Share on Pinterest
Valentina Barreto/Stocksy

We include products nosotros retrieve are useful for our readers. If y'all buy through links on this page, we may earn a modest commission. Here's our process.

Every strand of hair on your head has a lifespan between nearly 3 to 5 years. Hair follicles have a bicycle of agile growth, transition, and residuum. Hair loss occurs when your hair's growth bike is disrupted.

Hair loss is most normally caused past your genetics and becomes more common in men and women with age. The second about common cause is telogen effluvium. This status occurs when more of your hair enters the residuum cycle, during which it falls out.

Telogen effluvium can be caused by:

  • stress
  • pregnancy
  • medication side effects
  • other underlying wellness conditions

If you're experiencing hair loss that leads to bald spots, patchiness, or large clumps of pilus coming out, you lot should see your primary healthcare doc or a dermatologist for a diagnosis.

Whether your hair loss is the effect of a chronic or short-term health condition, you tin take action to protect the hair you accept. Keep reading for tips on keeping your hair healthy and strong.

You lot tin can follow a few hair hygiene tips to improve your overall hair health and possibly prevent hair loss.

one. Avoid hairstyles that pull on the hair.

Pilus is flexible, but inquiry shows that your hair tin can merely be stretched so much earlier becoming permanently damaged. Hairstyles like cornrows, tight braids, and ponytails can pull your hair away from your scalp and loosen the bond between your hair and scalp over fourth dimension.

two. Avoid high-rut pilus styling tools.

Using heat to style your pilus leaves your hair follicle dehydrated and vulnerable to damage. Hair dryers, hair straighteners, and curling irons can all damage your hair over fourth dimension by causing moisture in your pilus shafts to expand.

3. Don't chemically treat or bleach your hair.

Chemically treating pilus with methods such every bit bleaching damages pilus by splitting poly peptide molecules called keratin. If you lot're concerned about hair loss, limit your use of dyes, highlights, peroxide treatments, and perms.

iv. Utilize a shampoo that's mild and suited for your hair.

The purpose of shampoo is to cleanse your hair of dirt and excess oil. Overwashing with shampoo tin can potentially damage your hair. Sulfates and some other ingredients have been linked to frizz, scalp dryness, and delicate hair.

In that location's no show that whatever specific ingredients in shampoo cause hair loss, simply they might contribute to less than ideal hair health. If yous notice your hair is overly dry or frizzy, try a shampoo that's equally shut to all-natural as possible.

About shampoos for hair loss cost less than well-nigh $thirty and aren't covered by insurance.

v. Use a soft brush fabricated from natural fibers.

Using a soft brush with fibers that are natural can potentially promote healthy oil levels on your hair. The keratin proteins in your hair are stacked like shingles on a roof, so brushing them gently in 1 direction, starting at the top and continuing through to the ends, can assistance smoothen and condition your hair cuticle. Brushing pilus daily can also assistance you avert seeing hair clumps in your shower drain.

six. Try low-level light therapy.

Low-level calorie-free therapy promotes cell growth and repair. Information technology'southward a potentially constructive treatment for male person- and female-design baldness, the nigh common causes of hair loss in men and women. These genetic atmospheric condition cause a certain pattern of pilus loss. For men, it starts at a receding hairline or bald spot at the crown. For women, information technology'south characterized past an overall thinning that often causes a wider function.

The authors of a 2020 review of studies recommend exercising circumspection when interpreting the enquiry backside depression-level light therapy for pilus loss since some studies have alien interests.

Light therapy tin be expensive and isn't covered with insurance. One Beverly Hills clinic estimates the yearly cost at $3,500 to $5,000.

