Losing hair is not a pleasant experience. The reason being that hair sits on top of heads, and it is impossible to hide it. Different people have different hairstyles, and no matter what color your hair is, it contributes a lot to your facial features and beauty. Once hair is lost anywhere in your body, it is quite hard to restore it unless you opt for a procedure such as an FUE hair transplant. 

The unfortunate part of it is that hair loss can affect anyone from mid-age to old age. You can seek hair loss treatments such as the hair transplant procedure, PRP for hair loss, or medication. All these methods are quite effective, but not all suffering from hair loss can go for them. There is no denying that hair loss can be quite expensive. Therefore, the best way to get rid of hair loss is to find the cause of the hair loss condition, and if possible, find ways to slow it down or stop it entirely. 

In this post, we explore the several ways available to help you keep your hair from thinning. If you have a problematic hair loss condition, read this post to the end to understand the main causes of hair loss and what you can do to prevent hair loss. 

What is Hair Loss? 

Hair loss or thinning is a medical condition that affects the scalp or the skin, preventing hair from growing. The difference between hair loss and thinning is that hair thinning refers to losing hair moderately. Most of the time, hair will start thinning before it leads to advanced hair loss. If your hair starts thinning, it doesn’t mean that you have a hair loss condition. It only displays partial hair loss in your scalp, where the hair looks less dense. 

Since hair thinning happens gradually, it means that you have a chance to figure out what is causing hair to disappear and what can be done to salvage the situation. You don’t need to go for a hair transplant procedure because you’ve realized that your scalp has spots where hair is not growing. Sometimes hair may stop growing in some areas of your scalp or skin because of stress, hormonal issues, or lack of a balanced diet. 

What Causes Thinning Hair? 

Like we’ve mentioned above, there are several causes of hair loss or thinning hair. Most of the time, it is caused by genetics, bad lifestyle habits, or both. Besides these two causes of hair, another reason for thinning hair is medication. Certain medical treatments may cause you to lose hair. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) states that a normal person loses about 50 to 100 strands on average in a day. A hair transplant may be the best treatment for these types of hair loss conditions. 

If you are losing more than 100 hair strands, it means that you must be suffering from some sort of hair thinning or hair loss. The two main culprits of thinning hair are lifestyle habits and hereditary factors. Here are some of the lifestyle habits that cause thinning hair:

Over-treating of Hair – Treating your hair many times with hair relaxers, perms, or color treatments can lead to hair thinning and even hair loss. To prevent further hair thinning or hair loss, you need to stop over-treating your hair. 

Using Harsh Hair Products – Certain hair products are not friendly to your hair. These products include extreme-hold hair sprays and gels. If you like coloring your hair regularly, you should know that hair dyes are also a harsh product that can damage your scalp. If you are using these products and start noticing that your hair is thinning, the best thing to do is stay away from such products. 

Wearing Tight Hairstyles – Another cause of hair thinning that can lead to hair loss is wearing your hair up too tightly. These hairstyles include pulling up or up-doing your hair in a ponytail when you want to work out. Such hairstyles are troublesome and may cause thin spots over time because they break your hair follicles by tugging them. Avoid wearing your hair up tightly if you want to prevent its flow thinning. 

Lack of Enough Iron in Your Diet – Ion together with folic acids and other minerals in your diet are very important. Their purpose in hair growth is to help hair follicles to produce hair naturally. Eating foods containing such minerals will help stop hair loss because their presence in your scalp allows healthy hair to grow. 

Going Through stressful Moments – An uptick in hormones such as cortisol is triggered by uncontrolled stress. If these stress hormones are produced, they may end up killing off new hair, trying to grow from the hair follicles. If you can, try to avoid stress by seeking therapy or any activity that reduces stress levels. 

Hair thinning and hair loss may also be caused by heredity or underlying medical factors such as:

• A mother who has just delivered a baby may suffer from hair loss or thinning hair 
• If you are a woman and you have stopped taking birth control pills 
• If you are going through hormonal changes
• If you have managed to lose more than 20 pounds in a very short while 
• If you are undergoing autoimmune disease treatment 
• When your immunity is low 
• If you have a skin infection or a disorder

Other less common causes of thinning hair include:

• Having a high fever
• Pulling at your hair
• Eating disorders

Thinning hair should not be mistaken for alopecia which is the widespread loss of hair. These two conditions are quite different, even though thinning hair may sometimes cause hair loss.

Remedies to Thinning Hair & Hair Loss 

If you are hurting from thinning hair, you don’t necessarily have to seek medical treatment from a doctor. Several home remedies will help you reduce the thinning or stop it entirely. Here are some of them. If you are considering taking food supplements, you have to consult your physician first. 

Scalp Massage 

If you are looking for a cost-effective way to get rid of thinning hair, then you need to consider massaging your scalp or getting someone to do it for you. This activity will help you get thicker hair on your scalp. 

Essential Oils 

Another way to prevent thinning hair or hair loss is to use essential oils. Used often in aromatherapy, essential oils are plant fluids, which are also used as alternative medicine. People with pattern baldness conditions may benefit from using lavender oil in treating their hair loss conditions. 

Anti-thinning Shampoo 

There are two ways that you can use the anti-thinning shampoo to stop further thinning hair. The first benefit of this product is that it has amino acids and vitamins that make the scalp healthier for more hair generation. The second benefit of anti-thinning shampoo is that it makes your hair look thicker by providing hair volume. 

Conclusion 

You should know when you want to treat hair loss or thinning hair because thinning hair is not hair loss. At first, you may be alarmed by thinning hair, but you should not. Thinning hair is not as advanced as alopecia or hair loss. You can just treat it at home with the remedies mentioned above or a hair transplant. Consult your doctor if your hair continues to fall out or stop growing to determine the cause and the various treatments available.