Sunday, March 24, 2024
HomeExclusiveWhat To Do If Hair Thinning

What To Do If Hair Thinning

Monitor Your Hair Growth Rate

5 Reasons Why Your Natural Hair Is Thinning | HOW TO FIX IT!

Generally, this does not tend to be something that we pay close attention to, merely noticing our hair has grown when we are overdue a trip to the salon. However, monitoring your hair growth rate when experiencing hair loss is something you should do, but we feel confident you would be doing it either way.

Naturally, when using a specific hair loss treatment, you want to ensure it is working keeping an eye on the results as they happen is the best way of doing that. While you might not be able to spot the difference day-in, day-out, consider taking a photo of your hair every day and comparing the progress over time as it happens.

At the same time, you might find yourself feeling anxious or embarrassed about going out and about in public while experiencing hair loss, particularly if your hair plays a significant role in your life. If that is the case, consider looking at wigs or hats as a temporary measure. With a vast range of wigs on the market, in varying colors and styles, you will still be able to express yourself through your hair while protecting your own hair during this fragile time.

Featured Image by Arrul lin from Pixabay

You Have Low Iron Levels

The American Academy of Dermatology also says that not getting enough iron into your diet can lead to unwanted hair loss, too.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute , iron-deficiency anemia occurs when you don’t have enough iron in your bodythe symptoms of which include fatigue, tiredness, shortness of breath, or chest pain. To help remedy this, your doctor might suggest iron supplements or other healthy lifestyle choices, like increasing your intake of both iron- and vitamin-C rich foods.

Male Or Female Pattern Hair Loss

Androgenetic alopecia is a frequent cause of hair loss. It affects an estimated 50 million men and 30 million women in the United States.

According to the Genetics Home Reference, the likelihood of experiencing androgenetic alopecia increases with age. Although it can affect teenagers, over half of males aged 50 and older have some degree of hair loss. It is most likely to affect females following menopause.

Often, people who have androgenetic alopecia have family members with the same condition.

In males, hair thinning tends to occur from the hairline to the back of the head. In females, it tends to affect the crown of the head.

You May Like: What Can Women Do For Hair Loss

Crash Diets Are Dangerous

Crash diets and fad diets promise quick weight loss, but most do not work and can be dangerous. If you lose 15 pounds or more very quickly, you may lose a significant amount of hair within a matter of months. Inadequate protein and nutrients is one of the potential reasons for hair loss in women. Stick to a healthy, balanced eating plan. Fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and complex carbs give your body the fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals you need to maintain a healthy body, including a full head of hair. Other dietary risk factors for hair loss? Excess vitamin A may set the stage for your luscious locks to fall out.

Will Stress Make Me Go Bald Quicker

Thinning Hair: A Surprising Common Cause of Thinning Hair ...

Stress can cause hair loss but hair loss caused by stress is rarely permanent. Whether stress speeds up the process of hereditary baldness is unknown.

There is a form of hair loss that can be caused by severe stress called telogen effluvium, which interrupts the growth cycle of your hair follicles causing hair to shed. But in the long term this process should correct itself.

Don’t Miss: Are Hair Loss Treatments Safe

Causes And Risk Factors For Thinning Hair

As your hair continues to thin, you probably want to ask, or even scream, Why is my hair falling out?! Its a very frustrating and often bewildering occurrence when the hair thins. According to Mayo Clinic, the exact cause of abnormal hair loss is not completely clear, but typically its related to one or more of the following:

  • Heredity
  • Physical or emotional shock
  • Excessive hair styling and/or hair treatments

1. Heredity

The No. 1 reason why both men and women experience excessive hair thinning and hair loss is hereditary. For men, its a more well-known phenomenon called male-pattern baldness, but women can also exhibit female-pattern baldness. Both of these predictable, gradual hair loss patterns are linked with a family history of hair loss. For men, it can start as early as puberty. In addition to thinning hair, men may also notice their hair becoming shorter, softer and finer.

