Great hair is a vibrant part of our personality, and it is pretty frustrating when you slowly start losing hair. You start noticing when you observe a few strands of hair left after combing on the hair comb or the pillow in the morning. It is a hard time when this happens to you as it is a big fear of slowly going bald.
Instead of worrying sick about it, you can find the root cause of the issue and treat the underlying cause of the hair falling from root.
What is the Frequency of Natural Hair Loss?
You have heard that right; it is natural for your hair to fall as nature makes room for new hair. On average, a typical adult can observe 50-100 hair strands fall per day. It is common to see more petite hair lying around on your bed, on your comb, during a shower, and so on. It becomes alarming if the amount exceeds a hundred daily, and you can easily grab the chunk in your hands.
Hair fall is typically more common among men than women, as 85% of men observe it during their lifetime.
How to Diagnose Your Loosing Hair?
If you are a beauty-conscious individual, the 1st thought that comes to mind is that you have Alopecia. You can always go to a dermatologist for that, but before biting the bullet, why don’t you check if your hair loss is actually a hair fall to be concerned about them?
Pull Test for Hair Loss
Grab your hair strands on any part of your head and have a yank at it. If you see up to five or seven hair strands, there is nothing to worry about, and you are just chasing a ghost. If it were more than ten in each yank, it would be a cause for concern. Apply this strategy in 2-3 different places on your head.
Sometimes your hair is just weaker from the elements or sleep or water deprivation, and hair fall shouldn’t be a cause for alarm.
Comb Test for Hair Loss
Many dermatologists recommend microneedling for hair loss, a powerful technique for restoring your natural hair look. Instead of going to extremes, try the comb test for hair loss. Start combing your hair in any direction and see if you see an alarming amount of hair strands. For this test to be positive, you must have 15 strands of hair left on your comb.
Under the Microscope
This is the professional method to test hair loss, pluck the hair from your head, and get to someone who can check or diagnose it under a microscope to see any defects.
Hair Loss Count
As we have already mentioned, if the total hair fall during the whole day is more than 100, you should get checked. Observe and count your hair fall during the whole day, discounting loss during showering when you shampoo.
Why is Your Hair Falling from Root?
Losing hair can eventually cause going bald and will change the way you look. What you can do if you see issues is to start treating it and take help by consulting a doctor or dermatologist on it. Here are a few hair fall reasons to get diagnosed for a proper cure treatment.
1. Alopecia Areata
A condition where your hair starts falling in patches from different body areas. If it is in more than one place on your head, it is undoubtedly Alopecia Areata. The leading cause behind this disease is the immune system attacking your hair follicles. This causes the roots to weaken and will further cause hair falling from root.
If the attack is only on the head, causing complete baldness, it is known as Alopecia Areata, while it is called Alopecia Universalis throughout your body.
If you have any form of Alopecia, then using Argon oil halts the progress and stops your head from going bald. Taking care of a healthy diet can then regrow your lost hair through the disease, but the hair will remain weak for quite some time.
2. Trichotillomania
When you are regularly stressed and having panic or anxiety attacks, you unintentionally but compulsively pull out your hair. This disorder of mental condition is called Trichotillomania, and the patient is under duress feeling the constant urge to pull out hair. This causes them to feel relief for a brief amount of time which eventually causes them to pull out more and more hair.
The best solution is to start meditating to reduce stress and exercise regularly. Avoid things and events that cause anxiety or stress by participating in therapeutic and calming activities. If it still doesn’t work out, consult a therapist to determine the root cause.
3. Sunburnt Hair and Scalp
This cause is more common in individuals who stand or work under the sun most of their day without covering their heads. It is also pretty standard for people who enjoy sunbathing and tanning. The outermost layer of your hair is burnt or destroyed by high-intensity radiations from the sun. The longer you stay in the sun, the more damage is being caused layer after layer causing your hair falling from root.
The simplest solution is wearing a hat or covering your head with a scarf/cloth to minimize the effect. You can also dab some natural oil and apply a thin layer before going out to help them stay hydrated during the day.
