The Top Seven Things to Avoid if You Have Hair Loss

There are a lot of things that we cannot control. If you have hair loss, it may be due to a variety of factors that fall into this category, including heredity and illness. However, there are often things that you can do to alleviate and maybe even to reverse hair loss. Our hair, just like our skin, is exposed to a variety of environmental elements and forced situations that we can protect against or help lessen the severity of their impacts. Here are seven things to avoid if you are experiencing hair loss.

Stress. This is probably one you have heard and/or read many times, but it cannot be over-emphasized. To avoid all stress completely is unrealistic, but some of us are prone to exposing ourselves to more stress than is necessary on a daily basis. Trying to balance everything – work, home, family, friends, community – is hard. Most of the time, it is the side effects of stress, like forgetting to take care of ourselves properly, that can cause the most damage. Avoid stressful situations: stress wreaks havoc not only on your body, but also your hair.

Hats and tight hair ties. Simply put, these cause extra breakage. The friction of hair ties and hats on the same placement on your hair sucks the moisture right out of the shaft and inevitably leads to breakage. The one thing you do not need when you are experiencing hair loss is to have dry, brittle hair.

Hair pieces. For some people, coping with their hair loss by using a hair piece is one of the few available (and affordable) options. Remember that good hair pieces are expensive; the cheaper one just look plain bad. These pieces are not very durable, so if you have an active lifestyle, they are likely a bad choice. As a physical deterrent, hair pieces like hair ties and hats, can cause friction damage on your remaining hair.

Over-using conditioner. A little conditioner is great, so a lot is better? Not for thinning hair. Conditioner can weigh down strands, causing hair to appear flat and limp.

Towel drying. It does not exposure your hair to the heat of a hair drying, but the rubbing can cause extra loss. Opt for air dry or low heat blow-drying. Friction is your enemy.

Volumizing and/or thickening hair products. This can be counter-intuitive. The real culprits hear are shampoos. These shampoos strip the hair of the natural protective oils, leaving it defenseless against many of the elements. The volumizing agent in these shampoos may give temporary volume, but it is temporary. It is better to switch to herbal or natural brands to preserve the natural oils and to maintain look of your hair.

Sun exposure. Just like for skin, hair needs to be protected from the elements. For sun exposure this is necessary. UV ray exposure dries the hair out and can make it brittle. To protect from UV exposure, be sure to cover up with light hats or have a loose-fitting cloth draped over your head.