Yikes! 6 Uncommon Reasons Your Natural Hair Is Thinning and Breaking
Excessive hair shedding and loss of your natural hair can be a surprising and scary ordeal. One day you’re loving your crown, satisfied with its growth and progress and suddenly you’re finding more hair in the comb and drain than you ever have.
Maybe it’s just your edges or maybe you’re experiencing full-on bald spots. Either way, it’s important to get to the root of the problem so you know the best way to move forward.
Covering your hair with hats, wigs, or relying too much on protective styles with extensions can only cause more damage in the long run. Here are the top 6 unexpected reasons your hair could be suffering and what you can do about it
Vitamin Deficiency
Low iron and zinc are two of the most common vitamin deficiencies that cause hair loss and breakage.
That’s right Sis, vitamins don’t just support our insides, they also have a direct effect on our teeth, skin, and hair.
While you may be familiar with supplements like Biotin that support hair and nail growth --- the fact is, all the supplements in the world can’t help if you are also lacking any of the vitamins and nutrients listed below:
- Fats
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin B-12
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin A
- Copper
- Selenium
Extreme physical or emotional stress
As much as you may be able to appear pulled together from the outside as the perfect mom, wife, daughter, friend. Hair growth -- or the lack thereof, can be the true sign of whether your body is thriving in its current environment.
Stress-induced hair loss is something that should be taken very seriously as it is often the first sign that there are other underlying medical conditions. It is important that you keep a hair journal or begin really paying attention to your curls so that you can notice the slightest shift, assess the cause and act accordingly.
Your body is always finding ways to communicate with you, all you have to do is listen.
Stress can look like a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some of the most common examples of extreme physical or emotional stress that may cause natural hair loss and breakage are:
The good news is, emotional and physical stress-induced hair loss is often temporary and will usually subside once the body heals from the trauma. Lifestyle changes like daily exercise, proper nutrition, and most importantly removing the cause of stress from your life. Can make a huge difference.
Time to let all that stress go, your health and crown depend on it!
Losing 20 pounds or more
Congratulations! You’re dropping the pounds, feeling slim and trim, when you notice your hair is dropping right along with the numbers on the scale. It is super common for folks experiencing rapid weight loss to also experience simultaneous hair loss. The reason why? Nutrients.
Unfortunately many people who are losing weight that fast are probably not incorporating enough protein into their diet. The body has to get it from somewhere so it turns to your hair which causes thinning and breakage.
As soon as the weight loss tapers, so should the hair loss. However, if you have a lot more Lb’s to go consider adding more protein to your diet as a way to combat this.
Medications
Have you recently started taking any new medications?
Many pharmaceutical drugs fail to mention side effects such as hair loss, and the hair follicles of African-Americans may be particularly sensitive to certain medications.
Chemotherapy is the most obvious of treatments but you may also want to be aware if you are taking:
Talk with your doctor immediately if you think this may be the problem to see if there are any other alternative brands/treatments.
Hormonal changes: childbirth and menopause
Hair loss is caused by your follicles’ response to the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT). When a woman’s hormones are imbalanced after major life events like childbirth and menopause this hormone tends to lie dormant while the body strives to maintain balance.
I know for a black woman this may be hard to believe but on a cellular level, hair is technically not necessary for survival.
If the body has to choose where to send energy/hormones DHT is usually one of the first to get cut.
After pregnancy, your body has been producing so many growth hormones (Yass pregnancy hair!) that when it stops or simply slows down it can look like hair loss when really your hair follicles are simply returning to their original state.
Thyroid disorder
Also connected to hormones is natural hair loss from a thyroid disorder. Hyperthyroidism (too much thyroid hormone) and hypothyroidism (too little thyroid hormone) are very common among women ages 50-60 years young.
Directly related to rapid weight loss and gain it is commonly overlooked yet completely treatable. Treating the thyroid disorder with your doctor first should bring balance to your hair follicles soon after.
Natural hair struggles? We’ve got solutions…
Once you’ve pinpointed what the cause of your natural hair loss is the next step is nursing your thinning strands back to health.
Our Growth Plus Hair Serum will allow you to experience hair growth like never before with all-natural ingredients. We’re talking supernatural results like thicker, stronger hair strands and completely eliminating dry and itchy scalps.
Reaffirming a healthy hair routine is crucial in regaining natural hair strength and length.
Lucky for you our Adult Healthy Hair Kit includes our revolutionary growth oil as well as our:
+ Strengthening & Growth Moisturizer that helps eliminate breakage and dryness with rice milk.
+ Our Growth-Plus Hydrating Shampoo provides nourishment for your scalp, kinks, and coils, preventing them from feeling dry and brittle while also providing volume and shine.
+ Our Argan Oil Hair Mask which delivers heat-infused aminos with a patented protein complex to repair damaged hair and restore proper moisture balance. The application of heat releases the aminos which attach to distressed areas of the hair.
+ And The Moringa-Shea Hair Yogurt is made with all-natural and organic ingredients that will keep your hair healthy, nourished, and moisturized. It can be used as a pre-wash treatment, leave-in moisturizer, hair sealant, or curl enhancer.
ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS WITH SUPERNATURAL RESULTS
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