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So many of us experience this as we get older, after having children, during times of high stress, etc. I thought I'd share what I've read over the years. Please feel free to add anything I may have forgotten or overlooked. Please share your experiences - what works for you, what didn't work, etc. 

 

These tips are lengthy and overwhelming My suggestion: just focus on what you can do and is realistic for you. As you try each new tip or approach, you may be able to slowly add other stuff. 

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When carrying out any of these methods, remember to be patient. Normal hair growth should resume within 6 months after starting any supplement or making any dietary or other change.

 

EAT MORE

The healthy condition of the hair depends, to a very large extent, on the intake of sufficient amounts of essential nutrients in the daily diet. Hair is made of protein and adequate protein is necessary for luxuriant hair. Protein makes up the building blocks of healthy hair.

Women require 60 grams, men 80 to 90, adolescent boys and girls 80 to 100 grams of protein. It is supplied by plain yogurt, tofu, eggs, cheese, poultry, meat and fish.

According to Adelle Davis, a world famous nutritionist, "Increasing the intake of protein, particularly of liver, wheat germ and yeast, and supplementing the diet with a teaspoon of inositol daily usually stops a man's hair from falling, and I have seen three or four persons whose hair became thick after these improvements were made."

Persons with a tendency to lose hair should follow a well-balanced and correct diet, made up of foods which in combination should supply all the essential nutrients. It has been found that a diet which contains liberal quantities of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables, and fruits would provide adequate amounts of all the essential nutrients. Each food group should roughly form the bulk of one of the three principal. These foods should, however, be supplemented with certain special foods such as honey, wheat germ, yeast and liver.

 

A lack of vitamin A may cause the hair to be coarse and ugly.

 

A deficiency of some of the B vitamins, of iron, copper and iodine may cause hair disorders like falling of hair and premature greying.

• Brown Rice

• Lentils

• Sunflower Seeds

• Oats

• Quinoa

These all contain B vitamins and Biotin needed for healthy hair growth

 

Up to 90 percent of women who experience hair loss also suffer from low iron levels. Iron builds red blood cells, carries oxygen, and aids in hair growth.

Eat at least 3 daily servings of iron-rich foods.

Vitamin C can increase iron absorption by as much as 30%. So drinking orange juice, eating strawberries, tomatoes, green peppers, etc. along with your iron-rich foods is a good idea.

Iron-rich foods include:

Eggs

Fish

Liver

Meat

Poultry

Leafy green vegetables

Whole grains

Almonds

Raisins

Cumin is very rich in iron (above 66 mg. in each 100 grams) which is more than 5 times the daily requirement of iron for an adult. Cumin boosts energy. It’s also anti-inflammatory and inhibits the buildup of harmful protein deposits in the brain to boost mental energy.

 

Foods rich in Biotin, B6, and B12

These 3 B vitamins promote growth from the follicle. Eggs are the best source, oral B-12, and or taking a good multi B vitamin.

Cheeses, salmon, nuts and nut butters

 

Silica aids in hair growth and makes the hair strong and shiny. The amount of silica that your body holds tends to decline with age. Good food sources include: beets, leafy green vegetables, bananas, and whole grains.

 

Juicing veggies is very beneficial, for overall health also. Juicing is one of the best things you can do for your health and beauty. 

 

Essential Fats are needed for healthy hair and follicles:

• Oily Fish

• Nuts

• Seeds

Aim to eat fish 2-3 times per week and eat 2-3 tbsp of seeds per day.

 

Take warming herbs and spices to improve circulation – such as small amounts of cayenne pepper, as well as ginger, cinnamon, and cumin. Add them to soups, stews, and casseroles.

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EAT LESS

The Standard American Diet is too rich in foods that actually starve the hair, such as fat, sugar, and refined foods.

Eastern medicine says that eating too much meat can cause hair loss. This might very well be true.

