Many of us with beautiful and luscious hair want to give their hair a new style to drive away the blues arising from that persistent grey hair problem. To get those in fashion curls and adorn a new look, you may look to perm your hair. Perming facilitates giving tight curls to the hair and a style that goes with your face. If you wish to go in for a hairstyle that would look better with a hint of curl, hair perms are here to help - create the hairstyle you wish, be it big natural curls or tight spiral curls.

The key to the perming process lies in the fact that perming solution is alkaline. The scale used by scientists for their measurements is called the pH scale. The pH scale ranges from pH 1 to pH 14. All you need to remember is that acids have pH numbers less than 7. Alkalis have pH numbers greater than 7. The more acidic the solution, the lower is the pH number; the more alkaline the solution, the greater the pH number. Hair responds to changes in pH. If a hair is placed in an alkaline solution it swells, and the scales of the cuticle lift. In a slightly acid solution, the scales lie smoothly and the hair is soft. In a strongly acid or alkaline solution, however, the keratin protein starts to break down, leading to possible hair loss.

Getting your hair permed involves use of chemicals to break and reform the disulfide bonds of the hair. The hair is washed and wrapped on a perm rod and waving lotion is applied with a base. As the lotion is alkaline (pH about 9), the scales of the cuticle open slightly, allowing the lotion to flow under the cuticle and into the cortex. The alkaline lotion reacts with the keratin of the cortex, breaking some of the disulphide cross-links within and between the protein chains. The solution creates a chemical action that softens the inner structure of the hair so that it can stretch take any form.

The selection of perm rod also plays an important part in the entire process. Spiral and concave rods should be avoided in perming as spiral wrapped hair creates a looser curl while concave rods make it impossible to wrap the hair without peaking the ends. A straight or cylindrical type rod should ideally be used for the most natural wave pattern as it can be wrapped with the hair strands of the same width from the scalp to the ends. It prevents spiraling and bunching of the hair that may distort the wave pattern.

The hair molds around the shape of the perm rod. After a specified period of time, the hair is rinsed and a neutralizer is applied. It is the neutralizing solution that reforms the disulfide bonds of the hair and sets the new curls in the final stage. Utmost care should be taken during the final stage as failure to rinse and neutralize properly can lead to many problems, including scalp irritation, dandruff and damage to the structure of the hair shaft.

Hair perms can be done with acid or alkaline hair perming solutions. Alkaline wave hair perm works best for resistant hair and Asian hair and hair with low elasticity. This time of perm is also used for normal healthy hair. Acid wave hair perms are milder than the alkaline ones and are ideal for fragile, damaged or colored hair. At times, a test curl of hair is carried out to evaluate the strength of hair.

The author is a specialist in treating male pattern baldness. He has various treatments for alopecia and head lice too.