Hair loss is a significant problem experienced by men and women alike. For many, losing one’s hair can be distressing, and excessive hair fall immensely affects the self-esteem and confidence of an individual. Thus, timely treatment and control measures are required to prevent it from progressing.
Hair has a life cycle of three to five years. During this cycle, the hair undergoes three phases of hair growth before it exfoliates. For instance, they experience an active growth phase, followed by involution (transition) and a resting phase. Therefore, if you are experiencing hair loss, your hair growth cycle is probably disrupted.
While the hair keeps falling and growing, it is essential to remember that hair fall is not permanent. If you are taking steps to prevent it, expect significant results in a minimum of three to six months. In this article, we have addressed the common causes of hair loss. In addition, we discuss at-home remedies to stimulate hair growth.
While home remedies work best for treating hair loss in most cases, sometimes consultation with a trichologist is essential. A trichologist treats hair-related diseases and issues. Generally, you should visit a trichologist if your hair loss is caused by chemotherapy or hormone fluctuation. If your hair loss is severe and does not respond to home remedies within three months, visit your doctor. Hair loss treatments are more popular than ever.
Strategies for Controlling Hair Fall and Improving Hair Health
To effectively control hair loss and improve hair health, treating the problem at its root cause is crucial. In addition, following simple methods to maintain hair quality and prevent future hair loss helps maintain hair thickness. Some tips to reduce hair loss are discussed below.
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Preventing Hair Fall
- Use a Softer Brush: A soft brush keeps the scalp healthy and prevents hair damage. Moreover, soft fiber brushes promote healthy oil levels on the scalp. They also mildly massage the scalp when brushing. Further, it is important to brush in a single direction since it affects the keratin proteins in the hair strands. Comb your hair regularly to prevent damaging knots.
- Use Mild Shampoo: Using mild shampoo improves hair texture and prevents hair fall. Moreover, it keeps the scalp healthy and maintains natural oil levels.
- Avoid Chemical Treatments, Bleaching, or Hair Dyes: Chemically treating hair impacts its quality and texture. In the long run, hair becomes fragile, thin, and rough. Thus, your hair is more likely to break under any amount of force. Once the effects of these chemicals, bleach, or hair color wear off, they render the hair frizzy and unhealthy. If you bleach or dye your hair, keep it trimmed and well-moisturized. Rather than using hair dye, use natural alternatives such as henna or beets. Natural ingredients cause little to no damage.
- Avoid High-Heat Hair Styling Appliances: High-heat appliances affect the keratin in hair strands when applied directly. If you wish to style your hair and prevent hair loss simultaneously, use heat-protectant serums and low-heat devices.
- Avoid Hair-Pulling Hairstyles: Avoid hairstyles inducing stretching forces on hair strands to prevent hair fall. For example, braiding the hair tightly or using a tight rubber band causes the hair to break. Hence, to prevent breakage, braid your hair gently and replace rubber bands with scrunchies that are gentler on your hair.
Improving Hair Health
- Low-Level Light Therapy: Low-level laser therapy promotes hair growth and cell repair at the subcutaneous tissue level. It helps stimulate hair growth, specifically in people with male and female pattern hair loss. However, this therapy is costly and not covered by insurance.
- Nutritional Supplements: A significant cause of hair fall is nutrient deficiency. Therefore, dietary supplements can compensate for the lack of vitamins and minerals in the body. Moreover, they improve hair quality, texture, and thickness. They also keep the scalp healthy and the immune system robust. A diet rich in nutritional value promotes hair growth.
Preventing Hair Loss in Women
Female pattern baldness or patchy hair fall is a common concern among women. Females typically lose hair around the sides of the head, where patches of baldness develop. Thyroid disease, hormonal imbalances, and aging are other reasons for hair fall in women. Therefore, it is essential to understand hair growth cycles to achieve healthy hair. Moreover, understanding the cause helps differentiate hair loss disorders from routine hair fall. Once diagnosed, preventing hair fall becomes simpler.
The use of essential oils for various conditions, including hair fall, is popular among many people. This is because they are naturally extracted and formulated to prevent specific conditions. Furthermore, they improve hair quality in terms of texture, thickness, fragility, and color. In addition, oiling hair with beneficial oils derived from pumpkin seeds, coconut, and rosemary enhances hair length and growth.
Avoiding hot showers when washing hair and using mild shampoos also reduces hair fall. Moreover, avoid using heating appliances to style hair as much as possible. This is because they affect hair quality immensely. Braiding the hair tightly or using a tight rubber band can also cause your hair to break. Hence, braiding loosely and tying your hair with scrunchies is a much gentler alternative.
