24 Jan Why Am I Losing My Hair and What Can I Do About It?
There are many reasons why you may experience hair loss in your life time and sometimes what you see is nothing to concern yourself about. ‘What am I talking about?’ I hear you ask?
Help, I’m Losing My Hair Or Am I?
Well, sometimes you can see hair lying on your pillow, get caught up in the vacuum, in your brush or wash down the plughole but does it always mean you have a problem?
No, not always. We have on average 100,000 – 150,000 hairs on our head and it is approximately 100 -150 hairs we lose everyday. Everything has to be a guess as we are all different and some people will have far more naturally as some will have a lot less, that’s what makes our world interesting.
Someone who brushes their hair regularly through the day may not notice any hair on their pillow or disappear down the plughole as they will have caught their shedding hair in the brush whereas if you only show your hair a brush once a day you will notice shed hair in other places, even on your shoulders.
Hair is going through three different stages of their life cycle at different stages all the time, thankfully, otherwise we would lose all our hair at the same time (bald) to only grow it again. These stages are growing, resting and shedding.
There are many causes to either aid growth or affect hairs growth and condition. Some people are just lucky and seem to just have loads regardless to lifestyle and others spend a lifetime trying to build on their quantity as much as the quality. Life can suck at times.
HEREDITARY – Genetic, if it’s in your genes there’s not a lot you can change but possibly you may adapt.
Men have the genes that might promote male pattern baldness but sadly ladies can suffer with this, same as some men are gifted with a thick head of hair.
Very thick hair can be thinned by a professional hairstylist. Very thin hair can be helped by the right choice of style, possibly colouring the hair or using a recommended product to encourage hair growth. Always seek the advice by a professional Hairstylist or Trichologist. Hair extensions and wigs are useful additions.
Contact Angie for any help – 07876028331 angiesnow@angiescreativehairdressing.co.uk
HORMONAL CHANGES – Pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, thyroid issues or gender change.
A lot of natural reasons for unbalancing the growth of your hair (even if for a short period) but in time and in most cases your hair will come back to a healthy state. If a pregnancy goes well and the mum to be can eat a balanced diet and stay well the hair might not change until the childbirth but if the mum to be has a pregnancy where no food can be kept down or in fact crave odd foods that are not normally in their diet the hair growth might suffer. It might not always be the case that hair is lost but the condition will be affected.
In the case of gender change then hormonal medication is taken and which ever way the person is changing it could affect the hair growth but in my experience it has taken a long time to show any real change. If you have seen or experienced any changes I’d love to hear from you. angiesnow@angiescreativehairdressing.co.uk
Thyroid issues can be treated with medication very successfully and change in hair growth & condition is one of the main symptoms and hairstylists can prompt the client to see the Dr.
When going through the menopause you will see lots of changes within your body and sometimes your mind and end up on treatment to help some of the symptoms. All of this can and probably will affect your hair but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, once through you can find your hair will settle and yes, you might have to adjust but normally nothing will have changed drastically.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS – Thyroid (mentioned above), chemotherapy, radiotherapy, scalp infections & alopecia.
We all sadly are aware how chemotherapy can encourage hair loss and there are cool hats to wear whilst on chemo treatment to try and reduce the hair loss. Radiotherapy, if being applied to the head area, can burn the hair and root areas which will affect the hair growth after. There are a number of scalp infections which can affect the hair growth and psoriasis being the main one in my experience.
Which leaves us Alopecia Areata and of which there are four main forms – Alopecia areata, Persistent patchy alopecia areata, Alopecia areata totalis and Alopecia areata universalis.
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease (which means the immune system mistakenly attacks parts of your body.
In the case of alopecia areata cells in the immune system surround and attack the hair follicles in areas on the scalp in coin sized circles or ovals. Follicles are where the hair is made. Hair will, in time grow back, with or without treatment.
Persistent patchy alopecia areata is where the condition continues over a long time and the patches get larger.
Alopecia areata totalis affects the whole head at one time.
Alopecia areata universalis affects the whole body.
If you suffer with any hair loss have a look at www.naaf.org for more information.
PART OF AGEING – Half of males by the time they reach 40 will suffer with hair loss and women by the age of 70. There are re-styling tips to help, hair extensions and operations at hand depending on how much the hair loss affects a person.
