It can be extremely frightening when it happens to you: you run your fingers through your hair, something you’ve done thousands of times before, and you find entire tufts in your hand.
But hair loss is more common, and actually more normal, than we think. About 50% of women will experience it by the time they reach 50 years old. And it’s not always a sign that there’s something terribly, terribly wrong. Here are some common culprits behind sudden hair loss.
1. Stress
Stress is the number one cause of sudden hair loss. But many women don’t realize this because the effects are felt weeks, even months, after a traumatic event. Stress shocks the hair follicles, preventing them from producing new strands. You don’t notice this. But when the body finally adjusts, and the hair follicles get back into business, the new hair strands will push the old hair out.
The good news is that you notice the ‘symptoms’ just when the body is ready with the cure. The hair you lose is already in the process of being replaced. However, you can do your part to prevent any further problems. Treat the hair loss as a sign that you need to manage your stress levels. Try yoga, sitting meditations and other methods of relaxation.
2. Diet
Your hair, like everything else in your body, relies on nutrients to stay healthy. It specifically needs iron (and many women suffer from hidden anemia) and the B vitamins. You can get these from liver, soybeans, and leafy vegetables like spinach, but let’s admit it—most of us have diets that have a lot more of the unhealthy stuff. This is a double whammy. Not only do we deprive our hair strands of essential nutrients, cholesterol and fat thin the blood vessels that feed the hair follicles with oxygen.
3. Hormones and Age
Hormonal swings can wreak havoc on our hair. That’s why many women will lose hair during pregnancy or after taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy. Menopause can also bring sudden hair loss. The good news is that once you hormones settle down your body will go right back to producing new. healthy hair.
However, prepare yourself: losing hair is part of aging. As the years pass, our hair follicles shrink and hair strands either get thinner or grow much slower.
Is it something else?
While hair loss can be caused by very mundane things, it doesn’t hurt to report it to your doctor. As a precaution he may order tests to check for any problems with hormone production.
But don’t wait for hair to fall to boost your hair’s health and strength. Eat a proper diet, with less fat and more vegetables—but don’t completely cut out protein, either. Protein helps produce keratin, which builds the outer hair layer. Your body also needs vitamin C to complete the hair growth process. Aside from diet, set aside a few minutes a day to apply scalp treatments. Read our article on how to naturally deep condition hair!
Photo from sheknows.com