Can Thinning Hair Be Due To Vitamin Deficiency
Research shows that a lack of Vitamin D in our bodies leads to hair thinning.
Vitamin D is known to stimulate new and old hair follicles for hair growth. Lack of Vitamin D can lead to stunted growth of new hair. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient needed for our overall health it boosts immunity, strengthens our bones, keeps skin healthy, promotes cell growth, and stimulates hair follicles.
A lack of Vitamin D can be due to spending time indoors, wearing copious amounts of sunscreen, and indulging in nutrient-less foods.
The lack of Vitamin D can be easily remedied by spending more time in the sun, eating foods rich in Vitamin D, or hair care supplements.
How Will A Healthcare Provider Diagnose Hair Loss In Women What Tests Are Done
The tests performed to diagnose hair loss in women can be simple or complicated:
- Gently pulling on your hair to see how many hairs come out.
- Blood tests. These check for vitamin and mineral levels and hormone levels .
- Scalp examination under a microscope and trichoscopy.
- Scalp biopsy to remove and examine a very small piece of scalp skin.
Diet Alcohol And Tobacco Intake
Healthy hair growth is largely due to our ability to maintain adequate nutrition. When our diets are lacking in key hair nutrients, such as vitamins A and D, as well as iron and protein, hair thinning, loss and shedding can result.9
Drinking alcohol in excess can be detrimental to hair health as well. It can be a contributing factor to hair thinning, as consuming too much can lead the malabsorption of certain key nutrients.10 The same can be said for smoking cigarettes, which has been shown to not only damage the hair follicle, but it can also impede blood flow to the follicle, limiting the amount of nutrients delivered.11
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What Are The Types Of Hair Loss
There are three: anagen effluvium, telogen effluvium and FPHL.
- Anagen effluvium: This is caused by medications that poison a growing hair follicle .
- Telogen effluvium: This is caused by an increased number of hair follicles reaching the telogen phase, which is the stage where hair falls out.
- Androgenetic alopecia/female pattern alopecia/female pattern hair loss /baldness: This type is the most common. Hair thins over the top of the head and on the sides.
Best Serum: Vegamour Gro Hair Serum
Vegamour
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Can take longer to see results
Vegamour takes a holistic route toward addressing hair loss through its 100% vegan and cruelty-free hair serum. The company utilizes vegan phyto-actives that work together to promote a healthy scalp while assisting with hair growth from the follicles. The main phyto-active that Vegamour uses is mung beans, an ingredient that is nutrient-rich in other hair nourishing components like folate, zinc, and vitamin B-7 . Deficiencies in these vitamins have been linked to hair loss, though these vitamins are usually ingested in an oral form.
Vegamour boasts that using its plant-based product as prescribed will result in fuller-looking hair within 90 days of use. Users will experience the peak of hair growth around the 120th day, according to the company. For best results, use the product on dry or towel-dried hair twice per day by massaging it directly into the scalp.
Type: Serum | Frequency of Use: Twice daily | Key Ingredients: Mung bean
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Determine What Might Be Preventing Volume
Do you use a ton of hair product in your styling routine? Your scalp might have some build-up that needs a clarifying shampoo before you start with the volume hair products. I suggest using a clarifying or detox shampoo to get rid of all of the buildup and gunk that can accumulate from products, celebrity hairstylist and founder of Juices and Botanics in Addison, TX, Whitney Eaddy says. This will give your hair some natural volume as its no longer being weighed down.
But if youre good on the build-up front and your fine, thin hair just needs some help, Eaddy suggests starting with a volumizing shampoo and conditionerwhich will give your hair an oomph before you style. She says that regardless of your hair type, avoid over-washing your hair, since it can cause your scalp to over-produce oils and end up weighing your hair down, while stripping it of its natural moistureand neither scenarios are good for volume.
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How Long Does It Take For Hair Growth Products To Start Working
Hair growth products dont work instantaneously. Most products will start to work within a few months.
Hair follicles take a few weeks to become stimulated by your product, and after that, it will take a month or two before you notice new hair growth.
While physical hair growth may take several months, most products will improve the appearance of your hairs thickness within a few weeks.
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How Is Female Pattern Baldness Treated
The main aim of treatment is to slow down or stop hair loss. Treatment might also stimulate hair growth, but this kind of treatment works better for some women than others.
If you have female pattern baldness, your doctor might prescribe minoxidil, or a cream containing minoxidil. This active ingredient is found in lotions like Hair Revive Extra Strength, Hair Retreva, and Hair A-Gain. Its important to discuss the potential side effects of these treatments with your doctor.
There is not enough evidence to show that laser treatments, plasma injections, hair tonics and nutritional supplements will stimulate hair growth.
Female Pattern Hair Loss
Just as with men, women can experience balding, but its more commonly referred to as female pattern hair loss. This condition is characterized by the visible loss of hair along with thinning around the crown. Women may notice the first sign of female pattern hair loss as a widening in her part or a smaller width in her ponytail.8
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Women And Hair Loss: Coping Tips
Losing your crowning glory can be particularly difficult for women. But there are ways to cope.
