My mother needs help...

Well if her hair is naturally dry, then blowing your hair, especially on high temperatures isn't the best thing she is doing.  I would suggest that she use a gentle moisturizing shampoo like Creme of Nature(green label), Elasta QP creme shampoo or the one for relaxed hair, or Elucence moisturizing balancing shampoo.  Just a short list. 

And moisturizing conditioners that might help her hair: Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak conditioner (cheapest I have seen it at the Family Dollar store.  Comes in packets, get more than one), Creme of Nature Nourishing conditioner (deep purple label), Elucence Moisture Balancing conditioner, Elasta QP Intense conditioner or the DPR-11.  Again this is just a short list since there are plenty of stuff that might work for her. 

She should try deep conditioning more often and shampoo her scalp more often.  It may sound contradictory but it could be the fact that she is using shampoos that make her hair drier.  Also she needs to make sure that she rinses her hair after shampooing so that the shampoo residue doesn't dry out her hair.

This is totally optional but she can do some hot oil treatments.  Basically she can purchase some oils already made for hair for hot oil treatments or buy an oil like avocado, olive oil, castor oil, safflower, sunflower, etc and create her own.  She puts the oil of her choice in an applicator bottle (ones used for dyeing the hair) and set it a container of hot tap water for 5 minutes.  Apply the oil on her scalp and massage the oils to the tips.  She can sit under a dryer with a processing cap for about 10 minutes under medium heat or a warm damp towel over her hair for an hour, then proceed to shampoo.

If she feels the need to blow dry the hair, she should use the lowest temperature possible and use a good heat protectant and a bit of leave-in moisturizer.   I hope this helps.

 

 

Hmmm...that is strange.  Usually the hair recovers from something like that within in a year or so (granted hair is dead material so it can't feel anything).  I think this might be something medical, but I could be wrong.  Does your mother have a medical condition such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, etc?  Basically anything that may require medication to control it?  Sometimes medication can affect how the hair grows or the texture.