Manage Stress to Maintain the Health of Your Tresses

Turns out that stress and bad habits such as smoking, drinking and even tanning could contribute to hair loss, especially in women, according to preliminary findings from new research.

Two new studies found that women’s hair follicles are particularly vulnerable to the wear and tear of a stressful lifestyle. One study found that women who had suffered the stress of a divorce or death of a spouse were at the highest risk of losing their hair at the midline, meaning a widening of the parting in the middle of the scalp. This type of hair loss is called telogen effluvium, which refers to hair loss induced from severe stress – may it be physical, emotional, or psychological stress.

Men can chalk balding mostly up to genetic luck of the draw, although smoking, alcohol consumption, daily stress, and sun exposure contribute as well. According to the research, such habits contribute to poor blood flow in the scalp, affecting the health of the hair follicles since it is through blood circulation that the follicles obtain nutrients.

While you can take preventative measures such as wearing a hat when exposed to the sun, quitting smoking, and reducing your alcohol consumption, researchers add that adopting healthier lifestyle choices could possibly help your hair grow back.

‘Part of it is to manage what you can’, shares a New York City dermatologist. ‘The sooner you address it, the better your chances of recovering the former healthy state of the hair follicles’.

Prior research and clinical studies have also linked stem cells to balding, finding that some stem cells in the scalp are incapable of developing into the type of cells that make hair follicles. The discovery, published earlier this year in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could give hope to men and women with hair loss, said the researchers in a release.

Homemade Hair Loss Treatments that Suit the Needs of Your Scalp

Hair loss may worsen with ageing and a variety of other factors — including genetics, stress, disease and hairstyling tools. While a variety of commercial and medical products offer hair loss treatments, homemade products have the advantage of being less toxic than most found on the market. Homemade treatments are commonly less expensive than commercial products and you have the advantage of knowing exactly what is in the formulation and customising it for your needs.

Vitamin Treatment

Vitamin E has long been touted as an aide to circulation and used in heart ailments. Because of its ability to rebuild capillaries and arteries, vitamin E is a useful treatment for hair. Though the vitamin can be added to shampoos and conditioners, the most efficient treatment is to apply the nutrient directly to the scalp. Puncture a capsule of vitamin E and apply directly to the scalp. This can be repeated daily.

Molasses Treatment

Molasses has been shown to help regrow hair. Blackstrap molasses contains a variety of B vitamins that help reduce stress, which is one of the leading causes of hair loss. Molasses also softens the hair and adds lustre. It can be applied directly to the hair but because of its stickiness, molasses is best applied diluted in water.

Add four ounces of molasses to one cup of warm water and use as a rinse. Wrap the head with a towel and leave on for 15 minutes before rinsing off and drying.

Herbal Remedy

Herbal tinctures and oils are beneficial for the follicles on the scalp and for the hair shaft itself. Massaging the scalp with a combination of herbal essential oils — including rosemary, lavender, cedarwood and thyme — can nourish the scalp within and on the surface. This combination helps increase circulation in the scalp and is especially beneficial for those suffering from alopecia.

Protein Treatment

Hair is made up of protein. Adding protein to the diet can help hair grow, as can adding protein directly to the hair. Eggs and mayonnaise are both sources of protein that can be used as hair treatments.

Mix one egg into a half cup of mayonnaise and apply to the hair. Leave on for 15 minutes to a half hour, then shampoo as usual. This will not only add protein and strength to the hair but moisturise the scalp as well. An avocado can also be added to increase the moisture content of the hair.

Home-Made Remedies for Male Alopecia

Male pattern baldness is a very common problem. Close to ninety per cent of cases of male hair loss falls in this category. Most males who have crossed the age of fifty suffer from this type of baldness. However, like many other conditions, if you are able to detect the problematic condition at an early stage, you would be able to control it to a great extent.

Nutrients, vitamins and minerals are essential for healthy hair growth and will prevent and stop hair loss. If you realise that you are not getting enough nutrients then try supplementing your diet with zinc, vitamin B and biotin. A secret home remedy for healthy hair is drinking half a litre of lettuce, spinach, carrot and alfalfa juice in equal proportions daily. This mixture is natural and very effective as a natural supplement.

Omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for our health in so many ways, have also been shown to prevent hair loss. Consuming substantial amounts of omega 3 can help you avoid hair loss in the first place.

A daily 10-minute scalp massage will stimulate the follicles as well as increase blood circulation to the scalp.

You can also make some simple and effective home remedies for hair loss using natural oils. Combine henna, jojoba, and aloe vera and mix it all together with wheat germ oil. Use the mixture with a natural shampoo to cleanse your strands.

Take one cup of mustard oil with some henna leaves and boil for a few minutes. After boiling, strain this solution and keep it in a bottle and massage it to the scalp every day; this will help you to reduce the baldness. This solution can help prevent further hair loss and may be used for hair care.

Apply the oils of cedarwood, rosemary, lavender combined with jojoba seed oils on to your hairs and scalp. Daily massage of 30 minutes with all these oils will give excellent results for people suffering with hair loss. In the cases of alopecia areata, this remedy also holds effective.

Wash the hair with lukewarm water every week. Make sure to massage the scalp as well. For better results, mix the warm water with either coconut or olive oil and then apply to hair and scalp. Spend about 15 to 20 minutes massaging these areas to ensure that the oil gets absorbed well.

Female Hair Loss: How to Deal

Often, hair loss or balding is thought of as a problem men alone encounter. But often overlooked is the fact the many women also encounter the problems of hair loss. It doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom though since in a lot of cases, hair problems in women can be treated fairly easily.

The loss of hair in women may start at any age, even in teenage years. It may start because of a stressful experience, new medication, hormonal imbalances or it may be hereditary. These are only a few of the causes the hair may begin to fall out excessively.

Any woman who suffers from female pattern baldness will usually have their self-confidence lowered. Everyone tends to judge a female by their hairstyle. If a man is going bald, this is seen as normal but unfortunately it’s not the same for women.

This is often an important piece of this issue. But there are a number of female pattern baldness treatments for sale which you can use in the privacy of your own home. Many of these treatments are unisex or designed for men but rebranded and aimed at women. These are the products you need to steer clear of as men and women lose hair for different reasons. And any treatment should be specific to females since using a unisex or male hair loss treatment may end in even more hair being lost.

There are a few good female pattern baldness treatments which will effectively help with hair and scalp problems. If you’re suffering from any type of female pattern baldness, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. In many cases, the body corrects itself and the hair begins to regrow. This can take anything from weeks to months as a best-case scenario.

And do not forget to speak with your doctor if you need help in deciding what will be the best type of treatment for you.

Simple Steps to Have Shiny Hair

If you love the look of your hair when it’s shiny, glossy and frizz-free, you might be saving up for an in-salon keratin straightening treatment, or tried one already. At a high cost, these treatments promise to turn even the frizziest, most unruly manes into manageable sleek locks, with results that last for months.

But recent headlines have warned of the hazards of these treatments. It turns out that formaldehyde fumes from the smoothing ingredients, which are sealed into the hair with a flatiron, can cause lung, eye and skin irritation. This is true, government investigations found, even of treatments that are advertised as being formaldehyde-free. That’s led some stylists to don gas masks while providing smoothing treatments and to offer masks to their clients as well.

OK, so this news might be unsettling, but don’t despair. Some simple steps will help you achieve smooth, shiny hair — without putting your health at risk.

1. Pick the right shampoo and conditioner. Sun, heat-styling, chlorinated water and chemical styling processes leach protein from hair and make curly hair especially difficult to manage or style straight. Shampoos and conditioners that are protein-enhanced temporarily smooth the outer portion of the hair fibre, making strands glossier and more manageable. Look for products that are labeled acid- or pH-balanced; many contain hydrolyzed keratin.

2. Be gentle with wet hair. Curly or wavy hair is especially fragile when it’s wet, so blot — don’t scrub — hair with a towel to dry. Keep in mind that those super-plush towels that feel so good against your wet skin aren’t the best choice for blotting your hair. Strands of hair can get caught in the loops of regular terry towels, leading to frizz. You might want to invest in a towel designed for drying hair. Some are made of microfibres that whisk water away quickly, cutting drying time.

3. Detangle hair with care. Use a wide-tooth comb to gently separate curls. Finer hair may require a leave-on conditioner or detangling product, while thicker smoothing creams and straightening lotions often work best on coarser, curlier hair.