Cut down on sweets. Eastern medicine says that eating too much sugar can cause baldness on the sides of the forehead. Sugar is often a contributing factor in hair loss. After sugar is removed from some people’s diets, the hair-loss process is either halted or totally or partially reversed.

Sugar, refined carbohydrates, and alcohol can all raise blood sugar and insulin levels, which can have a negative effect on hair follicles.

Limit wheat bran, tea, and coffee. These can interfere with the absorption of minerals, such as iron, needed for hair growth.

 

SUPPLEMENTS

Don’t depend only on supplements. Diet is very important.

If I had to choose only one supplement, I would choose Biotin. BIOTIN plays a key role in forming keratin, a protein that comprises healthy hair. It helps in preventive treatment for baldness

It is interesting that biotin levels fall progressively throughout pregnancy (and that is when many women lose hair).

Taking a 5-10 mg supplement can thicken hair shafts and encourage new growth. Not everyone needs to take that much unless if they're concerned about hair loss. Most B-complex supplements have sufficient biotin otherwise.

There are no known cases of biotin toxicity, particularly since it is water-soluble.

Biotin is rapidly metabolized and excreted, so it’s easy to be deficient.

B COMPLEX – 50 mg twice a day or 100 mg once a day with meals.

B vitamins are essential for the health and growth of the hair. B vitamins run low during high-stress times and are essential for healthy hair growth.

Try to get a good B Complex that includes Biotin, Inositol, Choline, and PABA.

Avoid B Vitamins that are less than 10 mg. It's a red flag if the B vitamins are at such low levels that they are insignificant and unhelpful to the human system in creating a strong basis for protection.

CARLSON’S LIQUID FISH OIL - or any other good fish oil. Healthy hair needs essential fatty acids.

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OTHER TIPS/THINGS TO CONSIDER

Massage Scalp 1-3 Times a Day - You Tube has some videos that are very helpful. 

Press the bristles of your brush on your scalp and make several strokes from your hairline to the base of your neck.

Then make small circles over your entire scalp.

Alternate these methods for 90 seconds.

 

Massage the scalp with a mixture of 1 tbsp olive/coconut/almond/any good oil and 8 drops each of of rosemary, thyme, and lavender essential oils. Leave it for on at least 30 minutes before shampooing. This helps to improve circulation to the scalp and nutrient flow to the hair follicles. When I do this, I wrap my head in a plastic bag and cover it with a towel. The extra heat seems to help absorption. 

 

After rinsing hair with cool water, rub scalp vigorously with fingers. The scalp should be rubbed vigorously till it starts to tingle with the heat. It will energize the circulation of blood in the scalp, making the hair grow healthy, and strengthening the hair follicles This should be done for 10-15 minutes until you start to feel hot there.

 

Treat your hair gently.

 

Try not to use chemical hair dyes, use only natural products and a soft brush.

 

Do not towel dry or heat dry your hair.

 

Lie Upside Down

Lie on a slant board OR have your head hanging off the edge of the bed for 15 to 20 minutes per day. This will cause blood to flow to the scalp. Blood flow and improved circulation are very important in preventing and treating hair loss. You an also massage your scalp while in this position.

 

Yoga

The regular practice of yoga and certain inverted poses help a lot in slowing down and preventing hair loss by boosting circulation. Specific Poses include:

 

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An acupuncturist may help develop an herbal formula that is tailored specifically to you, in addition to using the traditional needles to help restore hair growth. Herbs have a greater synergy with acupuncture, so you may see a greater benefit if you use both.

 

Using a satin pillowcase may help because your hair is less likely to catch and pull on it as it would on a cotton pillowcase. A side benefit is that it helps save your hairstyle for another day, so you aren't pulling out more hair in the styling process. You can get them on amazon.

 

Use the most natural hair products you can find.Look for ingredients such as biotin, silica, Aloe Vera gel, vitamins C and E, jojoba oils, chamomile, marigold, ginseng, or passionflower. Most health-food stores carry a variety of natural hair care products.

 

Hair is fragile when it is wet. Gently pat your hair dry and squeeze out remaining moisture with a towel.

