Natural Good Health And Wellness

5 Causes Of Thinning Hair

Causes of thinning hair can be wide and varied, but if you are losing hair it may not necessarily be a permanent thing. We are going to cover some of the different reasons behind hair loss today however before we do so lets make sure we are aware of hair cycles and also a quick test to see if you are potentially going bald.

At any one time approximately ninety percent of your hair is growing and the other ten is resting. It is when your hair is resting that it is likely to fall out so if all of a sudden you see a lot of hair in the plughole or on your comb then this may be the reason why.

There is a test you can do to give a further indication if you are going bald or not and that is to do a tug test. This is a lot less painful than it sounds, all it consists of is grabbing a few hairs between thumb and forefinger (you want at least 20 or so) and then pulling these strands slowly but firmly. If you lose more than half a dozen on this test then you may be going bald.

Now that we have covered that, let us look at 5 possible reasons behind hair loss :-

1. Chemicals-Everyday we are subject to loads of different chemicals attacking our skin and its no different when it comes to our hair. People do lots of things to make their hair more attractive using colors and bleach etc… However you may be thinking I have never done that and yet I am still losing hair, well if thats the case let me point you in the direction of your shampoo. The reason for that is a lot of shampoos contain a chemical called Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and this cleans and degreases your hair, but it can thin your hair out too-so check your shampoo you may want to use a milder version

2. Hereditary – the jury is out on whether baldness really is hereditary or not, however if there is a history of baldness in the family then there is a probability it will occur again.

3. Hormones- Hormones are raging through our body all the time, in men too much testosterone can turn to DHT which will cause hair loss and in women a lack of estrogen which normally blocks testosterone can lead to hair loss. In the case of women a solution for this is quite often found in hormone replacement therapy.

4. Sebum- You normally only hear about sebum when acne is discussed as a build up of it can be a cause behind acne, but it can also be a cause behind hair loss too. This happens if there is a build up of sebum on the scalp as it can attack the bulb of the hair from which the follicle grows.

5. Immune System- There are certain types of alopecia which can occur through disorders in the immune system and they can have various effects on a persons hair from partial hair loss to total baldness tight the way through to losing all of the body hair.

These are just a few of the things that can be behind what causes baldness, however the list is not exhaustive and if you are concerned about hair loss then you may want to seek expert advice or do further research into ways how to prevent hair loss.

Hair Growth Products

If you are a man or a woman and your hair starts to fall out then chances are you may be tempted to try some hair growth products to stop the hair falling out or just to try and make it look thicker. Of course like any other problem in life that you want to resolve, when you first look at it there seems to be an abundance of solutions out there showing you how to prevent hair loss, and we’ll look at a few of them here

The main products you will probably have come across will first of all be hair transplants and then secondly some kind of prescription medication. Lets look at these first.

Getting a hair transplant is not cheap, prices vary but it is always in the thousands no matter if your currency is Euros, Pounds or Dollars and more often than not it is a course of treatment and not a one off and these treatments can be painful. This course of action is not for many people really as generally price is a factor.

Prescription medication on the other hand is more accessible, but again there is a downside to this too as some of the medication out there is specifically designed to combat DHT which is caused by too much testosterone and is quite often the cause of hair loss. Because this medication is combating testosterone, there are occasions when it can also effect a mans ability to perform sexually too.

That being the case are there any alternatives? Well thankfully yes because it seems that mother nature always has something up her sleeve to help and hair loss is no different, so following are some things you can buy as supplements or from health shops to help prevent hair loss:-

Saw Palmetto – No-one is really certain why saw palmetto works effectively, but it is thought that it contains something in it which blocks an enzyme which turns testosterone into DHT, and if you remember from before DHT is what causes hair loss.

Nettles – Another natural ingredient for combating thinning hair is nettle root extract. Nettle is high in many beneficial properties including vitamins A & C but its main strengths in fighting hair loss is that it again can help excess testosterone and DHT.

Any good supermarket should sell Rosemary and Sage and you want these 2 items in you shopping basket. The reason being is that you can boil these up with some nettles and then use the liquid to wash your hair. What you should find by doing this is that it really cleans your scalp and helps to thicken the hair root by stimulating it.

There is one way to get all of these hair loss products together in one go and that is with a product called Provillus. Provillus is a natural treatment for hair loss containing all the the above ingredients and more and they also have different supplements for both men and women. You can find out more about Provillus hair loss treatment at howtopreventhairloss.org

You May Not Really Be Going Bald

If you have noticed your hair falling out every time you wash it then you will probably started searching for ways on how to prevent hair loss, however before you panic about going bald lets look at some facts first.

