Trichologist Sally-Ann Tarver reveals her Top 10 Tricks to Keep Your Hair
Did you know? Hair loss affects an estimated 8 million women in the UK and more than half of all men suffer significant hair loss by the age of 50.
Here Trichologist Sally-Ann Tarver from The Cotswold Trichology Centre reveals hersecrets to keeping your hair and preventing hair loss & hair thinning:
1. Eat more protein
With Vegetarian and Veganism becoming increasingly popular, protein - the most important hair food group is often forgotten in favour of carbs and fats. Hair relies on good quality dietary protein for the buildings blocks of Keratin (hair protein). A diet low in protein will result in weaker, finer hair which breaks more easily and is more susceptible to chemical and heat damage. As an experiment, try using an App like My Fitness Pal to calculate the protein you consume against what the App calculates you should have. You will be surprised how difficult it is to successfully eat the correct amount without thought and planning.
2. Track the Traction
If you have long hair, be mindful of traction (pulling hair out due to tension) by alternating your hair style and not pulling hair into a ponytail daily. Hair extensions (clip or bonded) can also cause traction if used long term. Traction alopecia classically occurs at the front hairline and sides of the head due to daily tension. If you have naturally fine hair, choose a loose hairstyle and avoid having hair extensions.
3. Check Your Thyroid
Thinning hair can be caused by thyroid conditions, particularly hypothyroidism often seen in postmenopausal women but may occur younger. Other symptoms include weight gain, dry skin brittle nails and tiredness. Left untreated the condition may cause hair to become thin and dry. It can take time to balance and get the correct medication dose and therefore improvement in your hair. This can only be administered and monitored by your GP, supplements do not help and you cannot self-treat.
4. Don’t Rely on Hair Vits
Supplements can help nutritional hair loss if you take the particular nutrient you are deficient in and restore the deficiency. Taking ‘hair vits’ or Biotin will not help if you are not deficient in those particular vitamins. Biotin deficiencies are exceptionally rare in the developed world and taking Biotin for hair loss or growth is one of the hair industries most frequently quoted hair loss myth.
5. Preserve Hair Youth - Try Laser Phototherapy
We put great thought and funds into preserving the youthful appearance of our face, but should we consider the hair aging process in the same way? It is well known that hair becomes finer with age and as with facial aging, it is better to preserve youth for as long as possible than to repair damage caused by neglect. Laser phototherapy offers a lotion free, pill free method of improving and maintaining hair structure, growth and reducing the signs of hair aging. One such device is the Theradome LH80 PRO laser helmet. FDA Cleared for both men and women, Theradome floods your scalp with photonic (light) energy to stimulate your hair follicles. It’s easy to use; you just put it on your head every other day for 20 minutes and let the light do the work. Laser Phototherapy stimulates blood circulation, nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles and helps to produce stronger, healthier, faster growing hair. Theradome is available at www.theradomeforhairloss.co.uk
6. See a Trichologist
A Trichologist is trained to diagnose the cause of hair loss and scalp conditions. Although you will pay for this service, it will save you endless hours Googling and guessing as to what is causing it or coming to the wrong conclusions and wasting time. Delaying seeking professional advice may mean the difference between your hair getting better quickly or not. A Trichologist can independently explain the difference between various treatments available and suggest which ones would be likely to help you. They can also monitor your progress in getting better hair and keeping it.
7. Increase your iron
Women of a childbearing age classically suffer iron related hair loss or thinning due to heavy periods or having children. In some circumstances even having an iron rich diet is not sufficient to achieve or maintain optimum iron stores. An annual Ferritin test (the protein which stores iron) can help ensure your levels are always optimum and if you take iron supplements ensure you don’t build up too much. The optimum Ferritin level to prevent hair loss is said to be 70-100ug/l. Although your GP may oblige the occasional Ferritin test, they may not be happy to keep doing it unless you have deficiency symptoms. Companies such as Thriva (Thriva.co) offer relatively inexpensive blood screening for those who wish to maintain their own health. Sample collection is via a simple finger prick collection method. Results are available within a day or two and a GP reviews each set of test results before they are emailed
8. Chill Out
Stress isn’t always avoidable, sometimes you just get periods in life where things happen that are outside of your control. However, long term stress is detrimental to both our hair and wellbeing. Unfortunately there is no magic cure for stress induced hair loss other to address the cause or wait for it to pass. Relaxation and breathing techniques, yoga and exercise are all helpful in short term reduction of stress hormones (cortisol), but if it is a long term issue, take steps to resolve it, even if it means some short term pain! The good news is that hair loss caused by short term stress will rectify itself and hair should recover without any treatment.
9. Get Some Sunshine
Ever notice how quickly your hair grows when you’re on holiday? For so many years now we have been told to stay out of the sun, cover up and use sunscreen. This has resulted in a widespread epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. Some 85% of your vitamin D requirements are manufactured by skin exposure to the sun. It is necessary to expose 20% of your body to bright sunshine for 20 minutes every day without sun protection to make your daily vitamin D requirement. However the sun is only bright enough for 5 months of the year to achieve this. If you think you fall short and particularly through the winter months or are unable to tolerate the sun for any reason, try BetterYou’s DLux 3000 oral vitamin D spray to top up.
10. Avoid Chemical Based SPF’s in Face Creams and Foundations!
Over the last 20 years Dermatologists and Trichologists have seen a steady increase in the number of permanent forms of inflammatory hair loss. In particular a condition called Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia (FFA), which affects the entire scalp hairline. Once considered rare and affecting only post-menopausal women, FFA is now one of the most common conditions seen by hair and skin specialists and cases are becoming more frequent in younger women. Research scientists around the world think there may be a link to chemical based SPF’s added to foundations and moisturisers. SPF’s in daily use products are important to reduce the aging effects of sunlight, but it is thought that mineral based SPF’s such as Zinc Oxide are less of a potential risk than chemical SPF’s such as Oxybenzones and Avobenzones.
Credit: Sally-Ann Tarver MIT.FTTS, Consultant Trichologist, The Cotswold Trichology Centre & Theradome GB www.cots-tri.co.uk / www.theradomeforhairloss.co.uk