Beauty News

Dealing with hair loss

Loads of women experience hair loss at some point in their lives. There's no instant fix, but there are ways to help prevent and treat thinning hair.

What causes hair loss?

Healthy scalps shed up to 100 hairs a day, depending on your hair’s density. This is nothing to worry about. But if your hair is obviously getting much thinner or showing bald patches there could be a number of underlying reasons. Several of them may occur at once and trigger the problem, and you may not see the results for several months – often it’s stylists who tend to notice it first.

Causes can be genetic, hormonal, or linked to health issues like low iron, thyroid imbalance, diabetes or cancer treatments. Then there’s crash dieting, pregnancy, low vitamin D, extremely high fever, the contraceptive pill, menopause and certain medications. Stress can also take its toll.

What can you do?

Don’t rush out and spend a fortune on hair products, as first you need to work out exactly what caused the problem. A good trichologist should be able to help you identify this and may suggest lifestyle

and diet changes.

They may also recommend vitamin or even drug therapies as a last resort, but whatever you do it will take at least three months before you see any positive changes. Using the right hair products can support your recovery, but think of them as like using skincare on your face rather than as miracle treatments.

Love your scalp and hair

There are lots of things you can do to minimise your chances of hair loss and boost the growth of healthy hair.

  • Use gentle shampoos and conditioners, and opt for ammonia-free colours that are kinder to the scalp.

  • Protect hair from excess breakage by cutting down on heat styling and giving it some resting time. on weekends, wash hair and allow it to dry naturally. or, instead of shampooing every day, comb through a little leave-in conditioner and slick your hair back into a ponytail.

  • Be careful not to burn your scalp with hot rollers or any other heat styling. And avoid braiding and hair extensions, which can increase breakage problems.

  • Just like the skin, hair shows signs of aging. It becomes drier, duller, more fragile and the diameter of each strand decreases. If these are changes you’ve noticed, then choose hair care designed to nourish age-weakened hair.

  • Lessen the chances of hair loss by keeping a good balance in your daily life. Avoid fad dieting and eat healthily, focusing on lean meat, fish, eggs and plenty of fruit and vegetables. Don’t chop and change which contraceptive pill you use, stick to the one that suits you.

  • Keep an eye on your stress levels. Don’t take on too much at work or at home.

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