You might already know this at any one time up to ninety percent of the hair on your scalp can be in whats called the growing phase. Now the reason this important to know is that the other ten percent are in the resting phase and it is during the resting phase that hair tends to fall out and this can be this could be anywhere up to 150 strands. So if you see a lot of hair in the plug hole or on your comb, then do not panic too much.

Of course if you feel as if you are losing more than 150 strands a time then quite rightly you may assume you are going bald – but before you get too down about it, just stop a moment and think about what is going on in your life, for instance is there any hormonal change going on in your body? Has your diet been poorer than normal of late?Are you under a lot of stress?. If the answer to these questions is yes then your hair loss may be temporary.

Of course there is the possibility that you may actually be going bald this could be down to the fact that your body s producing a high level of DHT and your scalp is sensitive to it. DHT is the male sex hormone and when someone has a scalp that is sensitive to this hormone where it is sensitive is where the hair starts to fall out. There are medical treatments to treat this condition such as drugs and surgery, but one has side effects and the other is expensive and painful so I am not going to cover those options here.

However if you think you may be going bald then the following tips maybe of help to you:-

• Prevention is better than cure - to see if you are going bald do the tug test. This is done by grabbing 20 or so strands of hair between thumb and forefinger and pulling slowly but firmly. If 6 or so come away then you need to take some kind of action.
• Check your diet. Hair loss can be associated with a poor diet (and also stress). Make sure you are getting plenty of vitamins and minerals in your diet and try and get your 5 a day in fruit and veg. If you cannot manage the 5 a day then take a good quality supplement.
• Avoid shampoos containing Sodium Laureth Sulfate. This is a popular product in shampoos as it works as a cleanser and degreaser - however it can thin your hair.

losing your hair can certainly effect you on an emotional level as there is no doubting it can effect confidence and self esteem. However if you look around you will find lots of tips and remedies for thicker hair are out there and they may just work for you.

Vitamins For Hair Growth

Hair, like any other part of the body needs nutrients to help it grow properly. Vitamins, of course are one of the sources of nutrients for your hair and can be a natural hair loss treatment. Now there can be difficulties with getting enough vitamins to your scalp to feed your hair, which can be behind what causes baldness. For some people they may simply be not getting enough vitamins into their body because of poor diet. If this is the case, then to start off with you want to look at your fruit and veg intake and question if you are doing your 5 a day, and failing that then they need to take supplements to boost their vitamin intake.

One of the other difficulties the hair faces in getting a good amount of vitamins to it is that if your body needs these nutrients elsewhere, then they will go elsewhere first and not the scalp. So to summarize when your body needs to repair somewhere, then it will pull the nutrients to that particular point and not let them spread around the body.

Back to the food aspect, eating a balanced and varied diet is obviously good for your health anyway, but even so because of the way food is produced and transported these days, even taking your five a day may not be enough to get you all your vitamins that you need, this can mean even less nutrients for your hair. And on top of that there are two items that are regularly put in our food which are deemed to be detrimental to our hair and they are sugar and salt, but there are vitamins that can combat these too, and we’ll take a look at them now.

The first vitamin to get into your diet is A which is Retinol. Dosage should be between 10,000 to 25000 IU’s, you need to be at the higher end of the dosage if you are of a larger frame and vice versa if you are quite small

The other vitamin which is needed is B. Vitamin B is thought too be very beneficial against hair loss and can easily be found in supplement form. One thing to bear in mind if you supplement with vitamin B is that your body will only use what it needs and excrete what it does not so you may find your urine going an interesting shade of yellow.

Vitamin C is next up. Be careful with vitamin C as taking too much can lead to an upset stomach. To get best results take somewhere between 300 and 400 mg.

Another vitamin to add to the list is vitamin E. This is another vitamin that you need to adjust the dosage to you size. You should have somewhere between 400 and 800 mg but try not to exceed 800mg. For those that struggle digesting fats vitamin E is also available in soluble form.

Finally there is vitamin H (which is really a vitamin B). This vitamin is rumored to be essential for slowing hair loss. If you are lacking in this vitamin, then on the whole it will show up with you having thinning hair. It works best when taken with the other B vitamins and you need to be having around 300mg.

There you go then, some of the main vitamins that help to how to prevent hair loss, however before you start taking supplements you should consult with your physician, just to make sure you are not going to have any adverse side effects and they may also be able to advise you on the right dosage to take.

