Imagine this. You are in the shower and you see several strands of hair all over the place - your soap/loofah , the drain and all over your body. You see another year of life drift away in front of your eyes . Is this it? Are you going bald ?
Hello my lovelies !
Anyone suffering from hair loss or thinning would most likely pass through these fleeting gripping thoughts. What exactly is behind hair loss ? Is hair loss in men different from that seen in women ? Though the easiest , are our genes the only thing to blame ?
However hard it may be , DO NOT STRESS. Stress over hairfall has an almost wicked association with hairfall itself
The more you worry , the more you lose.
This post will not discuss thin hair that has always been so. This is not
going to be my tips or pointers to stop your hairfall. I am not going to be suggesting wonder products that will take care of it all whilst you slouch against a sofa watching the telly. What i aim to do , however , is not make you feel so lost regarding what you suffer from and how you can be your own guide in getting to the root of your issue.
Let me walk you through the hair cycle in as simple terms as is possible.
Our main point of interest here is the third stage-the telogen phase. As you can see in the image , telogen phase lasts 2-4 months. It is in this phase that hair is ejected out of its root , either in normal amounts or in excess. Why am i throwing this boring piece of science at your face ? To help you see that any change in hair loss , any sudden bursts of increase traces back to a source 2-4 months back . Which means if you notice hair fall in abundance in the month of june , something has been going on inside since february or so. It is almost NEVER due to immediate changes like changing your shampoo or washing your hair in a particular way since a week or any of those myths.
So now, you are freaking out. Hair is all over the place and everywhere except your head. What do you do ?
1-Calm down. Let me reiterate-stress will only worsen it.
2- About 100 strands of hair loss is very much normal. To avoid being paranoid , you may start with collecting most of the hair you see around in a day and counting it at the end of day . Yes, extremely boring but MOST of the times, what we feel is much may actually be normal.
3-A sudden increase in hair loss or thinning seen in a head previously quite healthy needs to be traced for any stressing events. Most common events that would have occurred 2-4 months ago that is NOW causing hair loss are:-
- Low hemoglobin in blood or iron deficiency
- Over or under active thyroid
- Childbirth/pregnancy
- Stress
- Any type of major surgery
- High fever
- Variety of medications including common ones like Brufen and contraceptives.
4-You may want to understand that dandruff is on its own a very important trigger in hair loss. If you are riddled with dandruff, you may want to read this .
For any new mothers out there experiencing severe hair loss , let me tell you , physiological chages with estrogen is usually seen for upto a year or a bit more after childbirth , so you may notice horrible fall anytime soon after delivery upto about 18 months post. However , that does not mean you do not need to rule out other medical causes.
Once medical or hormonal causes of hair loss are ruled out , a major chunk of the workup is done and correcting the underlying cause almost always corrects the symptom. Now , what happens if after seeing a dermatologist , you come clean in terms of medical causes?
If a cause cannot be pinpointed or atleast traced, hair loss must be treated holistically. There calls for a need to retrospect what you eat , how you treat your hair and even how you may /may not be combing it.
Natural remedies:-
Effective but impractical for most. Requires consistency and perseverance. Results can only be practically expected within a three month time frame ( remember our telogen phase ) but when they do come , they are indeed satisfying.
I will not be bombarding this post with natural remedies but will encourage you to read an article I had written a few years ago. Here it is.
Biotin as a supplement and in your diet:-
Biotin is a B complex vitamin , also known as Vitamin H. This is my wonder vitamin. I recommend this to everyone I know , despite of hair loss or thinning . It stimulates hair growth and makes it more healthy, shiny and what not. You need to wait 2 months or so and a daily meticulous intake to see an effect though. My recommended dose for an adult will be Biotin 5000mcg. Though seen together conjunct with vitamins for hair , nails and skin , the biotin in these cocktails are almost always lesser than the optimal dose. These are a few good brands that I recommend but any well heard brand will do and this does not require prescription.
The rest of the jazz I need not be singing again as you would have definitely seen / heard or read about them . The common ones being don't brush your hair wet, don't tie harsh ponytails etc.
So in a small gist-
Do not stress
Visit a dermatologist for a detailed work up
Include Biotin in your diet
And let me know in some months if anything has been of benefit to you !
Much love ,
xoxo.
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