 

Calm a hectic schedule. Stress signals the body to produce cortisol, which elevates levels of hair-loss-promoting hormones.

 

There are several brands of sulfate-free shampoo. Sulfate shampoos are said to cause hair loss in many people.

Traite by Mastey

Pureology

Onesta

 

Alter your hairstyle and part in order to avoid constantly pulling your hair in the same spot or direction. Amish women, who wear their hair pulled back tightly the same way every day of their lives, experience baldness at their part. Hair loss is often from the eternal ponytail.

 

Try to Avoid:

• Hard brushing

• Tight braids

• Pulling hair back too tightly can make the hair thin in the front

• Pulling hair too hard when blow-drying

• Blow drying if and when you can

• Commercial shampoos or rinses with artificial colors, preservatives, and dyes

• Any shampoo with Sodium Laureth Sulfate. It's the ingredient that makes the shampoo foam up.

• Harsh chemical products and hair spray

• Pantene products causes hair loss for many

• Never use a curling iron on wet or damp hair. This can cause serious breakage and damage in that spot. It is best to blow your hair all the way dry and not leave any wetness, not even a little.

• Avoid backcombing or teasing hair. It is damaging, plain and simple. 

• Do not wash your hair with too hot water.

• Do not wash your hair more than twice a week.

• Do not comb the hair backwards. Use a good quality brush/comb. Avoid excessive brushing.

 

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CAUSES

Dietary/Nutritional

Taking large doses of Vitamin A (100,000 IU or more daily) for a long period of time

Poor Diet and Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies – particularly iron, protein, biotin, and other B vitamins

Iron Deficiency (Up to 90 percent of women who experience hair loss also suffer from low iron levels)

Eating raw egg whites

Hormonal and Other Health Problems

Androgens (male hormones)

Discontinuing Contraceptive Pill

Female Hormone Deficiency

Menopause

If one is experiencing "male pattern baldness" type hair loss, where the hairline begins to recede and is thin only on top and not all over, it can be caused by Metabolic Syndrome. Fat distributed around the waist can actually cause a rise in androgens (male hormones) causing this problem. It can also revert back to normal if you can get the fat off your waist.

Pregnancy

Autoimmune diseases – the immune system attacks the hair follicles

Diabetes or High Insulin Levels

High Fever

Imbalance in Gut Bacteria

Acute Illness

Low Stomach Acid or Digestive Enzyme Insufficiency

Thyroid problem – especially if you have dry skin, weight gain, and fatigue

Thyroid dysfunction is a major factor in thinning hair. If you’re unable to lose weight but are losing hair (particularly in the eyebrows), consider a Tissue Mineral Analysis (TMA) test, which many have found to be a much more reliable guide to thyroid status than conventional blood tests. Using a small sample of your hair, TMA reflects how much thyroid hormone is utilized at the cellular level over a 3-month period, as opposed to blood values of thyroid (TSH, T3, T4) in the bloodstream at just one time.

Your hair is literally a blueprint, metabolically speaking. Tissue Mineral Analysis is a simple, noninvasive way to determine mineral imbalances—like too much copper—that can depress thyroid function and lead to hair loss.

PCOS can cause male-pattern baldness – one cause of PCOS is estrogen dominance. This hormonal imbalance is also associated with abnormal blood sugar levels, fat gain, and low adrenal function. Simply put, estrogen dominance occurs when there is more estrogen than progesterone in the system. Estrogen-like chemicals in the environment, emotional factors, stress, menstrual changes, and even lack of dietary fiber, which binds to excess estrogen to help move it out of the body, can all lead to this kind of hormone havoc.

Environmental sources of hormones include parabens in cosmetics, pesticides, plasticizers, and the estrogen-laden feed given to livestock to fatten them up. The trouble is today’s factory-farmed food fattens us humans up as well!