Thinning Hair In Women

Baldness and hair loss in men is very common and almost taken for granted, even if some men do feel self conscious about it and search for a way how to prevent hair loss, however receding or thinning hair does occur in women too, and can be extremely damaging to the self esteem as first of all it is not very common and secondly a woman’s hair is a large part of how a woman likes to present herself to the world.

If you are a woman that is experiencing quite a lot of hair suddenly starting to fall out, before panicking ask yourself if there is an obvious reason as to why this is happening, such as wearing your hair in a style where the hair is tightly tied back? Are you undergoing a lot of stress in your personal or professional life at present? Has your diet been poorer than normal lately? Although things like this may not seem relevant, they are and can have an effect on your hair.

Now of course non of these things may be happening in your life, and you are actually losing more hair than any of the above would warrant, well if that is the case there is a strong possibility it could be a hormonal issue, as changes in hormones can hugely effect the growth of your hair.
Following are some of the common things that can happen to a woman to adjust hormones and interfere with the hair growth.

One of the first areas to look at is if you are going through the menopause. Menopause has a big impact on hormones and especially in slowing production of them down. This is probably more common than you would imagine and can effect up to about two thirds of women and leave them with bald patches of some degree in their post menopausal stages. Probably one of the most common ways this is treated by the medical profession is with HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy). The actual hormone imbalance that occurs in the female during menopause which can cause hair loss can be explained as follows:-

Normally a woman produces estrogen and testosterone, however estrogen acts like a shield and stops the testosterone moving about the body much. However when a woman goes on to become menopausal, the production of estrogen slows down and this allows testosterone to start moving around the body, and if the production of it is particularly high then this can lead to DHT and DHT is what has been linked as the reason for baldness in men.

Another thing which will change the hormone balance in a woman hugely is if they are forced to undergo a hysterectomy. In a sense this is like being menopausal as estrogen levels plummet and again this can lead to hair loss.

The final big upheaval in a woman which causes massive hormonal change is pregnancy, and this can really play tricks with the hair. When a woman becomes pregnant there are huge amounts of changes that start to occur within the body as you can probably well imagine. It is extremely common during pregnancy for hair to just seemingly take on a life of its own. It can go thinner and fall out, it can become thicker, curly hair can straighten and straight hair can go curly. Some women claim their hair is never the same again after pregnancy and this is all down to their hormones.

These just cover some of the hormonal changes, however if you feel that none of this is applicable to you then, remember to have a little think about stress, hairstyle and food as well. In particular if you feel as if your diet is letting you down then you may want to consider taking some vitamins for good hair growth.

How To Restore Lost Hair

If you are a man or a woman and you are losing your hair you will probably be asking yourself,is there a way how to prevent hair loss? Because, some type of hair loss will occur to approximately 50-80% of men at some stage in their life. For women you are probably looking at 40%. Whichever sex you are replacing lost hair can be important, as baldness can leave both men and women feeling low on confidence – particularly when dealing with members of the opposite sex.

Now of course, as with most of life’s problems, the drug companies and top dollar surgeons have jumped on peoples feelings to offer cures for hair loss, but for the most part they are expensive and painful transplant procedures that cost a lot of money OR drugs which stop working for you once you stop taking them. And if you are a man there is a possibility that these drugs can interfere with your sexual performance. This being the case is here another solution?

Well actually there is, because homeopathic treatments are coming to the fore and following are a couple of things to get you started :-

The first place to stop is vitamins. The diet you eat plays such an important part so make sure you are getting your 5 a day to keep your vitamin and mineral intake sufficient. The key vitamins to take are A, B6, B12 and C. Also try and include Folic acid and biotin in your diet. These few vitamins are highly promoted in terms of preventing hair loss and encouraging growth, and if you cant get them through the food you eat then take supplements - but be careful to make sure you do not exceed your RDA (Also note that an excess of vitamin A can CAUSE hair loss)

DHT is the male sexual hormone that can cause hair loss if the scalp is sensitive to it, using Saw Palmetto is encouraged as this herb helps to mop excess DHT in the scalp and stop hair falling out in areas that are sensitive to the DHT, so this is a good herb to supplement with.
Now as with anything in life, please be careful before making any changes to your diet. Even though products may be natural and seemingly OK to take you may want to consult with a physician first, just to make sure everything is fine for you to take as you don’t want any adverse reactions.

Hair loss can be upsetting, but there are natural hair loss treatment out there. And the good news these type of remedies can and do work, so keep researching and you will find one that works for you.