Hair loss and thinning hair are common problems for many people. Anything from hormones, stress, and over-styling to depression or a bad dye job could be the cause. If you’re looking for ideas on how to manage thinning hair, read on for the most popular tips, tricks, and advice.
1. Loosen that Tie
Between expectations to look professional and keeping up with new hair trends, you could be constantly pulling your hair into painful positions that may be causing damage! Tight ponytails, hair extensions, and even excessive blow-drying could be causing a lot of strain for your hair follicles. This results in loss of traction and alopecia. If you’re seeing thinning hair or lots of shedding, the problem may be your styling tools and techniques. Consider giving your hair a break from all those tight updos, extensions, and extra gel with looser styles that require less product and are gentler on your hair.
2. Eat More Protein
If you think your loss of hair has anything to do with nutrition, it could be that lack of protein is the culprit. A good strategy is to add a little more animal protein to your diet. Make sure that around half of your protein macronutrient quota comes from animals — chicken, fish, etc. Keeping track of the amount of protein you’re eating each day can show you what you’re missing in terms of proper nutrition. Aim for a minimum of 45 grams of protein per day to ensure you’re eating a balanced diet.
For vegans and vegetarians who abstain from animal products, you might try eggs (for vegetarians), avocados, nuts, seeds, and spinach.
3. Take Your Vitamins
Other nutritional deficiencies can also cause you hair loss problems, as low Vitamin D and B12 affect hair growth. You should look for foods with higher vitamin and mineral content or take supplements to guarantee you’re getting all the nutrients you need. Vitamin B can be found in meat, fish, and dairy while Vitamin D is readily available in fatty fish, egg yolks, and vitamin-fortified foods like fruit juice and soy milk.
Another nutrient-rich source that many people swear by is green tea. All those antioxidants and vitamins can make a big difference!
4. Listen to Your Body
If you’ve already tried changing your hair styling and your diet and haven’t seen any improvement, it’s time to consider more serious concerns. Many medical conditions can cause hair loss and thinning. Thyroid conditions, especially Grave’s disease, and Hashimoto’s disease, often affect hair.
Left untreated, thyroid conditions can cause your hair to become dry and thin out. You might also be experiencing weight fluctuations, fatigue, and dry skin. Thyroid testing can be conducted through a quick blood draw at your general practitioner’s office.
5. Try Laser Phototherapy
Cheap hair restoration is not a solution to your thinning hair, but there are treatments out there that can really make a difference. Laser phototherapy is one method of improving your hair growth and structure with minimal side effects. Unlike lotions and pills, you won’t see any scalp irritation or damage to the follicles.
Laser phototherapy works by flooding your scalp with photons. These energize your hair follicles and encourage them to grow new hairs. This type of therapy also promotes blood circulation that brings nutrients and oxygen to existing hair follicles and helps them grow stronger and faster.
6. Never Skip Conditioner
You might be skipping steps in your hair care routine to save time or product. Whatever your reason, this is a big mistake. If you’re not using a conditioner, you’re allowing your hair to become dehydrated over time. Dehydrated hair turns brittle and experiences much more damage from even the gentlest styling.
Shop for lightweight conditioners that include panthenol and glycerin in their ingredients. Both of these elements work to moisturize your hair strands and ensure fragile hair gets stronger.
7. Increase Iron Intake
Low iron is one of the most common causes of thinning hair. You could be experiencing low iron due to a range of different factors that range from stress, heavy periods, and being a vegetarian to donating blood too often and getting older. All of these can affect a protein called ferritin, which stores the iron within your body.
Including iron-rich foods or iron supplements into your diet can help nourish your hair from the inside out and reverse the effects of hair loss. Talk to your doctor about your iron levels and get their advice on how much additional iron you need, as too much iron could have negative side effects.
8. Care for Your Scalp
With all this focus on your hair, you might have forgotten that your scalp is just as important. Help your scalp stay healthy with appropriate cleansing, moisturizing, and support. Your scalp needs to be just as hydrated as your skin, so if you don’t have any products that treat your scalp specifically, it’s time to start searching!
9. Live a Healthy Life
From a healthy diet to improving your sleep, everything can have a positive effect on thinning hair. Avoiding fast food, exercising regularly, and minimizing drinking and smoking are all important elements of living a healthy life. Reflect on your general habits and pinpoint areas for improvement that will eventually improve your hair growth and strength.
10. Consider a Trichologist
Don’t brush off the evidence of thinning hair! If you’re seeing more shedding in the shower or your ponytail has gotten thinner, it could be time for more serious steps. Make an appointment with a hair and scalp specialist to see if the experts have additional insight on what could be wrong. A trichologist can identify issues and provide solutions that address whatever personal concerns you’re dealing with. Get personalized advice from a trichologist and solve your hair woes for good.
11. Hair Transplantation
A more costly measure against hair loss but more lasting and promising would be a hair transplant. In the last decade’s hair restoration methods have evolved considerably and also the cost has fallen sharply. Today not only many celebrities are pursuing a hair transplant but also more and more women. If you want to learn more about hair transplantation you should read the hair transplant guide from medihair and check out the before-after cases on the hair loss platform.
With this guidance, you can make better decisions for the future of your hair. Experiment with each of these tips and figure out what works best for you.
Author Bio:
Tess DiNapoli is an artist, freelance writer, and content strategist. She has a passion for yoga and often writes about health and wellness, but also enjoys covering the fashion industry and the world of fitness.
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Thanks for explaining to me how dehydrated hair turns more brittle and might be damaged even with simple styling methods. I’m not fond of using conditioners when I was younger and this might be the reason for my current hair breakage problem. Maybe I can check if getting scalp micropigmentation services can help me avoid looking bald.