Hair loss is more than common in men than in women. According to the American Hair Loss Clan, about 85 percent of men accept thinning hair by the fourth dimension they reach 50. Hair loss in men is typically caused by genetic male person-pattern hair loss. If you're concerned nigh hair loss, a md may recommend one or more of the following treatments:

  • Rogaine (minoxidil)
  • Propecia or Proscar (finasteride)
  • follicular unit transplantation (FUT), a hair transplant with underlying tissue
  • follicular unit of measurement extraction (FUE), a pilus transplant with simply follicles, no connecting tissue

Hair transplants tin can exist expensive and aren't covered past insurance. Depending on the blazon and extent of the process, it may cost $4,000 to $x,000. Your insurance also won't cover minoxidil or finasteride for treating hair loss. A iii-month supply of Rogaine goes for well-nigh $45 but generic make minoxidil can be cheaper. Y'all may discover a ane-month supply of finasteride for $x or cheaper with a prescription.

If you're concerned about hair loss, you may want to endeavor a home remedy to run into if you lot tin can end your hair from falling out. Information technology'south important to get diagnosed and find the underlying crusade of your hair loss and so that y'all can treat it appropriately.

Supplements

Many vitamins and minerals are needed for proper hair evolution and growth. Some nutritional deficiencies tin potentially pb to hair loss.

Supplementing with vitamin D may help reduce symptoms of genetic pilus loss or telogen effluvium. However, more research is needed to definitively understand the link. Supplementing with fe may assist reduce symptoms in people who are iron deficient. People with low iron may likewise benefit from supplementing with vitamin C if they aren't getting enough.

Research has also establish a link betwixt low vitamin D and alopecia areata, a patchy form of hair loss caused past an autoimmune reaction. It'southward recommended that people with this condition supplement with vitamin D if they're deficient.

There currently isn't adequate prove that supplementation of the following tin can aid with hair loss:

  • zinc
  • riboflavin (vitamin B2)
  • folic acrid (vitamin B9)
  • vitamin B12
  • biotin
  • vitamin Eastward

Some small studies have found too much vitamin A or selenium tin can cause hair loss, but more research is needed. Researchers are continuing to examine if there's any benefit for people with alopecia areata to supplement with atomic number 26 or zinc.

Remember to only purchase supplements from trusted sources, as they aren't vetted by the U.S. Nutrient and Drug Administration (FDA).

Essential oils

Essential oils are natural extracts produced by plants. Some essential oils might have properties that stimulate hair growth. Right now, evidence is almost entirely anecdotal and no studies accept found acceptable bear witness to suggest that whatever essential oil tin can be used to treat pilus loss in humans.

About of the studies to engagement accept very small sample sizes, are of poor quality, or have been performed on animals. For example, a 2016 report found show that lavander oil may stimulate hair growth in mice. However, much more research needs to be washed to see if these results behave over to humans and whether oils can be used to treat hair loss conditions.

Essential oils that some people use for hair growth include:

  • peppermint
  • Chinese hibiscus
  • ginseng
  • jatamansi
  • lavender

Scalp massage

Scalp massage may aid stimulate pilus growth past promoting circulation and gene changes, but in that location'due south a very limited amount of show at this time. A very small 2016 study establish evidence that four-minute daily scalp massages increased pilus thickness in 9 non-balding Japanese men. However, there was no command group in this study.

Giving yourself a scalp massage mostly feels expert, so even if it'due south not effective at increasing hair growth, y'all may observe information technology relaxing.

Nutrition

Your diet tin can take an result on hair loss. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants can assist fight the signs of oxidative stress — ecology factors that damage hair follicles and contribute to hair loss. Many colorful fruits and vegetables like strawberries, blueberries, beans and legumes, spinach, and kale are groovy sources of antioxidants.

Sugar, processed fats, preservatives, and booze tin can all contribute to oxidative stress. Continue this in listen if you're looking to finish your hair from falling out.

Quit smoking

Smoking can harm your hair cells, making your pilus follicles brittle and piece of cake to impairment. Studies have linked smoking to increased rates of premature graying and hair loss. Quitting can exist difficult, but a doctor can help come up up with a smoking cessation plan that'southward correct for you.

