Losing your hair can be a massive source of stress. Hair loss can be genetic, environmental, dietary, or a mixture of all three, and can usually be either reversed or halted in its tracks. One of the best ways to avoid hair loss is to avoid bad habits that make your hair weaker or thinner, including some practices you may have been doing your entire life.
#1. Brushing Wet Hair
Many men and women keep a hairbrush in the shower for the sake of convenience and use that time to brush through tangles. This is particularly true of people with curly or thick hair, as it can be easier than brushing through dry hair. Despite the possible convenience, brushing wet hair can actually cause breaking of the hair shaft. It can also pull too hard on the root, resulting in hair loss.
Instead, only comb or brush dry hair. Brushing your hair right before you shower will help avoid frizz, but will not harm the shaft of your hair.
#2. Using Too Much Product
Product can cause buildup on your hair and scalp, both of which prove problematic. Buildup in your hair can weigh your hair down and create opportunities for breakage and shedding. Buildup on your scalp can block pores and hair follicles, resulting in a disrupted growth cycle and prolonged period of shedding without new growth.
#3. Not Washing Hair Enough
In a similar vein, allowing your hair to grow too dirty or full of product can cause hair loss. Depending on your hair type, you should wash your hair between 2 and 5 times per week. Failing to do so could create product buildup, as well as dry, flaky patches. An itchy scalp can lead to hair loss, as frequent scratching interferes with your scalp’s ability to follow a normal life cycle.
#4. Using a Lot of Styling Tools
Styling your hair with heat can cause damage to your hair shaft, which is often the source of thinning hair. There are some extreme examples, such as a viral video of a girl burning a large chunk of her hair clean off using a curling wand, but the damage done to hair is usually done over a period of time, and is too gradual to notice right off the bat.
#5. Taking on Stress
Finally, failing to manage stress can lead to hair loss. Stress causes an inflammatory response in your body, which can lead to thinning of the hair, or hair falling out altogether in patches or by the handful. Managing your stress effectively will keep all aspects of your body in better condition, including the hair follicles dotting your scalp.
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Health. Accessed 10/14/17.
Prevention. Accessed 10/14/17.
Real Simple. Accessed 10/14/17.
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