Losing your hair as a woman, especially if you’re young or at a vulnerable time in your life, can badly affect your confidence.
Hair loss, known medically as alopecia, is fairly common. It’s estimated, for instance, that around 40% of women aged 70 years or over experience female-pattern baldness the most common type of hair loss, which is thought to be inherited.
Hair Loss During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, our body increases the amount of estrogen produced. The high production of estrogen stimulates and signals more follicles to enter into the growing phase of the hair growth cycle. It is why during pregnancy, you are likely to experience thicker, fuller, and lustrous locks. Hair grows significantly faster during pregnancy than at any other time in your life.
Following childbirth, the estrogen levels drop and adjust back to their previous pre-pregnancy levels. This sudden drop in estrogen prompts the hair follicles to enter the resting phase slow hair growth. After 100 days in the resting phase, the hair begins to shed.
Hair changes in pregnancy and postpartum are common. Nonetheless, every woman experiences it differently as the changes are different. Do not panic! You will experience a full recovery, albeit the process may take a little time. Be patient.
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What Is The Prognosis/outlook For Women With Hair Loss
Your diagnosis determines the prognosis:
- Anagen and telogen shedding may stop with time.
- Treat any diseases associated with hair loss.
- Disguise or cover your hair loss using a wig or hat.
- Early treatment of alopecia may reduce the speed of thinning and may promote regrowth.
While hair loss is not itself dangerous, women with hair loss tend to be very upset by the changes to their appearance. These negative feelings can affect self-esteem and social lives. Recent studies suggest that FPHL can be associated with conditions that include metabolic syndrome, endocrine disorders and diabetes.
Some Medication Can Cause Hair Loss
Hair loss can also be caused by medications with strong toxic substance used to treat diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, depression or even heart problems.
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are heavy cancer treatments well known to cause sudden hair loss that can occur anywhere on the body. Sometimes, this type of hair loss can be permanent if the hair follicles are damaged.
Otherwise, hormones present in birth control pills that makes them so effective may also trigger hair loss in some women . This may occur when women start or stop taking certain kinds of contraceptives. Having said that, you are more likely to experience this side effect from birth control pills if you have a family history of hair loss.
If you suspect a medication you are taking is causing your hair loss, you should consider talking about it with your doctor for an assessment. The doctor might be able to reduce the dosage or switch you to a different medication. Fortunately, and in many cases, this type of hair loss is temporary.
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How Can Hair Loss In Women Be Prevented
Preventing hair loss is not possible when it is due to disease, aging, heredity or physical stressors like injuries. You can prevent hair loss caused by caustic chemicals or tight hairstyles by avoiding them. You might be able to prevent some hair loss by eating a healthy diet that provides necessary nutrients in terms of vitamins, minerals and protein. You can stop smoking.
Best For Damaged Hair: Bumble And Bumble Full Potential Hair Preserving Shampoo
Ulta
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Botanical blend formula reduces breakage
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Caffeine helps to exfoliate the scalp
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Contains sulfates
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Strong scent
True to its name, this formula helps to reduce breakage, so you can preserve more of the hair you do have. We also appreciate that its an exfoliating formula to help cleanse follicle-clogging residue and touts caffeine to help boost microcirculation on the scalp.
Sulfate-Free: No | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Size: 8.5 fl oz | No | Hair Type: All | Scent: Herbal
Price at time of publish: $34
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Can Stress Cause Hair Loss
When stress causes a hormone spike in our androgenic genes , it redirects energy needed for hair growth and therefore increases shedding, Kinler said.
According to Kwak, psychological stress can put the body into unbalance. But you can rest assured that its not cause for too much concern. The good news is that the hair loss is usually not permanent and will improve as the mind and body heals itself, Kwak said.
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Hormonal Imbalance Hair Loss
A hormonal imbalance can lead to multitude of annoying health and beauty issues, from adult acne to weight gain. If your hormones are out of whack the effects will radiate throughout the whole body .
“Hormones play a huge role in regulating the hair growth cycle” explains Anabel. “Oestrogens are ‘hair friendly’ and help to keep hairs in their growth phase for the optimal length of time. Androgens are not very hair friendly, and can shorten the hair growth cycle.”
“An excess of androgens can cause hair loss. The extent of this is often down to genes – If you have a genetic predisposition to follicle sensitivity, a hormonal imbalance can affect your hair more than it would someone who does not have a predisposition.”
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Hair Shedding Vs Hair Thinning
While it is normal to drop anywhere up to between 50 and 100 hair strands per day,14 you may occasionally notice more hair than usual in the drain, on the floor, on your clothing and in your brush. Rest assured, there is an explanation for this, too.
This robust exogen phase tends to be short term and is often triggered by intense periods of stress, weight loss, when a woman stops taking birth control pills, as well as because of pregnancy and post-pregnancy, due to hormonal fluctuations.15 This form of hair shedding can normally resolve itself after the body readjusts from a stressor or pregnancy. If the stressor remains, however, the hair loss can last longer.16 If you think youre experiencing hair shedding, and its a concern, be sure to check in with your healthcare provider or a dermatologist to determine the best ways to address it.