2. Hormonal Imbalances

Hormone imbalances and changes can contribute to thinning hair. Some hormone changes are temporary, like with pregnancy or menopause, and hair thinning or loss resulting from these temporary changes should be temporary as well. However, if you have an ongoing imbalance of hormones, you may have a thyroid problem that needs to be corrected.

3. Thyroid Problems and Other Medical Conditions

4. Medications

Many different types of medicines may contribute to hair thinning, including some of the following types of medications:

  • Acne medications
  • Thyroid medications

Choose The Right Products

If you decide to color-treat your tresses, its best to opt for a stylist to color your hair. A professional can help determine the safest dye to use for your hair type, and can provide tips on shampoos, conditioners and other hair products made specifically for color-treated hair.

Its also wise to forego daily heat styling, such as with blow dryers, curling wands and flat irons. We all want to look our best, but cutting back on intense heat styling tools one or two days a week will help hair bounce back from the damage they inflict.

If you must use heat-styling products, apply a heat protectant to hair prior to use. A heat protectant provides a protective coating between heated styling products and hair, and adds moisture to protect against damage during heat styling.

Avoid hair products that contain hormone-disrupting chemicals like parabens and phthalates commonly found in many hair products. Dr. Bergfeld adds, Having said that, the science does not substantiate that these cosmetic chemicals you at any risk since the natural environment and foods have a greater risk.

You May Like: What Should I Take To Stop Hair Loss

Be Mindful Of Birth Control Pills

Birth control pills are a form of contraception that works by suppressing ovulation and/or making it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant into the lining of the uterus. Hormonal hair loss in women may occur when women start or stop taking certain kinds of contraceptives. The hormones that make birth control pills effective may also cause hair thinning in women who use them. You are more likely to experience this side effect from birth control pills if you have a family history of hair loss. Stopping the pill is also a cause of hair loss in women. Hormones are not the only medication that may be associated with hair loss. Blood thinners and blood pressure medications may do it, too. So can drugs used to treat depression, heart disease, and arthritis.

Check Medications With Your Doctor

What to do for Hair Thinning in Women

Some medicines for conditions like heart disease or those used to lower lipids can affect your hair. Talk to your doctor about if any of the medications you take interfere with hair growth or loss, and ask for advice on how to help counteract negative effects. Some of these medicines can cause shedding of finer fibers, Dr. Bergfeld says. Also, when women stop hormone replacement medication, they should expect a fair amount of hair loss.

Theres no one who has the hair at 60 or 70 that they had at 15, Dr. Bergfeld says. Thats why its important to take care of your hair as you age.

Also Check: Why Is My Hair Thinning At 16

Use Medication And Topical Treatments

When seeking to treat the hair thinning, you are experiencing. Your mind is sure to turn towards what medications are out there for this type of thing. With any luck, you will be able to find something either through your GP or a pharmacy that tailors to your experience and the symptoms you are enduring.

There are different treatments medication-wise that are tailored toward male and female pattern baldness. For example, Finasteride is often used to treat male baldness and hair thinning, whereas Minoxidil treats female hair loss.

If you want to treat your hair thinning with medication like this, it is worth checking out Finasteride reviews to determine whether this is the right option. At the same time, it is worth remembering that what works for someone else is not sure to work for someone else, and you should make an effort to find a treatment that works best for you.

Consider Using A Caffeinated Shampoo

If you dont already use a caffeinated shampoo, consider switching to one. Caffeine applied directly to the scalp has two beneficial effects. It relaxes smooth muscle fibres surrounding the hair to improve blood flow. More importantly, it also inhibits the enzyme, 5–reductase, which converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone within scalp hair follicles and which is associated with male and female pattern hair loss.

A growing body of evidence supports the effects of caffeinated shampoos in stimulating hair follicles, and Ive certainly noticed a dramatic improvement in hair thickness since starting to use one. Just two minutes contact with the scalp during shampooing allows the caffeine to penetrate into hair follicles, where it remains for up to 48 hours after washing.

Leave-on caffeine solutions are also available and have been shown to increase the cross-sectional area of scalp hairs by 10%.

Drinking caffeinated beverages such as tea or coffee does not have the same effect, as the caffeine must penetrate into the hair follicles itself to inhibit 5- -reductase.

