Posts Tagged ‘ hair loss myths ’

Millions of people around the world experience hair loss due to different reasons. While there are some who don’t need to do anything to maintain a healthy mane, others may require hair loss treatments to deal with the issue.

If hair loss is gradual and consistent, then it may be hereditary. However, if you experience premature hair loss then the reason may be your poor health. That’s right! Health and hair loss are closely tied together. Your health affects the quality, texture and strength of your hair. Poor health habits and prolonged illness can throw your body out of balance and trigger hair loss.

Putting Things in Perspective

Let’s take a deeper dive to understand the connection between hair loss and your overall health:

Our body requires a healthy balance of different factors, like a nutritious diet and ample sleep, to name a few, and any imbalance in these can result in problems like hair loss. You may experience significant hair loss after a prolonged illness like severe infection, surgery, high fever or even flu. In medical terminology, this type of hair loss is referred to as telogen effluvium.

Other underlying diseases that can also cause hair loss are:

• Over or under active thyroid glands
• Anaemia

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation and hair loss may appear to be two different problems but actually they are not. Where sleep helps body to repair and revitalize, it also influences hair growth. Poor sleep patterns, insomnia and narcolepsy can influence the health of your hair and lead to hair breakage and loss over time. In fact, lack of sleep is one of the reasons for Male Pattern Baldness in male adults.

Diet Matters

Poor diet can impact the whole body and deteriorate your health, often resulting in hair loss. Simply put, what you eat not just impacts your overall wellbeing but also the health of your hair. The effects of your diet on the appearance, texture and growth of your hair should not be underestimated.

That being said, it is important to understand that striking a nutritional balance is the key. Scalp and hair problems may occur either due to nutritional deficiency or excess intake of nutrients.  Other reasons include iron deficiency. Iron is necessary to maintain healthy hair and nails and deficiency can thereby trigger hair loss. And according to the University of Hawaii, overdose of intake of vitamin A can also result in hair fall. [URL http://www.livestrong.com/article/334045-hair-loss-due-to-a-vitamin-overdose/]

For some people, a healthy diet is one that includes vegetables, fruits and minimal proteins, while others believe high protein diet with no carbohydrates (Atkins diet) is the best.  These types of diets may be healthy, but for optimum hair growth and health, it is imperative to strike a balance of all the nutritional elements like iron, vitamins, minerals, proteins and complex carbohydrates. Make sure your diet includes all these essential nutrients for healthy hair and growth.

Bad Habits

You may find it strange but hair loss problems can be associated with smoking, drinking and excess consumption of caffeine. Smoking puts men at a greater risk of going bald. Here’s how: hair basically grows out of follicles underneath the scalp. These hair follicles require oxygen, essential nutrients and blood circulation to function properly and trigger hair growth. Cigarette smoke contains chemicals and toxins which affect the blood circulation, and disrupt  hair growth resulting in thinning and loss of hair.

There are a lot of important facts about hair loss that people should know to help them choose how to treat it. The issue is, these facts are often tangled up in a mess of myths and old wives tales, some of which have been so popular for decades, they’ve eventually become accepted as fact.

It’s easy to see why many people believe them; most of these myths are based in common sense.

So, we’ve put together 5 misconceptions many people have about hair loss.

#1: Hair Loss Means Your Body Needs More Protein

The root of this myth comes from the fact that hair is made up of protein. That protein is known as ‘keratin’.

From a logic perspective, it seems to make sense that if your body is low in protein, it won’t have the materials it needs to grow hair effectively.

The thing is the everyday diets of mot people bring more than enough protein into their bodies to fuel hair growth. Only extreme cases of protein deficiency have been known to cause hair loss.

So, before rushing to the butcher to stock up on steak, anyone experiencing hair loss should remember there are almost certainly other significant medical factors at work.

#2: Only Men Experience Hair Loss

For all the hair loss products marketed every day on TV, in print and online, it’s easy to think that hair loss is a condition that only a problem for the boys.

The fact is that lots of women will experience hair loss in their lifetime as well.

In fact, according to the Victorian government’s Better Health Channel, over 55% of Australian women will experience some form of hair loss, be it in thinning hair, or in patterned baldness.

Treatments for the condition from medical hair loss specialists differ for men and women. This is because of the different hormones present in each body.

Even though it’s not quite as visible as male-pattern baldness, hair loss in females is definitely NOT an uncommon thing.

#3: Bad Circulation Causes Hair Loss

This one’s a head scratcher – literally. The myth goes that hair loss comes with reduced circulation in the scalp, and can be fixed by standing on one’s head to send blood to the area, or by frequently massaging the head.

A massage might feel great, but it’s definitely no cure for hair loss. Like the myth about protein, thisis a myth that seems rational enough; if only it were that simple!

#4: Shampooing Too Often Causes Hair Loss

This is one old wives tale that has some people avoiding shampoo and conditioner where they can. The problem is it’s not true!

Like brushing hair, washing hair is an activity that makes people more aware of the hairs they’re losing. Work the shampoo lather through the hair and you’re guaranteed to see some hairs that have come out – hairs you mightn’t have noticed otherwise.

#5: Hair Loss Doesn’t Happen Before 40

Everybody sheds hair, every day – that’s a fact! But one misconception plenty of young people have is that an issue like patterned baldness will only start occurring after the age of 40.

For many people, hereditary hair loss can begin in their 20s and 30s; much earlier than they might have thought!

That said, many men experience a shift in their hair line in their 20s, which doesn’t necessarily mean significant hair loss is about to occur!

Myths Busted

So, that’s 5 hair loss myths busted. This is by no means an exhaustive list; there are plenty of other myths still floating around.

When it comes to hair loss, the only way to go beyond the rumours and old wives’ tales is to consult a professional!