How Common Is Female Hair Loss
Just like male hair loss, female hair loss becomes more common with age. Studies show that only 12% of women between the ages of 20 and 29 show some degree of hair loss, from loss around the hairline or temples to diffuse, overall thinning.
On the other hand, women aged 80 and up have a more than 60% chance of experiencing some degree of hormonal hair loss. Because hormonal hair loss is partly caused by a genetic sensitivity to DHT, your risk of hair loss could be higher if your mother, siblings or other female relatives have hair loss.
If youre concerned about hair loss, its important to take action quickly. Because hair loss is gradual and affected by DHT, acting quickly allows you to minimize hair loss and maintain as much of your hair as possible.
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Low Iron And Female Hair Loss
One of the most common causes of hair loss in women, without doubt, is low Iron stores. A large majority of the women who consult a Trichologist have below optimum Iron stores for good hair growth. A study conducted on 1000 women revealed 33% suffered female hair loss, 90% caused by low Iron stores and 10% caused by Genetic or other factors.
At What Age Does Hair Thinning Start
A single strand of hair is made with proteins and has a life of 2 to 7 years.
When a hair falls out, it is replaced by new hair. But as we age, a little hair thinning is normal as the rate of hair growth slows down.
Hair also tends to become smaller and have less pigment, and most follicles stop producing hair altogether. There is no set age for thinning hair. Most men start showing signs of hair thinning in their mid-30s, while women lose some luster and thickness after the age of 40.
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Ingredients To Look Out For In A Shampoo For Thinning Hair
Certain ingredients can help to optimise the scalp environment and may in turn encourage growth, Annabel tells us. They include:
Menthol a stimulant Piroctone Olamine an antimicrobial that helps to clear flaking and itching
Methyl nicotinate a vasodilator that can also help to aid in the effectiveness of other ingredients
A combination of zinc sulphate, vitamin B6 and azelaic acid Combined in topical drops they can help to block the conversion of testosterone to the more damaging dihydrotestosterone.
Betaine salicylate or salicylic acid exfoliants that can be formulated into scalp masks to gently remove dead-skin cells.
Time to volumise? Weve pulled together the best shampoos for hair loss to help give your hair the volume boost youre after. Keep scrolling to find your new hair hero.
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Keeps Minoxidil Foam For Men $8 A Month Original Price: $15 A Month
Keeps is one of the premier brands for hair thinning and loss we came across, as most of its formulas are individually curated to target the dermatologist-recommended ingredients for hair growth.
Specifically, its Minoxidil Foam for Men is offered either in three, six or 12-month bundles, starting at $8 a month on your first order. Not to mention, this minoxidil treatment is about half the cost of those stocked on pharmacy shelves and delivered right to your door.
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What Causes Womens Thinning Hair
A lot of women are experiencing hair loss or thinning hair nowadays. So what causes womens thinning hair? Read on to find out.
The so-called female hair loss is not a general term for hair loss suffered by all women but specifically refers to women by the male hormone-derived hair loss, postpartum hair loss, and endocrine disorder hair loss three types of community-based hair loss, while the general female baldness and teenage hair removal, etc. are not included. Female hair loss is closely related to the secretion of hormones in the body, so women’s hair loss is also a gradual trend, but pregnancy and menopause will accelerate, and the hair loss cycle is strong, by hormone secretion and external factors are also relatively large. Therefore, in order to grasp the cause of hair loss in women, it is necessary to have a deeper understanding of women’s physiological characteristics and secretion characteristics of sex hormones.
Nutritional disorders
Hair growth and development are closely related to protein, vitamins and minerals. When too much fat is consumed, it can also affect hair growth and even cause hair loss.
Endocrine disorders
Hair growth is closely related to endocrine, such as thyroxine deficiency, which can lead to hair loss.
Overuse of the brain
People who use the brain too much, so that the head blood is mainly concentrated in the brain, so that the scalp blood relatively reduced, in the long run, will be due to hair undernutrition and cause hair loss.
Treating Crown Thinning Hair In Females
First things first: dont hide from hair thinning. If you notice that your part line is thinning or widening, or your losing hair around your temples or crown, it is a sign that something is amiss. Therefore, it is crucial to meet with your doctor to get to the root of what is causing hair thinning. Once you know the cause, you can then take action. Perhaps it is a change in birth control, or your thyroid is not producing enough thyroid hormone – or maybe you are iron deficient. A visit to your doctor will help rule out medical causes behind your hair thinning.
While you wait for your doctors appointment, take other actions to suppress hair loss as quickly as possible.
Many women suffer from hereditary hair loss. While you cant change your DNA, you can use cutting-edge hair care products to regrow your hair. Look for products that contain nanoxidil 5% delivered through nanosome technology. Nanoxidil has no side effects and is a more effective solution than minoxidil, an older compound found in Rogaine. Nanoxidil is a powerful agent that stops crown thinning in women, and starts and maintains new growth.
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