You May Like: Will Menopause Cause Hair Loss

Heres How The Hair Growth Cycle Works:

Ok, its science-y but very cool, basically each hair follicle on our scalp undergoes three stages of a life cycle, explains Dr Wong.

AnagenThis is the active growing phase, which can last between 2-7 years during which the hair becomes longer and thicker.

CatagenAfter anagen, the hair follicle moves into the short transitional phase called catagen when the hair fibre stops growing, followed by the resting phase telogen which lasts around 3 months.

TelogenDuring telogen the old hair is gradually pushed up towards the skin surface before it is then shed naturally and replaced with a new emerging anagen hair.

On a typical head of hair each follicle is at a different stage at different times so you probably wont notice it happening. Very cool. This cycle continues repeatedly throughout our lifetime and each hair follicle is cycling independently of neighbouring follicles meaning that human hair growth is asynchronised, says Dr Wong.

Its important to note that hair loss is a very common problem for women much more so that people realise. “Research shows that at least 1 in 3 women will suffer from hair loss or reduced hair volume at some point in their lifetime,” says Anabel Kingsley. So, if you are losing strands, it’s important not to freak out, your mane willrecover. In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know…

What Are The Signs Of Balding

As they age, women lose their hair, too. Which treatments ...

There are several different signs that you might be starting to experience hair loss .

From thinning hair all over your head to a receding hairline, male pattern baldness comes in many forms.

Recognizing the signs of male pattern baldness is an important part of the treatment or prevention process.

Because male pattern baldness occurs in stages, it may be possible to recognize the signs early enough to reverse hair loss or prevent any further damage to your hairline.

Below, weve listed three warning signs that you should be aware of, as well as simple but effective ways that you can take action to prevent your hair loss from getting worse.

Recommended Reading: Does Repatha Cause Hair Loss

How To Tell If You’re Going To Go Bald

This isnt as silly a question as it sounds. Losing your hair isnt the same as going bald. Male pattern baldness is a genetic condition whereas hair loss per se can be caused by a variety of factors.

If you are losing patches of hair in an apparently random manner you may have alopecia, a condition where a person loses patches of hair from parts of their body. In extreme cases this may affect all of the hair on the body. Alopecia is thought to have hereditary and autoimmune factors . It is not the same as male pattern baldness.

If your hair loss occurs in a more regular receding pattern, usually from the temples and crown of the head, then it is more likely you have male pattern baldness. But remember most men go bald. Its nothing to be afraid of or embarrassed about.

Hair Thinning: The Most Common Causes And What To Do To Recognize Them

When hair begins to fall out, the reasons may be different. For this reason, when the problem arises, the first thing to do is to try to understand the cause.

Generally the first thing to do for hair loss is a check of your hormonal situation possibly linked to a careful analysis of the period you are experiencing. Sometimes, in fact, even stress can lead to hair loss.

In other cases, the problem may be due to allergies that cause inflammation and therefore should be treated by first discovering the cause. The positive side is that, unless there are problems such as androgenetic baldness or situations for which the only solution is a transplant, there are several solutions that can be implemented.

Recommended Reading: Does Nicotine Gum Cause Hair Loss

What To Do About Hair Thinning During Menopause

Many women experience hair thinning or loss during menopause, and while this is a natural occurrence, losing or thinning hair is a distressing side effect that, on top of the slew of hormonal changes the body goes through, is the last thing anyone needs. Because changes to hair during menopause can be a scary thing, weve created a helpful guide about what it is, why it happens and offer up some ways to help alleviate its side effects.

This article was created in partnership with Nutrafol, a company in which Unilever is an investor.

Treating Hair Loss: Medicine

How to Stop Shedding, Thinning & Hair Loss

Minoxidil is approved by the FDA for female pattern hair loss. It can slow or stop it in most women and may help hair grow back. But the benefits go away when you stop using it. Corticosteroids can help regrow hair for women with alopecia areata. And if the cause is an underlying medical problem or poor nutrition, your locks should grow back on their own once things are under control.

Also Check: What Doctor Should You See For Hair Loss

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular