Today, we're talking about a pretty sensitive subject: hair loss. I know how detrimental losing your hair can be, for both men and women, but especially for women. As a licensed cosmetologist I often get people asking me what to do about their hair thinning or falling out. And the very first thing to understand, just as I tell all my clients who ask about this: hair loss is a complicated subject, without a single solution. I don't want to get your hopes up, nor do I want you to feel hopeless. The truth is that there are many things that you can try that have proven to be effective. And it's usually through a combination of actions that you can (in many cases) reverse your hair loss. Remember, knowledge is power. So you do have to start with learning things so that you'll know which steps are right for you. So that's what we're going to go through together, right now in this post. Let's lay some basic understanding of hair loss and of course, I am going to list out actionable steps for you to try out (I sure do love me a good list. Who's with me on that? lol) As always, I want to keep this post as simple as possible to understand. So while I am going to be providing a lot of detail here, I'm going to avoid going into too much medical lingo and diving in too deep. Even if you are a total fact-finder, this post will be a good jumping off point for your own research on potential treatment options. Please note: I am not a doctor. The information on this blog is for educational & informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advise. You should consult your healthcare provider if you are seeking medical advise, diagnosis, or treatment. I will not be held liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages arising therefrom. What the Heck Is Hair Anyway?Before we can get into why you might be losing your hair and how to help resolve it, it's essential to understand a little bit about your hair. When you understand what your hair is made of and how it functions, you'll have an easier time getting to the root of the why & how for your hair loss. So first of all, hair is probably way more complex than you'd imagine. But I only want to focus on mainly two parts: the hair bulb & the hair shaft. The hair bulb contains living cells which divide and grow, in order to build the hair follicle (which holds the hair in place) and the hair shaft (which is what you see). Your blood vessels nourish the cells in the hair bulb, and deliver the hormones that your hair needs to grow. The hair shaft is mostly made up of a protein called Keratin. It also contains some amino acids. There's a bit more to the structure of the hair, but for our purposes today, that's the important bit. The second thing to understand is that your hair follicles go through a cycle of growing, shedding, resting, and then repeating. Typically, 80-90% are in a growth phase, while 10-20% is in the rest phase. This is why it is totally normal to loose about 50-150 hairs a day — they have moved to the shedding and resting phase together (BFFs-for-life status. lol). When you have more hair than that shedding at the same time, that's when you'll notice your hair feeling and maybe even looking thinner (particularly on your scalp). The Most Common Types of Hair LossThere are many many different kinds of hair loss. And it is a very complex subject. Which is why seeing a good dermatologist can be the most effective thing to do. However, let's talk about the two most common types of hair loss so that you can educate yourself. You can have one or both of these: 1. Male & Female Pattern Hair Loss aka androgenic alopecia (AGA). This type of hair loss is due to hormones (aka DHT) and results in hair follicle miniaturization (aka the density of the hair shaft is decreasing). This type of hair loss typically occurs after/during puberty. Tends to be chronic & progressive. It is also is the leading type of hair loss. The pattern of hair loss is different for men (use Norwood Scale) vs. women (use Ludwig Classification). It is genetic or a result of a condition that affects your androgens (like PCOS). 2. Telogen Effluvium (TE) - This is basically hair shedding/falling out more than what is normal. Can be temporary or chronic. Affected by nutrition, stress, medications, systemic inflammation, and underlying health conditions. This can happen at any age, and typically comes on quickly for acute TE (within months), and/or slowly for chronic TE. The thing about TE is that you may have excessive shedding 5-6 months after your "incident". There is nothing that can be done about the hair that is already going to fall out. However, the new growth can be impacted if you address/correct the root cause. Why Am I Experiencing Hair Loss?Now that you've got a very general overview of what your hair needs to be healthy, and the two common types of hair loss, you can move onto the next step: determining the root cause of your hair loss. Not all hair loss happens because of the same reason, and thusly, the treatment is going to vary. Further, there can be multiple reasons/causes for hair loss. So, you may have to take action on more than one thing for more than one type of hair loss. Sometimes you may be able to figure out the root cause on your own, but if you are having extensive hair loss please get help from a doctor (look for a good dermatologist who really understands hair loss. You may also find an endocrinologist if you suspect nutritional issues or systemic conditions like thyroid, PCOS, Lupus, etc). If we keep in mind the three things your hair needs (nutrition, blood flow, & hormones), we can start to look at what things impact those. Keeping in mind the two common hair loss types let's narrow things down by examining external factors & internal factors. External FactorsYes, technically all hair loss happens because of the "inner workings" of our bodies. But sometimes it might be happening due to something "outside of your body" that's causing the internal disruption. So let's look at a few common external reasons that result in telogen effluvium:
Now, I want you to be the detective for your life. What things from this list do you do/have? Has anything changed lately, within the last 6 months or so? Have you been particularly stressed out? What about self-care? You working out & eating healthy? Do you use professional-grade shampoo & conditioner? Take stock of the things going on and see if there's any red flags for you. Internal FactorsThese get a bit tricker. Sometimes there's things that you can do, and sometimes there's not in terms of "correcting" the root cause. In a very general sense, most of these internal factors have to do with hormones or systemic inflammation — and that's why it gets complicated. Further, they are often intertwined. Meaning, for example, that a systemic condition could create a scalp/skin condition. However, there is a lot you can do to keep issues from progressing. So again, you need to be the detective for your own personal circumstances. Let's dive into the most common internal factors that can cause hair loss:
In addition to all of these things there's of course things like surgery, illness, cancer treatments, etc. that put the body's "internal workings" into shock or out-of-balance, and it goes without saying that that can affect your hair — even events that were 6 months ago! Again, ask yourself questions to discover what potential causes there are for you. Or go see a good dermatologist who will do the assessments and even lab tests, to discover what is going on specifically for you. How To Improve Hair Loss I'm sure it goes without saying that there is no single fool-proof method to cure hair loss. What works for one individual may not work for another because their "source" is different from yours. As I've already stated the very first step to helping your hair loss is to uncover the source(s), and correct it preferably with a good dermatologist. Once you've narrowed down some potential reasons as to WHY you might be experiencing hair loss, you may be able to correct things based on your specifics — like changing your medication with your doctor. Or perhaps you learn that your thyroid is out of wack so you take the appropriate steps to bring back the hormonal balance. Maybe you've been incredibly stressed lately and so you can start to implement breathing & system regulation techniques. Point being: do what you can to attack the hair loss source head on. So go back to the external and internal causes, and be the detective for your hair loss source. If you do things that don't address your source, then it's likely that you'll just be wasting time and money. For example: if you have AGA but you only do topical minoxidil, it might not do much because you aren't blocking DHT (which is what is needed since DHT is killing your hair follicles; minoxidil would, however be a good adjunctive treatment to promote hair growth). The sooner that you can implement these things the better! If the bulb dies, there's no bringing it back (aside from with hair transplants, if you're even a candidate). So taking action as soon as possible is imperative. Do not wait. Having said that, let's dive into the potential treatments for the two types of hair loss. Hair Loss Due to DHT (Androgenetic Alopecia)Androgenetic alopecia is typically because of your genes (or a condition like PCOS). If you have thinning hair in your family there's a good chance you'll get it too (although you may be the first to get it as well). The bottom line with this type of hair loss is DHT. Only by addressing DHT can you slow, stop, & potentially reverse your hair loss. Yes, you may have more than one reason you are losing your hair, but if it's AGA and you're trying "vitamins" that's not going to do a thing for your hair loss (more on that in a bit). Since men & women have different hormones let's break the treatment options into gender. (Note: I am not a doctor and thus, I do not feel comfortable talking about Cisgender needs. Please discuss options with your doctor that will work specifically for your body). Hair Loss Treatments for Women with AGASometimes it might feel like we've gotten the short end of the stick, because there's not really a whole lot of research on women's hair loss. Perhaps, women's bodies are more complex when it comes to hair loss. Because even though a group of women may be experiencing female pattern baldness, the reasons for each person will be different (which is not the case for men). Further women can have "normal" hormone levels and still experience hair loss. So if you're experiencing enough hair loss that you're truly concerned about, please go see a dermatologist who specializes in female hair loss. Of course, you can sometimes figure out what's going on with your endocrinologist or doctor, I just find dermatologist or specialists to be more knowledgeable when it comes to things like hair loss. Having said all of that, there are a few things to try (under doctor recommendation & supervision):
I think it's worth mentioning that drugs/pills may sometimes be like a bandaid on a bigger issue. Which means, that we need to put as much emphasis as we can on getting/keeping our bodies healthy. Whether that be with our mental health, or our nutrition & systemic health. Hair Loss Treatments for Men with AGAThe major contributing factor for hair loss in men is DHT. It's thought to cause hair follicles to miniaturize — thus, contributing to male pattern hair loss. Just as I mentioned to the women reading this, taking medication that affects your ENTIRE SYSTEM is risky business. So please do not go to the black market to get medications (yea, I know how guys are). Instead, partner with a knowledgable doctor who understands hair loss and can prescribe medication under their supervision. Having said that, there are medications that have proven to be effective for men:
Hair Loss Topical Treatments for AGAThese topicals can work for both men or women. But here's the thing: they are adjunct treatments. In other words, it seems quite unlikely that these alone will improve your AGA hair loss (*these alone might work for SOME women), but can work really well with the the treatments we already went over.
