If there is one thing that separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom is our need to look good and feel good.

And that includes taking care of our hair.

Although hair styling is generally associated with the female of the species, most men also like to maintain proper grooming.

However is all this styling doing our hair more harm than good? In short, is over-styling damaging the hair?

It appears the answer is yes. Overusing styling gels along with tools that heat the hair and so on, causes the hair to become brittle, frizzy and lacklustre.

In some cases, hair can thin and fall out.

However while this is perhaps rather unfortunate news, hair is remarkable in being able to recover, if not completely.

While dermatologists will say that broken or damaged hair cannot be totally healed, there are ways which can reduce or manage the problem.

One useful tip is to use just one product range. Constantly changing from one type of product to another will not give the hair time to recover.

Similarly, constantly changing hair colour doesn’t do the hair any good at all. Try to stick with one colour type or change very rarely. If you need to change your hair colour it is also advisable to get the work done by a specialist professional.

Over-washing also dries the hair with the resultant loss of essential oils. According to dermatologists just because hair looks and feels clean doesn’t mean it is healthy and in a good condition.

The recommendation is only shampoo hair about once or twice per week. Every other day causes damage. The shampoo used should also relate to the type of hair you have.