How to Prevent or Slow Down Continued Hair Loss
Medically reviewed by Susan Bard, MD
Whether caused by genetics, chemotherapy, weight loss surgery, stress, or something else, hair loss can be troubling. Some types of hair loss, especially those related to medical treatments, are reversible. And though not every type of hair loss can be stopped, medications, taking supplements, and using products are among many ways to help stop thinning hair and restore volume.
To prevent hair loss, it’s important to understand what’s causing your condition. This article goes over prevention strategies, myths surrounding hair loss, and circumstances that can cause you to lose hair.
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Different Ways to Prevent Hair Loss
Evidence-backed hair loss prevention strategies work either to strengthen or preserve existing hair, address underlying causes, or promote regrowth. They range from taking medications or vitamin supplements to modifying your hair care routine and lifestyle.
Protecting Your Hair
Taking care not to damage or stress your hair is another means of preventing hair loss. This means adopting certain hair care habits:
Use gentle shampoos and conditioners.
Use spray conditioner after showering to prevent tangling.
Wrap your hair in a towel to dry.
Avoid hot oil treatments.
Avoid using hair dryers, curling irons, hot combs, and other treatments that heat hair.
Don’t color, chemical straighten, or bleach hair at home; work with a stylist.
Comb slowly and gently, without pulling or tugging.
Avoid hairstyles that pull hair, such as tight ponytails or braids.
Natural Products
Though more research is needed, studies have found several oils derived from herbs, seeds, or other natural products effective for certain types of hair loss. These include:
Rosemary oil: In 2015, researchers found topical rosemary oil as effective as a common medication, Rogaine (minoxidil 2%), in taking on androgenetic alopecia (inherited pattern hair loss).
Pumpkin seed oil: For female androgenetic alopecia, researchers found three months of pumpkin seed oil treatment to work as well as 5% solutions of minoxidil.
Thyme, rosemary, lavender, and sandalwood oil: A small study comparing this combination of plant-based ingredients with placebo oils found 75% of the former has less hair loss and more regrowth at three months.
Coconut oil: Researchers found coconut oil to help repair hair damaged by ultraviolet (UV) rays or due to protein loss caused by hair treatments.
Vitamins and Minerals
There’s still some debate about the exact effect of vitamin or mineral supplements on hair loss. But researchers do know that deficiencies in some of these can increase the risk of androgenic alopecia (pattern hair loss). Boosting zinc, iron, vitamins D, C, B2 (riboflavin), B9 (folate), and B12, among others, may help.
Consultation
If you’re thinking about vitamin supplements, talk to your healthcare provider. They can order a blood test to check your vitamin levels and help you determine proper dosages. This can be crucial. Too much of vitamins A and E and selenium can actually spur hair loss.
Medications
There are several medications for hair loss. Available over the counter and applied to the scalp, Rogaine is a first-line treatment for both male- and female-pattern hair loss and potentially helpful for chemotherapy-related hair loss. Available with a prescription, another option is Propecia (finasteride), which comes in topical and tablet forms.
Treating Female Androgenic Alopecia
Alongside other medications, healthcare providers may treat female-pattern hair loss with therapies blocking androgens (such as testosterone), such as Aldactone (spironolactone), Eulexin (flutamide), and Casodex (bicalutamide), used off-label. Since some cases are caused by iron deficiency, they may also recommend supplementing with this mineral.
Laser Therapy
Though more study is needed, researchers found laser therapy effective for treating hair loss. This treatment exposes affected areas to specialized light beams. This at-home therapy involves daily applications with either low level laser therapy (LLLT) devices like laser-emitting combs, caps, or bands, or hand-held light emitting diode (LED) devices.
Platelet-Rich Plasma
Platelets are disc-shaped cells found in the blood that aid in clotting. Injections of platelet-rich blood plasma can help prevent hair loss. To create platelet-rich plasma, a blood sample is drawn by a healthcare provider and put in a machine called a centrifuge that spins it around rapidly. This process concentrates platelets in the sample and it is injected back into the patient.
Quit Smoking
Alongside many other benefits, quitting smoking may help preserve your hair. Though researchers have more work to do, there’s evidence this leads to earlier onset and more severe cases of pattern balding.
Dietary Changes
Changing what you eat can also help prevent hair loss. Since insufficient protein and iron can lead to hair loss, your provider may recommend boosting these in your diet. Foods rich in protein and iron include:
Red meat
Chicken
Fish
Beans
Eggs
Nuts
Broccoli
Spinach
Tofu
It’s also important that you’re getting enough nutrients and calories. Be careful of diets that force you to restrict calorie-intake, as malnutrition can lead to hair shedding, or rapid hair loss.
In a study of assigned males, adopting the Mediterranean diet was linked with a later onset of pattern hair loss. This eating plan emphasizes fresh vegetables, healthy fats, lean proteins, whole grains, fruits, olive oil, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices. Moderate your dairy intake and limit red meat and sugar.