Telogen Effulvium TreatmentsWe've already discussed how eliminating stress, changing medication, or getting a condition under control is really what is going to help with TE. Additionally, the topicals we discussed just a moment ago can also help with TE (meaning they are being used as adjunct treatments with whatever protocol you are implementing for TE or they can be used alone if you've already addressed the TE source). The last bit that can help with TE is nutrition. There may be a deficiency by either you not consuming the proper amount of nutrients your hair needs, or you could have something getting in your body's way of properly using that nutrient aka absorption (that's where you're going to need to talk with your doctor). However, let's look at the list of things, in general, that you can give your body for healthy hair:
In addition to these more well-known items (and in some cases better studied), that I just went through, there's also some other potential things to look into and try. What I'm about to list doesn't have a lot of evidence backing them, but they seemed worth mentioning from my research. I'll let you be the judge for your own situation if these are something that you'd want to introduce into your diet and/or supplements:
There are of course many other "holistic" supplements/treatments that people are touting as effective treatments for hair loss, but until I see more research and evidence backing them, I don't want to list them here as possible contenders. There's nothing worse, IMO, than searching for answers to something serious only to find endless lists of nonsense. (Am I right? or am I right?!) Additional & Alternative Treatments for Hair LossYou might be wondering why this list isn't mentioning some things you may find when you really start digging into alternative hair loss treatments, like rosemary oil or Nutrafol. The things is: Yes, there's a lot more things claiming to be effective for hair loss but I just can't find enough evidence to really support any of it. And again, I'd rather not waste your time. I'm only covering everything that I believe to be the most effective treatments for hair loss that also are backed by quality research/data. HOWEVER, having said that, if you're the person who wants a few more things to look into/try, then here are some (pretty big) "MAYBES/MIGHT WORK":
Treatments Often Touted as Effective but...When it comes to hair loss, time is of the essence. If you waste time on treatments that do not work, then that could result in permanent irreversible hair loss (meaning hair transplants are the only option if even an option at all). Which is why it's all the more important to use treatments that are already proven to be effective in the fight against hair loss. Even in light of the already approved & effective treatments for hair loss, people still waste their time with other "alternative treatments". It's typically because of two reasons:
The hair loss industry preys on people's desperation, and I don't want you to fall victim to the litany of scams out there. So, here's a short list of a few hair loss treatments that aren't chalked up to be what people are claiming.
There are, of course, many more things that people are claiming to "work" for hair loss / hair growth. The ones I've just listed are what I've seen a majority of the time circulating around the internet. It's really disheartening that people have to sift through so much snake-oil. And that so many companies prey on people's fear and depression with hair loss. That's not what I want for you! Which is why I cannot stress it enough to work with a good dermatologist who is knowledgable about hair loss. To Sum It All UpHair loss is a complicated issue. It takes a good dermatologist and a little patience to systematically figure out what is going to work for you. As well as an understanding that all treatments take time to work. Remember, there is no one-size-fits all solution to hair loss. The steps are:
To make things easier for you, I've rounded up some products that I mentioned above that are available for purchase over-the-counter. *Disclaimer: some, or all, of the products in this are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission. Again, I am not a doctor and you should always consult your doctor when looking for treatment, diagnosis, or medical advise. OTC Product List For Improving Hair Loss
I know that hair loss can be scary and anxiety invoking, which is why I can't let you go without once again mentioning how important mental health is. Please take care of yourself, and don't let yourself stress out over your hair loss. Now, I'd love to hear from you! Do you have any questions? Ask me in the comments below! Popular Posts Others Also Like:
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AuthorI am a professional makeup artist and licensed cosmetologist. I absolutely enjoy sharing hair and makeup tips to help you enhance your natural beauty. (Trust me, you're gorgeous.) Categories
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