it's going to come to that.

 

Is there anything else I can try before I make an appointment with the stylist?

[E_Edgerton]

I would try a combo of everything you are currently doing. I would wet the hair with reg. water before swim practice, then apply a very moisturizing leave-in conditioner, then cover the hair in a swimming cap. Once practice is over, rinse hair and add a leave-conditioner again. Also with hair that long, regular trimmings really help with those dead ends. Good luck. Maybe you just need to try everything at once, instead of one at a time. :)

[Chris in VA]

Honestly, as much as it would hurt, I'd cut it. Dd swam, too, and it did make her hair more vulnerable to stress. We cut it about 7 inches, and wow, it made a huge difference. We also deep condition it more often--not at the scalp, but midway thru. We braid it loosely when wet, and I told her she can either keep it braided (loosely), or face the hurt.

[Tami]

You need a shampoo that will remove every bit of chlorine. We use Paul Mitchel's Shampoo 3. My dd swims 3 times a week and her used to get chlorine damage, but her hair is in perfect condition since we began using the Shampoo 3! It's great stuff. You'd never know she swims by looking at her hair.

 

Another thing is to shampoo right after practice, instead of waiting until you get home. The faster that chlorine is shampooed out, the better.

 

Any conditioner is fine - the key is using a specially formulated shampoo that will remove any and all chlorine.

[NevadaRabbit]

Nexxus makes a shampoo called Aloe Rid which is great at removing pool build-up, too.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I don't know what kind of cap you have. The silicon one does a better job of keeping their hair dry, but long hair is hard.

 

Do get a good swim shampoo, keep it conditioned and braid it before she swims, so that it tangles less.

[In The Great White North]

Dd's swim 5 days a week. They wear a cap (but don't either wet their hair or put conditioner in first,) and wash and condition their hair after every swim. Their hair is beautiful. They use Suave shampoo and conditioner (Smooth and Silky, I think, in a white bottle.)

 

Ds has bought into the idea that shampoo will ruin his suit (which Speedo does claim, but given a choice, I'd rather ruin my suit than my hair) and refuses to wash his hair after swimming. His hair is like a dull wire brush.

 

I think the key is washing it immediately after swimming every time. When dd's hair was at it's longest, she combed it in the shower and braided it to keep it from getting tangled.

 

We do trim the bottom few inches of split ends periodically also.

 

When I swam (through college,) I had so much chlorine in my hair it was white-blond (it's brownish now), but still smooth and no knots. Everyone on the team washed and conditioned her hair after every practice, even twice a day! It's not that hard to manage but does use a lot of conditioner.

[runamuk]

Thank you for all the ideas and tips. :)

 

I've been using Ultra Swim shampoo, but it's so expensive and I have to order it (which can nearly double the price, depending on who has it in stock). I can find both Nexxus and Paul Mitchell here, so I'll give those a try.

 

I'll also try wetting her hair, putting a leave in conditioner on, putting a swim cap on, then washing her hair right away. And I'll have a bit more trimmed at her next appointment.

 

*fingers crossed that this helps*

 

Thanks!