I get asked a lot about loosing hair. This is a hard question to answer because there are so many facts that come into play. The fact is that the average person looses 50 to 100 hair strands a day. This is normal. Our hair and skin changes every 7 years from the time we are born til we pass on.
Your hair can become more coarse and wild. It can become more or less curly. Your hair will get thinner. Certain areas of your hair will grow while another part of your hair won’t grow (that’s for another day) Hair changes color as well. I always here “I was a toe head when I was born. Now I have dishwater blonde hair.”
It sounds like a lot right. Let’s talk about some of the reasons you might be loosing your hair.
- Unfortunately, it can be heredity. Does your family have a history of baldness? You will notice your part is getting slightly “wider”. Women tend to get thinner on the top and crown area.
- Hormones play a huge role when it comes to our bodies and hair. Change of androgen levels can cause thinning of the hair. You may start getting coarser hairs on your face.
- The big bad M word. Menopause, if you weren’t already going through enough with hot flashes and moodiness, now we have to add that 2/3rds of women experience hair loss.
- Have you recently lost weight? You will loose some of your hair when you loose a lot of weight. Your body and hormones are changing because of this. Very low calorie diets, low protein and even anemia all cause the hair to fall out.
- Are you stressed out about something? When you are stressed your body will shut down sending the proper nutrients needed to the parts that it deems unnecessary. Which unfortunately once of them is hair.
- Are you eating right? You need good healthy food and drinking plenty of water going into your system to have your body run properly. Without healthy food your hair will become dull, lifeless and can start to fall out. Think of it like a plant. Your don’t feed the plant and give it water it will wilt away. Again, not enough protein and/or iron can cause your hair to start falling out.
- Are you playing with your hair? Maybe you are sitting at your computer working or watching television. You start running your fingers through your hair or twirling your hair around your finger. Maybe you put the ends of your hair in your mouth. These are common things people do without even realizing it’s going on.
- If you have psoriasis or eczema it is common to scratch your scalp. Because both of these are itchy, you will tend to scratch and pick. Doing this can pull out some hair as well.
- If none of these sound like you. I always suggest getting your thyroid check out. An over active thyroid causes hair loss.
- I have heard “I colored my hair and now it’s falling out.” Hair color won’t cause your hair to fall out but if done incorrectly your hair can break. Because hair color opens the cuticle and manipulates the hair molecules.
- “I got a keratin or Brazilian Blowout and it’s falling out.” This is another that I’ve heard and yes it can cause your hair to not grow in if done incorrectly.