Scalp Massage
Applied using devices or by hand, regular sessions of scalp massage may promote hair thickness. In one study, 68.9% of those massaging their scalp between 11 and 20 minutes a day reported less thinning and positive results. The authors noted more research is needed to confirm an effect.
Manage Stress
Stress or trauma can cause telogen effluvium, a rapid but temporary shedding of hair. As such, finding healthy ways to cope with stress, including:
Meditation or mindfulness exercises
Yoga, tai chi, or other stretching exercises
Finding healthy ways to cope with stress
Taking breaks from the news and/or social media
Getting enough sleep
Getting regular exercise
Getting involved with your community
What Doesn’t Prevent Hair Loss?
There’s no shortage of mythology surrounding hair loss and false claims about what you can do to prevent it. Here are some common myths:
Managing Stress Slows Pattern Balding
While there are links between chronic stress and hair loss due to telogen effluvium, this isn’t a factor in androgenic alopecia. Being stressed out can cause hair loss, so stress management techniques can help prevent it.
Wearing Hats Causes Hair Loss
There are few connections between hat wearing and hair loss in the research. In fact, one study of identical twins found those who wore hats more often had less thinning above the forehead. However, tight-fitting hats may put extra stress on your hair follicles, which can impact hair loss.
Washing Too Much Causes Hair Loss
While you may notice strands in the shower, washing your hair too often doesn’t cause hair loss. But be gentle when washing and drying, and watch for shampoo ingredients that can make your follicles more brittle.
Unique Circumstances
A wide variety of health conditions, medications, and other factors can be the cause of hair loss. It’s important to understand what these are and how they impact your hair.
Chemotherapy
Along with a host of other side-effects, some types of chemotherapy cause body-wide hair loss. Hairs from the head and other parts of the body start falling off rapidly about two weeks after starting treatment. However, you can expect hair to regrow two to three weeks after finishing, with the hair often finer at first. It may also be straighter or curlier than before.
Cooling Cap Therapy
Applying compresses to cool the scalp during chemotherapy may help preserve hair. Though more research is needed, researchers found this to both prevent hair loss and allow hair to regrow quicker in cancer patients.
Radiation Therapy
As with chemotherapy, radiation therapy for cancer can also cause hair loss, typically around treated areas. In these cases, regrowth takes longer—anywhere from six to 12 months after stopping treatment. If the dosages are high, the hair on affected may grow back thinner or not at all.
Postpartum
Following pregnancy, people go through many hormonal changes, including drops in estrogen. As a result, some experience excessive shedding a couple of months after the pregnancy ends. This type of hair loss is reversible. Most people will notice regrowth and normal fullness within a year after giving birth.
Hormonal Imbalance
Changes in the levels of several hormones can be at the root of hair loss. These include:
Androgens: Androgens, including testosterone, play a role in human hair growth, with fluctuations at the root of androgenic alopecia (pattern baldness).
Estrogen: Low levels of the female sex hormone estrogen due to pregnancy, childbirth, or menopause pregnancy can lead to hair loss in women. These fluctuations also accompany polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Thyroid: Improper levels of thyroid hormone can also lead to hair loss; this is case both for hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).
Stress
Stress can cause telogen effluvium, a rapid shedding of hair. Your hair regrows completely with this type of hair loss, though it can take six months or more before you see results.
Weight Loss Surgery
Rapid weight loss due to weight loss surgery, such as gastric bypass, can cause hair shedding about three to six months after the procedure. A type of telogen effluvium, this hair loss is temporary, with regrowth expected within a year.
Uncontrollable Risk Factors
Certain health factors outside of your control can also cause hair loss. Having family members with pattern hair loss increases your risk. Androgenic alopecia, the most common type of hair loss, is hereditary. As you age, your hair becomes thinner and can stop regrowing. In cisgender men, signs of balding usually appear by age 30; in cisgender women, these start in their 40s, 50s, or 60s.
Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles or skin cells, can also cause hair loss. This is the case with alopecia areata, which causes permanent loss of hair on your scalp, nose, ears, eyebrows, and other parts of the body. In addition, psoriasis, an inflammatory skin condition, can affect the scalp. Once the latter clears, the hair often grows back.
Hair-Pulling Disorder
Some people experience uncontrollable urges to repeatedly to pull out hair, or trichotillomania, sometimes even eating it. A type of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) more common in young adults or children, the repeated behaviors can causes patches of scalp to become bald.
Summary
Though some types of hair loss can’t be stopped, there’s a lot you can do to prevent it or slow its progression. Everything from genetics to medications to hormonal changes can lead to hair loss. Depending on the underlying cause, prevention strategies range from dietary and hair care changes to taking medications or supplements.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
