One of the worst things that can happen to anyone is to wake up and notice their hair is falling out. No matter your gender, hair fall or hair loss can be devastating. Right or wrong, society has a tendency to place a fair amount of importance on hair. What it looks like. How it feels. How luscious it is. If your hair begins to fall out, it can be very traumatic. But, what causes hair loss? How do you prevent hair loss? With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at hair loss in women and men and what causes it, how much hair loss is normal, and how you might be able to prevent and control hair loss during difficult environmental conditions. By the end of this article, you will hopefully know how to stop hair from falling out in these situations.
What Are The Hair Fall Causes ?
You may wonder, “Why is my hair falling out?” One of the first ways to deal with any problem is to identify what is causing it. Unfortunately, with hair fall or loss, it becomes difficult because there are so many different triggers for it. Doctors aren’t even really sure what causes some hair follicles to have a shorter growing period than other hair follicles. The possible triggers for hair loss are fairly numerous and can include:
1. Genetics
If your family has a history of hair loss, there’s a solid chance it might affect you too.
2. Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata can cause hair to fall out in patches. This auto-immune disease can come in two forms: one that includes permanent hair loss and another where the patches of hair loss are temporary.
3. Hair Treatments
Hair treatments like bleaching, hair dying, perms, and shampooing done too often can cause hair damage, and in some cases, the hair may fall out completely. In these instances, the hair loss is usually temporary, especially if the product causing the hair loss is no longer used.
4. Hormones
Abnormal levels of the sex hormone called androgen can cause hair loss.
5. Medication/Drug Treatments
A number of drug treatments and medications can cause hair loss. Chemotherapy drugs, beta blockers, blood thinners, and even some forms of birth control can cause hair loss.
6. Injury
Head injuries and burns can cause hair loss. In this case, the hair loss is usually temporary unless scar tissue is formed.
7. Stress
Stress can cause hair loss, but most of the time, it is only temporary.
8. Diet
Low-calorie and low-protein diets can cause temporary hair loss.
9. Medical Conditions
Anemia, lupus, thyroid disease, and eating disorders can all cause hair loss. With most conditions, it is usually temporary, but lupus in particular can cause permanent hair loss.
As you can see, there are a number of reasons why hair loss may occur, and in many cases, it’s temporary. But at what point should you be worried about the hair loss? How much hair loss is normal, and when should your go see a doctor to discuss it?
How Much Hair Loss is Normal?
With all the various causes of hair loss, what is considered normal hair loss and when should you go see a doctor? How many hairs do you lose a day? The first thing to understand is a certain amount of hair loss is perfectly normal. In fact, you lose somewhere around 50 to 100 strands of hair every day. And if you are stressed or have a cold, then that number will obviously increase. With this in mind, there are a few things you should watch out for. Be mindful of the hair loss to regrowth ratio. In other words, if your hair is falling out more than it’s growing back, you should maybe consult a medical professional. The other thing you should keep an eye on is how the hair is falling out. If it’s falling out in clumps as opposed to individual strands, that would be a reason to get it checked out.
How to Prevent Hair Fall in the Winter
One of the major factors of hair health is outside weather conditions, and winter can be one of the most brutal seasons on your hair. The lack of moisture and indoor dryness associated with the season can do some fierce things to your hair. Many will experience excessive hair fall in winters, but there are a few tips to preventing the season from causing hair loss.
1. Keep a Healthy Diet
Maintain a healthy diet and make an extra point to including more vitamin B either through food or supplements as vitamin B (especially B5) can help promote healthy hair and hair growth.
2. Keep the Moisture In
This can be easier said than done, but try and keep your hair in good shape. Don’t wash it too often, as that can strip out even more natural oils than the winter already does. Do a deep condition once a week. Take care of dandruff if it arrives, as that can lead to temporary hair loss if it gets too bad.
3. Brush Carefully
Due to the beating winter puts on your hair, be sure to brush gently and carefully throughout the season. Rushing through it can cause damage to your hair that may encourage hair loss.
Following these steps may help prevent your hair from falling out during the winter. Unfortunately, there are other climates that can affect hair loss. Monsoon season, for example, can be brutal for hair loss. Yes, we said monsoon season, stop laughing for a minute and we’ll explain.
How to Deal With Hair Loss in Humid Weather
In the last section, we mentioned that preventing hair loss during monsoon season can be difficult. And while North Americans may find the idea of hair loss due to monsoons amusing, the same principles can apply to other climates. Monsoon season can do significant damage and hair loss because the humidity can suck the moisture right out of hair. At the same time, the constant rain keeps the hair wet. These weather conditions can exist all over the world. And with spring and April showers in full motion, it may feel like monsoon season in your country, too.
So, how do you prevent hair loss caused by high humidity and wetness? Don’t worry; we have a few tips for you.
1. Air Dry Your Hair
Hair dryers can help exacerbate the moisture lost due to weather conditions. After you have had a bath or shower, just let your hair dry naturally. If you have long or thick hair that you can’t wait to dry, use the hair dryer on a lower setting and hold it further away from your hair.
2. Oil Your Hair
Oil treatments can be very useful in keeping moisture in your hair during a humid, wet season.
3. Mild Shampoo
With the amount of damage that can occur to your hair during this type of season, using a mild shampoo is a good idea as it is less likely to strip the hair of moisture and natural oils that can keep the hair full of moisture. You may also want to stay away from other hair chemicals, hair dyes, etc until the wet, humid season is over.
4. Gently Comb Your Hair
Much like the winter, over combing or combing your hair too roughly can do damage to already fragile hair. In this case, part of the issue can be the humidity. Humidity can make many hair types frizzy and almost tangled. To that end, we suggest using a large wooden comb to help avoid damaging the hair and help get it through tangles.
5. Keep Hydrated
It may sound odd, but keeping your whole body hydrated can help keep your hair hydrated. Drinking plenty of water is not only good for your body, but can also help out your hair in this case.
Not all of us will live in an area that’s affected by monsoon season, but plenty of us get stuck somewhere wet and humid for a month or two each year. The above tips can help prevent damage to your hair before it’s too late and it starts falling out.
Be Alert and Take Care of Your Hair
As we mentioned off the top, hair loss can be a pretty hard thing to deal with emotionally. We humans tend to put a lot of stock in our hair looking nice and not falling out. But if you take the right steps for hair loss prevention in any weather, season, or environment, you may come out okay.
Sources:
“Understanding Hair Loss,” WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/understanding-hair-loss-basics#1, last accessed April 19, 2017.
Skervin, B., “5 Things You Should Be Doing This Winter For Healthy, Beautiful Hair,” The Huffington Post, March 11, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-skervin/winter-haircare-tips_b_4421634.html, last accessed April 19, 2017.
“8 Home Remedies to Maintain Healthy Hair in the Monsoon,” Find Home Remedy, http://www.findhomeremedy.com/8-home-remedies-to-maintain-healthy-hair-in-the-monsoon/, last accessed April 19, 2017.
Rao, J., “20 Effective Home Remedies And Tips To Control Hair Fall,” Style Craze, March 14, 2017, http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/home-remedies-to-control-hair-fall/#gref, last accessed April 19, 2017.