Why Is Your Hair Thinning?

Do you notice more strands of your falling out? Maybe it’s getting thinner? Worrying about losing your hair is not something that a lot of women like to talk about, but men aren’t the only ones that start to lose their hair! There are a variety of reasons that you could be losing your hair like not getting the right foods in your diet or stress at work. It’s not talked about because women often seem ashamed of losing their hair, but it could mean something larger is at play like an autoimmune disease. Check out what might be causing your hair loss.

>> Read more: 11 Ways You’re Ruining Your Hair Daily

Physical stress: A stressful event can trigger hair loss; doctors call it telogen effluvium. This can be anything from surgery to a car accident to major weight loss! Your hair goes through three stages: Growth, rest and shedding. The physical stress shocks your hair and pushes more hair into the shedding phase. It can become more noticeable about three to six months after the stressful event.

Pregnancy: Having a baby is considered a stressful event, believe it or not! Physical stress could trigger your hair loss, or it could also be the hormones your body is pumped full of during pregnancy. Your hair loss would become more apparent after your baby is delivered, but it will grow back!

Female hormones: Switching birth control pills already messes with your hormones, but why does it have to mess with your hair too? Birth control pills don’t normally cause hair loss, but if you have a family history, the changes in hormones are more likely to trigger it. Try talking to your doctor and see if a different birth control pill fixes it.

>> Read more: Pregnancy Prevention: Knowing Your Birth Control Options

Vitamin A: Getting too much vitamin A in your diet may also be bad. Vitamin A can be found in liver, eggs, milk, cream and fish oil. You can easily remedy this by eating less foods that have vitamin A in them.

Lack of protein: On the other side, if you don’t get enough protein in your diet, you can also lose your hair. Without enough protein your body will start to ration its protein, causing your body to shutting down hair growth. You should add more eggs, meat and fish to you meals for extra protein.

Anemia: There are other symptoms that come with an iron deficiency like fatigue, dizziness, headaches and cold hands and feet. It’s easy to get checked and treated for anemia. All you need to do is visit your doctor and get a blood test!

Heredity: It can definitely be worrisome when you start losing your hair, especially if it’s for no other reason than family genetics. Like men, women can also get pattern baldness, which is referred to as androgenic alopecia. While men will have a receding hairline, women will start to notice their parts widening and noticeable thinning. Thankfully, modern medicine is bringing many different products that can help with hair loss like Women’s Rogaine.

Emotional stress: Many things can be defined as emotional stress, like a divorce or the death of a loved one. Unlike physical stress, emotional stress doesn’t always cause hair loss but it can make an existing problem worse. Treat it the same way you would stress or anxiety.

Hypothyroidism: The thyroid’s purpose is to produce hormones for your body. If you have an underactive thyroid gland, it can greatly affect your metabolism causing obesity, joint pain, heart disease as well as hair loss. You can ask your doctor to get tested and put on medication to treat this condition.

>> Read more: Overactive vs. Underactive Thyroid: What’s the Difference

Lupus: Autoimmune diseases like lupus can disrupt your bodily functions because your overzealous immune cells attack your own body. The immune cells can easily attack your hair and this type of attack can cause scarring, which won’t allow for your hair to grow back. It can’t be treated, but you can test out a few new hairstyles to hide the bald spot!

While you’re trying to figure out what’s causing your hair loss, be sure to use hair products that are gentle on your scalp like sulfate-free shampoo. Combing your hair instead of brushing it helps, too, because brushing tends to pull out more strands of hair than combing does. Also, let your hair air dry to avoid drying out and breaking from a hair dryer. Last tip: try massaging your scalp with argan oil to promote circulation to your hair follicles. These will all help to slow down the thinning process, so you can avoid losing your hair as long as possible!

Source: Health and WikiHow