Many women experience dehydration, fatigue, stress, and falling estrogen levels equally their body adjusts to life after pregnancy. These factors can lead to increased hair shedding. Some of this hair loss is often related to the stress and burnout of having a baby. This condition is temporary and should resolve within a year after the pregnancy has ended.

You tin try to minimize pilus loss after pregnancy past standing to take your prenatal vitamins if you are breastfeeding, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding tight hairstyles that pull pilus away from the scalp. Dermatologists recommend using lightweight shampoos and conditioners — and seeing a stylist to make hair loss appear less obvious — until your pilus shedding slows downwards.

Chemotherapy works by attacking cancer cells in your body. Equally a side event, chemotherapy kills the cells that make your hair grow. Hair usually begins falling out inside 2 to 4 weeks later on treatment.

Some people cull to prepare for this side effect by shaving their hair off before treatment starts. Many people are more than comfortable with this pick. Merely non everyone who undergoes chemotherapy volition lose all of their hair every bit a result. Sometimes pilus simply thins out or recedes.

You may also ask your doctor about scalp cooling treatments. These treatments, which include a scalp cooling cap, slow blood flow to your scalp during treatments. While information technology's not completely effective, scalp cooling tin can assist y'all retain more of your hair. The boilerplate cost is almost $i,500 to $3,000. You may be able to get your insurance to embrace scalp cooling, but coverage isn't standard in the United States at this fourth dimension.

Hair loss can consequence from genetic factors, changes in hormone levels, and certain medical atmospheric condition. Genetic hair loss is past far the nigh mutual cause, affecting up to 50 percent of men and women.

Other causes of hair loss include:

  • recent childbirth
  • chemotherapy
  • alopecia areata
  • traction alopecia, hair loss from pulling
  • polycystic ovary syndrome
  • scalp infection
  • medication side effects
  • scalp psoriasis
  • scarring alopecia
  • syphilis
  • thyroid disease
  • nutrient deficiencies

Here are the answers to common pilus loss questions.

Tin can I stop hair loss naturally?

If your hair loss is acquired by your genetics, you lot're unlikely to be able to opposite information technology. Treating thinning hair with minoxidil may help wearisome down hair loss. Other causes of hair loss may be more treatable. Pilus loss because of alopecia areata, recent childbirth, or cancer handling usually grows back somewhen. Improving your nutrition or taking supplements may reverse hair loss if nutrient deficiencies are the underlying cause.

Can pilus loss really be prevented?

Some causes of hair loss like nutrient deficiencies can be prevented with good lifestyle habits. The development of some medical atmospheric condition similar thyroid illness and cancer may be at least partially out of your control, but treating the underlying medical condition may assistance reverse hair loss. Genetic hair loss is largely out of your control just minoxidil and depression-level laser therapy may help.

How practise I tell if I'm losing hair?

Hair loss can take on different appearances depending on the underlying cause. You may notice a widening part, more visible scalp, or excess hair falling out when you're brushing or washing your hair. You may besides notice parts of your scalp where hair is thinning or receding. In the case of alopecia areata, yous may observe a coin-sized area of polish bare scalp.

If you lot're concerned that your hair loss goes across normal shedding or temporary telogen effluvium, you should speak to a doctor. Hair that's coming out in clumps and leaving bald spots, and hair that's growing in patches, could be symptoms of an underlying health upshot. Speak to a dermatologist or primary care physician and depict your symptoms if you demand more than guidance.

Pilus loss is mutual, especially in older adults. By far the most common cause of pilus loss is genetics. Ordinarily, genetic pilus loss is characterized past full general thinness at the top of the scalp in women and a receding hairline and baldheaded spot at the crown in men.

Some treatments may finish hair loss and even assist you lot regrow some of your hair. Home remedies, lifestyle and dietary changes, and over-the-counter medication may improve the advent of thinning hair.