Water Softener, is there a safe way to soften hard water?

[Christian Bell]

I live in a city that has extremely hard water and I am currently using a salt water softener system. I lived without a water softener for awhile and the hard water destroyed my skin and hair. When I got a salt water softener system the severity of the problems decreased but my skin remains dry and my scalp is extremely itchy and flaky. I completely changed my diet to cut out all processed foods (except dairy). I wash my hair with baking soda and rinse with ACV. All the products I use are homemade and my skin/scalp is still unhappy. I'm concerned about the safety of using salt as a softener, bathing in it, watering my plants with it, and its effect on the environment, plus I can't even drink it or use it in cooking. Is there a better way to lessen the severity of hard water without using salt? Are there filters I should buy? Not sure what the best thing is to do for myself and the environment.