Low-level laser therapy promotes hair health and cell repair at the subcutaneous tissue level. It also stimulates hair growth, specifically in people with female pattern hair loss. Furthermore, using a soft brush and avoiding chemical treatments, bleaching, or hair dye improves hair health.
Preventing Hair Loss in Men
Loss of hair is more common in men than in women. Androgenetic alopecia, genetic loss of hair, stress, and nutritional deficiency are common causes of hair fall in men. Men experience what is typically referred to as male pattern baldness. Not only does hair fall from the crown area, but a clearly receding hairline appears on the forehead.
Men have plenty of options for preventing hair fall and promoting new hair growth. Commonly, men opt for topical application of minoxidil in two or five percent concentrations. In addition, corticosteroid injections in the scalp help grow hair. Alternatively, taking oral corticosteroids can also help. Meanwhile, treatment with rogaine requires at least 12 weeks for the hair to grow.
Temporarily treatments include scalp pigmentation or tattooing with hair-colored pigments to camouflage the baldness. Alternatively, using wigs, reducing sources of stress, and preventing nutrient deficiency are encouraged.
Some natural methods to stop hair fall include regular hair masks, following a Mediterranean diet, and eating fresh vegetables. In addition, the application of coconut oil, pumpkin seed oil, essential oil, or rosemary oil helps regrow hair. Hair masks made using bananas, coconut oil, and other ingredients help add moisture to the hair follicles and scalp.
Traditional Home Remedies
Supplements for Promoting Hair Growth
A major reason for hair fall is the deficiency in nutrients in the body. Therefore, dietary supplements are recommended to compensate for the lack of vitamins and minerals. These improve hair quality and texture and add to hair thickness for a long time. They also keep the scalp healthy and the immune system strong. Several nutrients such as vitamin D, E, B12, B2, B9, zinc, iron, and others are essential for increasing hair growth. A diet that lacks these nutrients results in the development of fragile hair and, eventually, hair loss. Conversely, a diet rich in nutritive value promotes hair growth and healthy follicles.
Make Changes to Your Diet
Eating a balanced diet is essential to stop hair loss. Adding fresh fruits and vegetables, dry fruits, and healthy oils to your diet keeps the hair and scalp healthy. In addition, increasing your intake of vitamin D, iron, B12, and other substances through food prevents the need to take supplements.
Experiment With Essential Oils
There are natural extracts from plants that promote hair growth and nourishment. Some commonly used essential oils include ginseng, Jatamansi, lavender, peppermint, and Chinese hibiscus. A study in 2016 successfully experimented on mice to evaluate the efficacy of lavender oil in hair growth.
Get a Scalp Massage
Massage is not only soothing but also has benefits for growing new hair and enhancing hair quality. A standardized scalp massage results in increased blood flow to the scalp and promotes hair growth. As a result, the scalp receives nutrients that fail to reach it normally. Thus, stimulating hair regrowth. It also promotes the thickening of hair.
Quit Unhealthy Habits
Surprisingly, excessive alcohol or smoking in any form contributes to hair fall. Thus, by quitting smoking or drinking significantly less, you may experience hair regrowth.
Preventing Hair Loss During Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a treatment that aims at preventing cancer progression. However, it has certain side effects, including hair loss. This happens because the chemicals that kill cancer cells attack the dermal papilla cells that cause hair regrowth. As a result, no new hair appears, and patients remain bald. Although, not all chemotherapy treatments cause hair fall. In such cases, hair becomes fragile and thins out.
Some patients are often prepared for hair loss and thus choose to shave their heads before therapy begins. However, with the advent of science, many scalp therapies have been introduced to prevent hair loss. For instance, wearing scalp cooling caps reduces the risk of hair loss. Furthermore, wearing wigs or other head coverings such as scarves, caps, and others can help boost self-confidence. On the other hand, low-level laser therapy also plays a role in promoting hair growth.
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Preventing Hair Loss After Pregnancy
Women undergo massive hormonal changes during pregnancy and immediately after delivery. In addition, women also experience dehydration, stress, and plummeting estrogen levels while their body adjusts to post-delivery life. Among these, hair loss is one of the most commonly experienced issues. However, as the body recovers, the condition resolves within a year post-pregnancy.
Women must continue their prenatal vitamins to prevent hair loss and increase hair thickness. These vitamins make up for the lost nutrients and treat hair loss. Furthermore, try being more gentle with your hair. Avoid tying it up tightly and using hair sprays or chemical treatments that may damage hair and cause excessive hair loss. Instead, eat a diet rich in nutritive value that helps slow hair loss. Moreover, avoid using hair appliances such as curlers, blow-dryers, and straighteners without using a protective serum. Additionally, use mild shampoos and hair oil to increase hair thickness.