4. Practice healthy heating habits. To minimize heat damage, coat locks with a thermal protection product, allow to partially air-dry, then blow hair completely dry. Be patient; use clips to divide your hair into several sections and then place a round boar-bristle brush under a 3-inch section of hair. Attach a condenser nozzle to your dryer and hold so the airflow aims downward to smooth, not ruffle, the cuticle. Before releasing the brush, hit the ‘cool’ button on your dryer. Letting the dried hair cool while it’s still held tightly in the brush will help set the smooth, shiny style in place.

5. Add a spritz of shine. Spray your hairbrush or your palms with a shine spray and run it lightly through your hair. If you apply the spray directly to your hair, you’ll likely get too much product on your locks, and that extra moisture could lead to frizz.

Hair Loss Solution: Topical Wet Products or Wigs?

Yes, there comes a point in life when you will be faced with the option of whether to choose a wig or to go for hair loss treatment, when faced with a hair thinning or hair loss problem. Hair loss and hair thinning are very prevalent conditions that affect millions of people across the world today. Could this justify the reason why there are millions of stores, both physical and virtual stores, dedicated to selling wigs?

The answer as to whether to go for a wig or opt for a hair loss treatment lacks a straightforward answer. This is because there is no option that will affect the other’s use. In other words, were you to choose a wig, you will still continue with your hair loss treatment beneath that wig. The other alternative would be to go on with the treatment for hair loss without the wig as you watch your hair grow — naturally all over again. The choice therefore boils down to an individual’s taste and preferences, and the situation at hand.

One thing that is unquestionable is whether or not to use a hair loss treatment; unless you want to be stuck with a wig for the rest of your life, you really have no option but to choose an effective hair loss treatment that will grow back your natural hair. Luckily, the market provides you with a wide gamut to choose from, ranging from herbal and natural medications to topical prescription and over-the-counter applications, to hair transplant surgery — all of which come with their pros and cons — to help ensure you restore back your natural hair.

Hair loss treatment is highly recommended as it is the only guaranteed way you can restore back your hair. Perhaps you are cautious with hair loss treatments because of the adverse side effects of using the chemicals that most of them come with? This is where you can invest in a good wig, or several of those, to help you as you wait for your hair to grow back naturally.

There are natural alternatives that you can rely on to help boost natural hair growth without having to resort to using these chemically-laden hair loss treatments. As expected, the process will be significantly longer, so a good-quality wig can come in handy in such a situation. A wig also comes in handy if you are on treatment for an underlying health condition that could be causing your hair thinning problem.

Whether to opt for a wig or seek hair loss treatment is pegged on different factors, but it all boils down to what is good for your hair and scalp health.

5 Hair Care Tips to Prevent Hair Loss

There are several successful treatments for hair loss. With the right treatment, you should be able to stop your hair from excessively falling out and even regrow the hair that you have lost.

There are many natural hair loss treatments that you’ll find people using. Remember that with any method you use, you should plan to see results over time, not immediately.

The base of every successful hair loss treatment is having the right hair care regimen. The following are easy tips to apply in taking better care of the scalp and hair:

1. Make sure to get the required amounts of vitamins A, C, B, and E, as they’re essential for proper hair growth. They help in maintaining good blood circulation, thus helping to increase oxygen to the scalp.

2. Massaging the scalp with herbal oils like jojoba oil or olive oil. It’s always been seen that oils of thyme, lavender, rosemary, and cedarwood have been able to help with hair loss (alopecia).

3. You’ll want to avoid excessive blow-drying of the hair and chemical shampoos. The hair and scalp can be damaged by hair colouring or other treatments.

4. Herbal treatments such as amla, henna, shikakai, and reetha can be used to shampoo your hair. In particular, amla powder is known to be a powerful antioxidant that will help to prevent hair loss and greying of hair. It’s also a rich source of vitamin C. Shikakai works well as a shampoo as it doesn’t remove the natural oils that are present in the hair. Henna also works as a great natural conditioner.

5. You’ll want to reduce stress from your life as much as possible. You can do this by exercising or even meditating. You’ll want to try to avoid smoking as the nicotine can decrease blood flow to the scalp and hamper healthy hair growth.