4. Gender Pattern Baldness
This type of baldness is one of the most common hair fall reasons that increases with age. In men, the hair starts receding with age and shapes up to look like an ‘M,’ which is stressful to most as it reduces their style and outlook. For women, it is not drastic, and more or less, the hair loss is more on the scalp than near the edge of the forehead.
More often than not, hair falling from root patterns can be more if you sleep less regularly. You should sleep, rise early, eat healthy food, and exercise regularly. Taking care of your health goes a long way and keeps you looking young and without hair loss, even past 50.
5. Dandruff
Dandruff is typically caused by a dry scalp or by a fungus called Malassezia that feeds on oil from the scalp in most individuals. A sensitivity to healthcare products may also cause it. When your hair follicles are weakened by dandruff, it is because they block your scalp pores, and it stops the roots from getting nutrition for a healthy body. With age, dandruff becomes more typical, especially if you are a male.
You can use essential oils or softer shampoos to treat or cure dandruff. You should not select fast-solution dandruff shampoos or hair products as they cause more harm than good.
6. Too Much Styling
Good-looking hair can enhance your beauty but doing a hairdo to the extreme is not wise. Most adults use blowers and hair styling tools daily, which cause moisture from your hair to be ripped away. Stripping moisture and oils from your hair causes them to grow weak and become brittle.
Standard heat styling solutions reduce the times you use these tools and increase the gap between them to stop your hair falling from root. Another solution if you can’t reduce the frequency is to use heat protection sprays for at least an hour before applying these styling tools.
7. Hypothyroidism
Your thyroid glands are vital for your growth and regulate many hormones in improved metabolism, among other body functions keeping spik and span. If the body cannot produce a sufficient number of thyroidal hormones for your body, called Hyperthyroidism, your hair fall becomes excessive and might affect other functions. Alopecia, like common issues, is caused by this.
The best practice here is to get it properly diagnosed and regularly consult your physician to help with medication for a better hormonal balance if a cure is not the solution. Improve chances of hair health with scalp massage hair loss for best results with the medication. Medications are the best course of action for people with thyroid issues.
8. Vitamin A Surplus
It is not common knowledge, but intake of too many vitamins can cause more issues than supporting you or your body. The same is the case with Vitamin A causing the weakness of your hair strands and loss of hair.
Keeping vitamin A in sufficient amounts helps your hair produce Sebum oil that keeps your hair healthy and moisturized. The typical intake of vitamin A for a male body is 900mg, while for women, it is no more than 700. You can also take foods rich in vitamins and nutrients, like berries, spinach, sweet potatoes, sweet peppers, etc. It would help if you reduced such food groups to mitigate hair falling from root.
9. Deficiency of Protein
You need a regular supply of proteins for your and your hair’s growth as they are the structural compound giving you robust hair. Your hair will become stringy, sticky, or limply when devoid of protein.
The most common protein foods are chicken, fish, meat, etc., which you should increase if you are diagnosed with Protein Deficiency.
The most probable reason for the loss of hair for people doing a crash diet is also excluding protein. Add sufficient amounts of protein supplements and food to your diet.
10. Growing Up and Aging
This is the most natural process; as you age, your body grows weaker daily and doesn’t function as much as they’re supposed to. The older you are, the more chances you are vitamin A deficient and other nutrients needed to stay healthy. Similarly, your bones need more vitamin D; otherwise, they may start experiencing osteoporosis.
Enhance your growth and wellness but eating healthy food, and once your cross 50, you want to eat as healthy as possible and increase your physical activity. One general recommendation is to walk 150 minutes per week, distributed in 30 min per day for five days and two days of rest. Walking in the sun or taking vitamin D supplements can improve bone density and give you much-needed strength. Be careful, as hair loss in summer is quite common so take as much sunlight as needed.