Causes of Hair Loss
While there are many causes of hair loss, some of the most common causes include stress, hormonal imbalances, and deficiencies. Let us understand in detail why hair loss occurs.
Stress
Stress is one of the most common causes of hair fall. Most people fail to manage stress and workload and, as a result, experience hair loss. Healthy hair requires a healthy body. Stress causes hair to fall out for several months, often unnoticed until a patch develops. In men, a receding hairline is commonly seen. On the other hand, women lose hair in patches, often found at the sides of the head.
Hormonal Imbalance
Another major cause of hair loss is hormonal imbalance. Hormones play a major role in regulating the hair growth cycle of a hair follicle. When your hormones are irregular, one of the first signs is hair fall. As a result, doctors advise undergoing blood tests to timely diagnose medical conditions such as PCOS, thyroid disorders, and others.
Nutritional Deficiencies
A severe deficiency in nutrients hampers the growth of hair follicles. A lack of nutrients thus results in hair fall. Several vitamins and minerals such as vitamin D, B12, iron, and other nutrients are essential for increasing hair growth. A diet that lacks these nutrients results in the development of fragile hair and, eventually, hair loss.
Iron deficiency, a condition affecting hemoglobin production, is another important cause of hair loss. As a result, the dermal cells receive less oxygen and nutrients that are responsible for the growth of hair. Consequently, the hair follicles lack nutrients and oxygen, which are vital for their growth. Thus, they die and exfoliate.
Maintenance
Hair fall will happen when people regularly apply hair-damaging products such as gels, dry shampoos, and sprays. Furthermore, tight hairstyles, excessive sun exposure, blow drying, and chemical treatment can cause sudden hair loss. Besides these, showering or washing hair with hot water opens the pores on the scalp and exfoliates the hair shaft. These practices not only cause hair fall but also damage the hair quality. However, they only cause temporary hair loss. To prevent hair loss, simply stop doing the things detailed above.
Medical Therapies, Conditions, and Side Effects
Certainly, many medical conditions are associated with hair fall. These include PCOS, cancer therapies, syphilis, and alopecia areata. In addition, the side effects of certain medicines may contribute to losing hair.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Regarding Hair Loss:
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Does iron deficiency cause hair loss?
Yes. Iron deficiency is a condition that affects the production of hemoglobin. As a result, the dermal cells receive less oxygen and nutrients responsible for hair growth. Consequently, the hair follicle, devoid of nutrients and oxygen, dies and falls out.
The pattern of hair loss seen with iron deficiency is similar to genetic female and male pattern hair loss. However, this type of hair loss is temporary. It reverses with an increased intake of iron-rich foods or iron supplements. Alternatively, over-the-counter medications such as minoxidil or finasteride also help decrease hair shedding.
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How long does it take the hair to regrow?
Hair is a keratin-based structure that grows over time. Obviously, hair growing from the scalp takes months to grow. This is because hair has a life cycle of three to five years. During this time, hair undergoes three phases, namely the active growth phase, the involution phase, and the resting phase. Hair loss occurs if any of these phases are disturbed due to stress and nutritional or hormonal disturbances.
Depending on the nutritional supply and other prevailing factors, hair grows. However, it usually takes up to four months to see significant results in the growth of hair.
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What is alopecia areata? Is it reversible?
This disorder is a medical condition with no cure. It is a genetic and autoimmune disease that causes hair to fall out. However, treatments lead to the growth of hair and increased hair thickness. This condition is treated with topical medicines like rogaine or by injecting corticosteroids into the scalp. Alternatively, oral corticosteroids can stimulate hair growth. Treatment with rogaine takes about 12 weeks to display results.
Temporarily, scalp pigmentation treatment is a good choice. This is a treatment in which the bald areas are tattooed with hair-colored pigments to camouflage the baldness. Alternatively, using wigs, reducing stress, and preventing nutrient deficiency are encouraged. Androgenetic alopecia is a similar condition that affects men and women alike.
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What are the natural methods of preventing hair loss?
Natural remedies often suffice for treating stress-related or nutrient-deficient hair loss. This is because these conditions are temporary. Some natural methods to stop hair fall include regular hair masks, following a Mediterranean diet, and eating fresh vegetables to decrease hair loss. In addition, the application of coconut oil, pumpkin seed oil, essential oil, or rosemary oil helps regrow hair. Some hair masks include onion juice, a mixture of curd, lemon, banana, and coconut oil.
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Is onion juice safe for hair growth?
