How to prevent hair fall and graying of hair?
Do you want to have a beautiful hair?
Do you take excellent care of your hair?
We all know that the main aspect that anyone would first observe in a person is obviously looks.
External looks are surely not the only impression about a person, but it makes a lot of difference at the first impression and boosts a person’s self confidence.
When one looks good and decent, the confidence is reflected in the way they walk and talk which could completely change the impression about the person.
Looks include mainly dressing, skin (By skin I don’t mean the color but the glow and confidence on your face) and most importantly Hair.
Just a change in your hair style can change your complete look.
Due to the high rate of pollution and the change is life style now a days, the most common problem is hair loss.
Hair loss has become so common that there is no age limit.
Let’s see the reasons of hair fall, how to care and pamper your hair and some tips to help maintain a great looking hair.
What are the reasons for hair loss?
It is true that men are more likely to lose hair than women due to male pattern baldness.
Thinning of hair and hair loss is no less in women and it is the most disturbing element for a woman.
There could be many reasons for the hair fall.
The simplest reason could be a vitamin deficiency and the most complex reason could be health condition.
In many causes, there are ways to treat hair fall and it depends on the cause.
You lose up to 100 hairs from your scalp every day and there could be 100 reasons for that.
Let us list out some reasons for hair fall.
- Physical and emotional stress
- Pregnancy
- Vitamin deficiency
- Lack of protein and nutrition
- Male pattern baldness
- Heredity
- Anemia
- Hypothyroidism
- Chemotherapy
- Hormonal changes and PCOD/PCOS
- Over styling
- Aging
- Rapid Weight Loss
- Using extreme hot water for shower
- Excessive Chloride in water
Now let us look into each of the reason a little deep and also find some solutions for them.
- Physical and Emotional stress
Any kind of stress it could be physical or emotional can affect the rate of hair fall.
It could be physical trauma, surgery, accidents or some illness can cause temporary hair loss.
Our hair has a life cycle: growth, rest and shedding. When you have stress, it can cause differences in the hair cycle hence leading to more hair fall.
The same results in the case of emotional stress too.
What we can do: One good thing is that in these cases most of them are temporary and once you get out of the stress the rate of hair fall also reduces.
Try to keep yourselves very relaxed maintain peace of mind.
I know it is not easy but practice relaxation techniques and learn to relax.
- Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a situation where you can have some changes and some imbalance in hormones.
Pregnancy related hair loss is seen more commonly after the baby has been delivered [usually 3 months after delivery].
What we can do: if you do experience hair loss, no need to worry as your hair will grow back in a few months.
- Vitamin deficiency
Vitamin deficiency can be yet another cause for hair loss. It could be mainly vitamin –B deficiency. Too much of vitamin- A can also cause hair fall.
What we can do: vitamin-B deficiency can be solved by finding natural vitamin B in fish, meat, starchy vegetables, eating balanced diet including avocado and nuts and other natural sources in food can help reduce the hair loss.
Once the excess vitamin A is halted, hair will be growing back normally.
- Lack of Protein and nutrition
We know that proteins are very vital for hair growth.
If you do not take enough protein, your body will ration the protein to the rest of the body by shutting down providing proteins to your hair and hence leading to hair loss.
What we can do: There are many protein rich foods including fish, meat and eggs.
- Male pattern baldness
Hair loss is very common among men. Most of the time it could be due to male pattern baldness .This is due to the genetics and hormones in men.
What we can do: there are some creams available in the market but it is wise to consult a dermatologist before you use them or come to a conclusion about the reason of hair loss.
- Heredity
Some women have gorgeous long and thick hair where as some have very thin and short hair.
No matter what remedies they try some women can’t grow long and thick hair like others.
Both the cases could be a result of their heredity. Some women lose hair like men in the case of male pattern baldness but it won’t be along a hair line but a noticeable hair loss can be seen overall leading to thinning of hair.
What we can do: they can use the medicines available in the market or as mentioned earlier it is well and good to take the advice of a dermatologist.
- Anemia
Anemia is a very common problem among women.
Anemia could be from iron deficiency.
Anemia has many side effects on health other than weakness in the body, fatigue, headache, another major effect is hair fall. Hair fall is an easily fixable problem in this case.
What we can do: Simple iron supplement intake can do the needed and best way is to take iron rich food like green leafy vegetables and sprouts.
Check with your family doctor if they can check your iron level.
Take iron supplements only after checking with your family doctor.
- Hypothyroidism
There is a thyroid gland in our neck which produces hormones which help in the metabolism, growth and development.
When it is not pumping enough hormones, it causes hypothyroidism.
Which means the thyroid gland is underactive, which can cause hair fall.
What we can do: Consult your doctor and the synthetic thyroid medication will solve the problem and your hair fall will reduce.
If your parents take thyroid pill, you should definitely check your thyroid hormone level.
- Chemotherapy
People fighting with cancer will have to undergo chemotherapy which includes some drugs which can cause hair loss.
What we can do: Once chemotherapy is stopped, the hair grows back but with a different texture or a different color.
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOD/PCOS)
PCOD/PCOS is another imbalance in the sex hormones.
It can lead to weight gain, high risk of diabetes, changes in menstrual period, infertility and hair thinning.
In some cases, women may also experience facial hair growth.
What we can do: You must consult a doctor for this.
Treating PCOS can bring back the hormonal imbalance to normal.