STRESS – Physical & Emotional. Stress can play a large part in hair loss and sometimes you are not aware of just how much you can be mindful to help the situation.
It can take on a form known as Trichotillimania (hair pulling disorder / compulsive hair pulling), a mental disorder, and through either family history, ocd or anxiety the person has an urge to pull their hair resulting in a brief positive feeling when the hair is removed.
DIET – Everyone already knows what they should eat whether for their health or size but do you ever really consider what it is doing to your hair and hair growth? Hair is fed by your blood and what ever condition your blood is in will show in your hair and affect it’s growth. Think back to an occasion where either you have been poorly or you’ve seen someone really poorly and the hair will definitely have not looked its best, and not just from not having it washed or styled.
Try and eat a heathy well balanced diet incorporating protein, vitamins A,B,C,D, iron, selenium, zinc and Biotin (vitamins H & B7). If you can’t include these In your diet seriously think about taking a multi vitamin every day. Your hair will thank you and you should notice a difference.
LENGTH OF HAIR – This might be stating the obvious but one long hair strand will look more than one short hair strand so multiply this by the number of hair strands we naturally lose everyday (see earlier) and you might, wrongly, feel you are losing too much. Unless it is apparent visually you probably have nothing to be concerned about.
QUANTITY OF HAIR – Again, this might seem obvious to some but if you have masses of hair you probably don’t feel you lose enough whereas if you haven’t much hair you will panic whenever you see hair around but not on your head. As above, unless there is a radical change in quantity of hair loss for no obvious reason then there is nothing to worry about, if so contact Dr. A way of thickening fine hair is to have a colour applied, if the hair is strong enough. It can add to the strands as well as adding depth to the colour. This gives an impression of more hair and appears thicker. Speak to your hair stylist for professional advice. Also, there are many products that can help give a thicker appearance. Please Contact Angie for any guidance and to purchase your prescribed best products. 07876028331 angiesnow@angiescreativehairdressing.co.uk
QUALITY OF HAIR – Many factors can affect the quality of your hair and sometimes it’s good to take stock on how you are treating it.
Regularly washing your hair with products your professional hairstylist has prescribed for you or of a good quality will really help keep your scalp in a good condition, fresh and oil free, aiding healthy hair growth. This doesn’t mean daily unless your lifestyle dictates it. If you use a lot of styling products, especially hair spray make sure you brush your hair before washing to brush the products out. Although styling products are great for helping you achieve your desired style if you allow them to layer up then they might clog your follicles which may result in slowing hair growth.
How you style your hair will have an affect on your hair growth too. For instance, if you put your hair up in a tight ponytail every day you could end up with traction hair loss, where you literally are pulling your hair out. You often see the result of this as a weak hairline and it generally is because as a child the hair was dressed in the same style every day and the hair being much weaker never had a chance to mature. Always try and vary your style as much as possible if long and dress it up, plait or cornrows etc. Keep hairlines soft and tension moderate. Ask your professional hairstylist for ideas. 07876028331
Please remember to vary your Childs hairstyle and book them in for regular trims even when you want them to have long locks, it can give them the best start in having a strong head of hair.
COLOUR OF HAIR – It’s bad enough when you start losing the colour of your hair but then you see your scalp. You are bound to panic but don’t as it doesn’t necessarily mean you are losing your hair. Think about it. Have you seen a white blouse and a black blouse? I bet you will always think the white blouse is thinner than the black one when they are made of the same material. It’s the same when it hair. Lack of colour will always have an appearance of less and with an average head of hair the colour of the scalp will show through it is the contrast, that’s all.
So please don’t fret and worry as that will lead to hair loss. Try and chill out, relax and embrace your natural beauty and make your professional hairstylist your best friend, they really do have your interests very dear to their heart. After all their name is on your head.
For advice and help with Hair loss treatments and Indian Head massage appointments contact
Angie’s Creative Hairdressing
07876028331
www.angiescreativehairdressing.co.uk
@angiescreativehairdressing
angiesnow@angiescreativehairdressing.co.uk
Gratitude for images by
@Slavoljubovski on Pixabay. Redhead with hairbrush
@Kalhh on Pixabay Male pattern baldness
Farhad Ibrahimzade on Unsplash. Food
@Klbz on Pixabay Chemo