Onion juice stimulates hair growth and thickens hair. It is an effective remedy for treating hair-related disorders. Onion juice acts as a reservoir of nutrients and supplies instant nourishment to the hair. Furthermore, its sulfur content prevents thinning and breakage.
Moreover, it promotes the regeneration of new hair follicles and consequently thickens hair with regular application. Even though it smells bad, onion juice is a potent anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial agent that promotes hair growth. Additionally, its antioxidants prevent the premature graying of hair.
To summarize, onion juice is highly safe for use on the scalp and hair strands. It’s an effective home remedy that is time-tested.
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Does over-the-counter medication work?
Over-the-counter medicines are popular and effective in treating hair loss problems. They prevent hair breakage, provide a local reservoir of nutrients for hair and scalp, and promote hair growth. For instance, minoxidil in a two percent concentration for at least three months increases hair density significantly. While in men, both two and five percent solutions work. Women should avoid the five percent concentration since it may cause the growth of facial hair, which is undesirable.
Finasteride is another popular over-the-counter medication recommended for use by men. However, they are contraindicated in women because it affects testosterone levels.
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Do hair growth products work?
The efficacy of hair growth products differs among individuals. Furthermore, it also depends on the cause of hair loss. For instance, if your hair loss is due to stress, hair growth sprays don’t work unless stress is reduced. Hence, expecting favorable results isn’t always possible. Hence, for hair growth products to work, ensure you address the cause of your hair loss. If no cause is found, consider consulting a trichologist.
Hair growth products should be used as directed by the manufacturer. They deliver essential nutrients to hair when applied directly to the scalp. Vitamins and other nutrients boost hair growth when readily available. However, no proven studies support using vitamins to prevent male pattern hair loss.
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Does hair grow normally after chemotherapy?
Once the chemotherapy sessions end, hair begins to regrow. Due to the heavy dose of medications administered during chemotherapy sessions, the hair that initially grows is of different quality and texture. It takes about one to two months after stopping therapy for hair to grow. Commonly observed are chemo curls that make the hair follicles look curly, which reduce with time. Furthermore, as the effect of chemicals wears off from the body after cancer treatment, hair begins to grow back naturally.
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Does hair loss stop naturally?
Hair loss stops naturally when the root cause of hair loss resolves. This includes imbalanced hormones and stress, stopping medicines, and treating medical conditions that cause hair loss. In addition, some topical medicines such as minoxidil or finasteride speed up the hair growth process. Furthermore, using home remedies to reverse hair loss is a natural way of preventing hair fall.
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How do I know that I have hair loss?
A major indication of hair loss is losing more than 500 – 1000 hair strands daily. Furthermore, the appearance of bald patches on the sides of the head is a telltale sign of hair loss in women. On the other hand, a receding hairline and baldness at the center of the crown are typical signs of hair loss in men.
If these signs are apparent, blood tests will help assess deficiency of vitamins, minerals, or iron. Moreover, they may help diagnose alopecia areata. Blood tests also help detect hormonal imbalances that contribute to hair loss.
When Should a Doctor Be Consulted?
If you have tried all possible methods and experienced no change in your condition, consider visiting a doctor. In addition, if your hair loss is far from normal hair shedding for an extended period of time, you should consult a trichologist.
Doctors often prescribe multivitamin tablets that help combat nutrient deficiency. Furthermore, they help diagnose any medical conditions that potentially lead to hair loss. They may even advise you to try changing your shampoo.
Moreover, they may prescribe blood tests to rule out thyroid disease and scalp infections and evaluate levels of vitamins and minerals. They also ensure that the levels of red blood cells in your blood are adequate since their deficiency may cause further hair loss. Furthermore, they advise following a healthy diet, using a mild shampoo, and regularly massaging your scalp with oil.
Conclusion: What Do I Need To Know About Hair Loss?
Hair loss is a common issue faced by many, especially older people. While losing 100 strands a day is normal, hair loss is considered alarming when you experience a hair fall of over 500 – 1200 strands daily. Furthermore, if you notice female or male pattern baldness, consult your doctor if home remedies fail to provide relief. Remember that seeing significant results requires patience and a waiting period of at least four months. Regular application of coconut oil helps reverse hair loss in some cases.
Studies suggest that genetics are one of the most common causes of hair loss. Genetically inherited hair loss causes thinning of hair and bald spots in the crown area of both women and men, respectively.
Home remedies work best to stop hair loss. However, if home remedies fail to work, over-the-counter medicines such as minoxidil or finasteride may help. If nothing seems to work for you, a hair transplant might be your only option to having thicker and healthier hair.