Along with the treatment one should take care of the diet, exercise as required.
Once PCOS is treated you can see your hair growing back.
- Over Styling
Styling and hair treatments over the years and very regularly can cause your hair fall.
Some wrong ways of styling your hair are tight braids, using of chemical relaxers, using hair straightener and other hot devices on hair can damage the roots of your hair.
What we can do: Avoiding these styles and treatments on hair can reduce the damage and hair fall to a great extent and proper selection and usage of shampoo and conditioner will give you noticeable changes in your hair quality and quantity.
Be very gentle on your hair while combing.
Do not use too much of shampoo or any chemicals.
Do not leave any chemicals on hair and scalp for too long.
- Aging
It is very common to see thin hair or hair loss in women as they enter their 50’s.
This could be because of the reduced immune system or decreased intake of balanced diet.
What we can do: It is not recommended to take any treatment for this as it is completely natural, but taking care of hair from the very early stages can save your hair in your 50’s.
Rapid Weight Loss
A few days after one loses a lot of weight rapidly, you can see hair fall.
What we can do: Usually nothing special. Continue to take care of your hair as you always do. It takes a few months to get the lost hair back.
Excessive Hot Water Shower:
Hot water can cause hair to get brittle and fall.
What we can do: Use Luke warm water for shower.
Excessive Chloride in Swimming Pools
Excessive Chloride used in swimming pools can cause natural oils of hair to be washed away thereby causing hair fragility and eventually hair breaks or falls.
What we can do: Take shower before swimming and apply little bit of Coconut or Almond or Olive oil. This oil forms a protective layer around hair follicles.
So far we have seen the reasons for hair fall and also seen the remedies to overcome those problems and also some treatments to overcome hair fall problems.
Lets us see some hair care routines to take care and pamper our hair.
These hair care routines include hair masks to reduce the damage in the hair, soften your hair and reduces dandruff if you have dandruff related problems.
Hair mask for dandruff and hair fall
- Take an onion (red or white), cut it into small cubes.
- Blend it into a smooth paste without any lumps.
- Take the paste into a tea strainer or a cotton cloth and squeeze out the juice from the paste.
- Add the onion juice according to your hair length and mix it well with equal amount of any hair oil which suits you best.
- Apply this onion juice and oil mixture to your scalp and give your scalp a good 10mins massage.
- Keep it for 30mins and then wash with warm water using herbal shampoo preferably and also use conditioner for best results.
Onion helps re-growth of hair and helps reduce hair fall.
Onion leaves a smell on your hair but use of conditioner can reduce this smell.
First, test with a small amount. Do it all over your hair only if you like the feel and smell of it.
Hair-mask for smooth and silky hair and also reduce hair fall
- Add half a banana slices into a blender jar.
- Add half tablespoon of castor oil, one tablespoon for coconut oil, one tablespoon of raw honey, two tablespoons of yogurt into the blender and mix everything very well.
- Apply this mixture to scalp and leave it for 30mins and wash hair with mild shampoo and use conditioner.
Banana makes hair smooth, castor oil helps in hair growth, coconut oil softens hair and moisturizes it, honey gives a shine to the hair and yogurt helps in dandruff problems without any chemicals.
Some more hair care tips to take care of hair and to avoid further damage to hair.
The best hair care is oiling your hair. Apply hair to the scalp and massage. This improves blood supply to the scalp and helps in growing healthy hair. Leave it on for 2-3 hrs. or overnight and then wash off with any shampoo of your choice. Do not forget to condition your hair after every hair wash. Don’t leave oil for more than a day on your hair as it can weaken the hair roots. And make sure you oil the tips of your hair to minimize the split ends.
- Tie a scarf while going out to pollution to avoid damage to hair due to pollution and the dirt can leave your hair greasy.
- The best and natural conditioner to your hair can be aloe Vera gel. After washing your hair, on damp hair apply aloe Vera gel and leave it naturally to dry. This leaves your hair conditioned, soft and makes it more manageable.
- Try following some yoga for hair growth.
- Uttanasana (standing forward bend): follow this for 1 month regularly to see visible changes in your hair growth.
-Join your legs and bend down slowly. Bend as much as you can.
-Slowly flip your head upside down.
-Also flip your hair downwards
-Start massaging your scalp slowly with your finger tips.
-Do this for 5-10mins a day.
If you are not comfortable standing and bending forward, you can also do this by sitting on a chair.
Make sure you do not fall.
- Balayam : Do not over do this exercise as it can damage your nails.
-Rub your nails against each other for 5mins in the morning and 5mins in the evening.
– Rub the 4 fingers except the thumb.
Always remember that a well-balanced healthy diet and protecting your hair from the external effects like pollution and chemicals are the most important factors that will help prevent hair fall and graying.
If you have any health-related problems due to which your hair has started to fall off, make sure you consult your doctor before taking any medicines.
Home remedies are the best as they don’t contain any harmful chemicals.
Chemical based treatments for hair always do more harm to your hair and health than good.
Take shower with minimal shampoo every 2 days. While taking shower, imagine that you are getting healthier, cleaner, relaxed, younger, and peaceful.
The most important thing that helps in preventing gray hair is keeping yourself relaxed and happy without anger, anxiety, frustration or sadness.
Keeping yourself very relaxed mentally and physically is the most important thing that will keep you healthy, happy, young looking, and prevents graying of hair.