11. Prescribed Medications
Some other illnesses like blood pressure, being depressed, and high cholesterol causes you to take a different medicine. You can take antidepressants, beta-blockers, and blood-thinning medicine; other hormone-related drugs and steroids can adversely affect your hair. Some drugs are even known to change hair structure or color and have dangerous toxic effects. Other times it may be just temporary because of the intensity of the medicine.
If you are experiencing hair fall due to medication, consult your doctor as soon s you can because it may not just be an issue of hair fall. The doctor may prescribe you an alternative medicine that will target your underlying issue but won’t cause harm and hair falling from root.
12. Hormonal Changes
The proper balance of different hormones is essential for our bodies to function correctly, and any change can cause disruption. Hair fall can happen because of an imbalance in our hormones.
For example, drops in the levels of estrogens and progesterone cause our hair to grow slower while being much thinner than usual. These hormones cause more androgens (male hormones) and shrink hair follicles if produced less.
It is more common in women and more regular due to their monthly cycles or when they are pregnant. In some cases, hormonal imbalance causes hair to grow on the face because of androgens.
The solution is simple: get the hormones back in balance, and the hair fall will stop, along with sleep deprivation causing hair falling from root. Reducing stress, healthy physical activities, eating healthy and keeping your body hydrated enhance hair health and strength.
13. Vitamin B Deficiency
Lack of vitamin B in your diet causes weakness in your scalp and hair, causing hair falling from root. This also is caused by losing your body’s red blood cell count, weakening your immune system.
You can get vitamin B from foods such as meat, fruits, and even fish by adding them regularly to your diet so that you don’t have any shortness of this critical nutrient. Taking supplements prescribed by a doctor is also a good option.
14. Swimming too Much
If you swim daily in pools, your hair gets worse with every swim due to the chemical used in pools for water cleaning. Most often, it’s due to chlorination. Furthermore, the salt in the pools attacks your natural hair oil, causing dryness and may even cause dandruff. Both dryness and dandruff are not suitable for hair falling from root issues.
You can wash your hair before and after to remove chemicals. Washing before allows the strands to absorb water so chemicals won’t affect them much, and washing after will strip any chemicals that may have remained.
15. Having Stress
If you are under stress, it might disrupt your hair’s phases. Typically they rest, shed, and grow, but with stress, they directly go to shedding instead of resting to grow more and cause hair falling from root. Stress can be from anxiety at work, destructive relationships, sleeping little, etc.
Participating in healthy activities and eating can improve stress levels and significantly reduce their effects. You can also take antidepressant or stress medications after a consult with your physician. If it still doesn’t help, you may approach a therapist or consult with a doctor to diagnose another underlying cause.
16. Insomnia
For hair falling from root, sleep disorders can be one of the prime reasons doctors and health coaches emphasize taking eight hours of sleep each night. Your body must go into a deep sleep and go into repair mode. If you work late and sleep late, you are depriving your body of sleep, as even if you sleep eight hours, it will be incomplete.
Late working throws the body’s circadian cycle off, the most common of which is insomnia.
Doctor consultation for medicinal help is a quick solution, but you can also improve your lifestyle and sleep. Reducing time on screen before 1 hour to sleep or warm milk can work wonders.
17. Hot Water Showers
In winter, hot showers are a God send and relax you after a shower, but warm water damages your hair and causes hair falling from root. It strips away the natural oil from your hair and strips essential natural oils from the strands. If you don’t change your hair wash in a warm water routine, it can lead to dandruff which is a major cause of hair fall.
You can apply some essential herbal hair before a shower or use polyherbal shampoo to promote hair growth.
18. Iron Deficiency
Iron is essential for the strength and health of the body, and its deficiency can cause multiple effects, especially hair falling from root disorders. Furthermore, iron deficiency will make your hair weaker over time and eventually lead to baldness.
Iron supplements in your daily diet can keep a good amount of iron in your body for better blood circulation and many nutrient-carrying effects. You can also add iron into your diet with the help of vegetable salads, including green leafy veggies and tomatoes.