In addition to organic and grass-fed meats, a low-carb diet has been found effective for both PCOS and women going through perimenopause and menopause. Cutting out sugar and the reactive and processed carbs in grains will help immensely. Exercise helps normalize insulin and balance hormone levels, too!

Severe lack of natural progesterone—which is the flip side of estrogen dominance—may be the primary culprit. Starting in the teens and 20s, a skipped period (indicating the failure to ovulate, which is somewhat similar to what happens when women begin going through perimenopause and menopause) can cause the adrenal cortex to secrete the steroid androstenedione—instead of progesterone. An alternate chemical precursor to the production of other hormones, this steroid hormone is associated with some male characteristics, one of which is male-pattern baldness.

 

Chemicals, Drugs, Heavy Metals

Harsh Chemicals and Hair Dyes

Drugs – such as those used in chemotherapy

High concentration of Metals in the body

Radiation Exposure

Many Medications – those to treat arthritis, cardiovascular problems, depression, gout, high blood pressure

Antibiotics

Anti-seizure drugs

Excessive alcohol consumption

 

Circulatory Problems

Poor Circulation to the Scalp (daily scalp massage, brushing, lying on a slant board, yoga all help with this)

Skin Problems

Eczema

Ringworm and other Fungal and Skin Infections (biotin may help here)

Scalp Infections

 

Other Causes

Aging

Genetic Predisposition

Stress

Surgery

Sudden Weight Loss – yo-yo diet and years of constant dieting

Tight ponytails

 

WHEN TO SEE A PHYSICIAN

If you are losing large amounts of hair, see a physician. It is normal to lose 50 to 150 hairs a day. If your hair appears to be dramatically thinning, it might be a sign of an underlying condition. While culprits can be as serious as thyroid disease and lupus, hair loss is most often caused by poor diet and stress.

 

GOOD BOOKS

The Hair Loss Cure: A Self-Help Guide by David H. Kingsley

How to Beat Hair Loss by Antonio Alvi Armani, MD

 

TO REVERSE DRAMATIC HAIR LOSS by 40 percent or more – virtualrealityhair.com helps particularly in cases of severe alopecia or cancer treatments

The treatment is very expensive - $400 – and lasts for only a month (even through swimming, however). It can cover sparse patches with real hair that has been inserted into a nearly invisible second skin.

 

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I remember reading that dying your hair darker can make the hair look a bit thicker.  (instead of stripping the hair with lighteners)

 

And darn you PCOS, for giving me thinning hair on my head, but lovely thick hair in unwanted places!

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I have PCOS. After years of derm visits, one nurse practitioner casually said, "I use rogain, have you tried it?" Totally life changing!! Because my hair loss is caused by hormones and not heredity, the Rogaine worked great!! I now have a normal amount of hair!! If you have PCOS, try it!! On my derms advice, I use the male Rogain (it says women can't use it but they totally can) once a day. I used it through pregnancy and nursing with no issues. It totally changed my life!!

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I've been feeling like I"m losing huge quantities of hair lately but if 50-150 is normal, I may be within that.  I assume it's hormonal because I'm hitting perimenopause pretty hard and that's about when it started.   I eat most of the things recommended above (eggs, fish, vegetables) but also a fair amount of sugar so that might be one way to improve things.  :tongue_smilie:

 

I do have a ton of very thick, long hair so nobody who didn't see the stuff clogging my sink and tub would think I was losing any.

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Thanks! I recently noticed some serious thinning post-hyster surgery in August. I've read that it is common after general anesthesia too and seems to be abating finally. Years ago, I was dating a guy who was  a hairdresser. A friend of mine, who was vegetarian, mentioned her hair thinning and when I mentioned it to my then-BF, the first thing he asked was if she was a vegetarian. He said in her case it was likely lack of protein since she was young...like 22. 

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  • 1 month later...

I would like to reiterate the importance of regular scalp massage. I try to massage my scalp every few days, or, at the very least, once a week before shampooing. I generally wash my hair once a week. There are scalp massage videos on You Tube. 

 

 

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