It’s official!
Scientists now concede that at least 1 in 3 women suffers from hair loss that results from bad lifestyle choices. Studies are now clearly demonstrating that more women deal with hair loss issues than they did in the last century with at least 40% of women losing hair quickly by the time they turn 40 years of age. When searching for the prime causes of hair loss, scientists have come across several lifestyle changes that women have adopted which have lead to their hair falling out quickly. If you’ve been noticing symptoms like thinning hair and a widening parting, it may be time to take a closer look at your lifestyle and the choices you make for your day-to-day living.
Table of Contents
1. The Usage of Excessive Styling and Chemicals Could be Weakening Your Hair
Here’s an interesting statistic. According to IBIS World, the revenue from hair salons in the year 2017 was $44 billion showing a growth rate of 1.8% from the years 2012 to 2017. These salons provide a range of services such as perms, basic haircuts, tight braiding into cornrows, spiking, straightening treatments, chemical hair coloring, and various other styling options. Women love to experiment with their hair wearing it in different ways. But, these are bad lifestyle choices that can have disastrous effects on the health of their hair.
Aside from getting hair treatments in salons, most women own an interesting array of tools like curling irons, straighteners, blow dryers, and crimping irons, to name a few. Throw in chemicals like conditioners, colors, sprays, gels, and various others, and you have the perfect recipe for hair loss. Keep in mind that the harder you pull back your hair and the excessive heat that you use for holding a particular style in place can damage the hair shaft causing it to weaken and break. Chemicals interacting with the skin of your scalp and seeping into your bloodstream can affect the hair follicles causing them to stop growing hair.
A simple solution is to stop or drastically restrict the use of these chemical treatments and styling tools, and allow your hair to heal. But, in case your bad lifestyle choices have inflicted permanent damage on your hair follicles to a point where they can no longer produce hair, you may need to use treatments that can reverse that damage. Like the expert consultants at PRP Injection MD explain, it may be possible to rejuvenate the follicles and stimulate them to begin producing hair again. Doctors can help make this happen by injecting a chemical-free serum into your scalp. This serum is created from a sample of your blood by way of a treatment option that has no side effects, and is natural and safe.
2. A Stressful Lifestyle Can Affect the Hair Follicles
While women are still lagging far behind when it comes to gender equality in placements in the corporate world, the fact remains that more of the fair sex are stepping out of their traditional roles of homemakers and caregivers to children and elderly family members. Check statistics and you’ll find that more women are adopting careers as entrepreneurs, trained professionals, administrators, and various others. The downside to these changing times is that the extreme stress of balancing family and career often results in hair loss. And, this is a fact accepted by the experts at Mayo Clinic.
To prevent premature hair loss, learn to cope with the stress by getting all the help you can from your friends and family members. Get your partner and kids to pitch in with shopping, cleaning, and other household chores. You could also pool responsibilities with friends and lean on each other for support. In today’s world, where women rule every sphere of the professional world, there is no reason why household demands have to hold you back. Go ahead and prove that having a career is not a bad lifestyle choice.
3. Insufficient Sleep Upsets Hormone Balances in Your Body
Cutting back on sleep could be one of the bad lifestyle choices you’ve been making that is affecting your hair. Hard to believe? Experts at the National Center for Biotechnology Information now link sleep deprivation to the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Cortisol directly affects the functioning of your hair follicles and can prevent them from growing new hair. In addition, without adequate rest and time to recover, the body finds it impossible to repair worn out body cells, some of which include your hair follicles. You may also find that you’re more susceptible to diseases because of a weakened immune system.
Make sure to give your body the rest it needs by getting the essential 8-hour shut-eye. In addition to building the immune system, you’ll also give your hair and skin the chance to rejuvenate and prevent the haggard, exhausted look that no amount of makeup can conceal.
4. Inadequate Nutrition could be Causing Hair Loss
One of the most unfortunate casualties of a busy lifestyle is adequate nutrition. If most of your meals comprise of coffee, donuts, and takeout, you could be contributing to the hair loss. Your body needs adequate nutrition to rebuild its tissues. And, studies clearly show that deficiencies in your diet could directly result in hair loss. If you’ve been noticing more hair circling the drain each time you shampoo, this may be a good time to change your bad lifestyle choices. Focus on eating a more nutritious diet that contains healthy amounts of iron, zinc, selenium, and biotin, a kind of vitamin B. Also include foods that contain high amounts of vitamin D and protein that are used by your body to grow more hair.
The interesting factor that scientists have noted is that bad lifestyle choices pull you down into a vicious cycle of anxiety, ill health, and fatigue. All of these effects make it harder for you to cope with the demands of everyday living that, in turn, results in more stress. Break out of this cycle by making the right choices. Not only will you sense that your overall health is improving, but you’ll restore the hair growth and lost glow of your skin.