Archive for February, 2012

February 27th, 2012

Thinning Hair: An Early Warning Sign?

We all want a lovely, thick head of hair. We want it because it looks good. However, it shouldn’t just be our vanity that has us looking at why we are losing our hair: it’s possible that hair loss is an early warning sign of certain health conditions and nutritional deficiencies.

 

It can be as simple as a Vitamin D deficiency – research does show that a large percentage of people in North America are deficient in Vitamin D, and hair loss is one of the primary symptoms. The further north you live, the more likely that you don’t have enough of this vital nutrient! Recent studies indicate that intake of up to 4,000 IU’s of Vitamin D is safe, particularly given the push to use sunscreen to avoid skin cancer.

 

Low iron can also result in hair loss. Iron is arguably the single most important mineral in the human body, because of its critical function in our blood. Because of its importance in the body, it can affect a wide range of functions, including hair growth. As high as 70 % of cases of hair loss in women can be due to pervasive and long-standing iron deficiency – as such, low iron is the most common cause of hair loss in pre-menopausal women.

 

Beyond warning about nutritional deficiencies, hair loss can also be an early warning for a large number of health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, depression, multiple sclerosis, gum disease and even tuberculosis. Given how serious these conditions can be, get them ruled out! It is extremely important for anyone who is dealing with thinning hair to have an examination by a health professional, to ensure your health is good. Then, any hair loss that continues can be the focus of your attention.

 

Once other conditions are out of the picture, focus on the health of your scalp and your hair follicles. The best way to do this is to nourish them directly. Topical products, using hair healthy ingredients, are a great way to keep your hair looking its best and growing well. SureThik Shampoo and Serum are a combination that will deliver vitamins and herbal treatments directly to the scalp to help you to keep the hair you have and keep it growing.

 

Keep in mind that subtle hormonal issues are a significant trigger to hair loss issues. The most common hormone to torment both men and women is Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In both genders, other adrogenic hormones can be converted into DHT. DHT then goes to work, blocking receptors in the hair follicles, which starves them of nutrition. Again, it’s critical to get the right nutrition to the hair. Look for products – both topical and oral – that contain saw palmetto. This herbal supplement helps to convert DHT into other hormonal forms, which helps to protect hair growth. The very good news is that saw palmetto is considered safe for long-term use. Taking this orally, in addition to a quality topical product, is a one-two punch to hair loss!

 

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February 21st, 2012

Hormones and Your Hair

 

Your hormonal health can have a lot to do with your hair loss. In fact, it could be the single reason behind your hair loss. This is true for both men and women.

 

If your thyroid gland is not working properly, this can cause hair loss. Whether your thyroid is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. Once your thyroid symptoms are controlled, this kind of hair loss will resolve. The trick is to get your symptoms properly treated.

 

Improper balance of male and female hormones can also cause hair loss.  Your body requires both male and female hormones to be controlled very precisely. To diagnose this issue, you need to see a doctor who understands the proper levels for your hormones so that you can get the right treatment. If this is the cause of your hair loss, it is a matter of correcting the imbalance, which may mean medication. However, in some cases, this can be as simple as the right supplement.

 

For instance, excess DHT is the primary culprit behind typical male pattern baldness. DHT is a form of testosterone, and it needs to be kept below certain levels, or it will kill off hair follicles by depriving them of nutrition. Your level of DHT can be controlled by Saw Palmetto, an herb that reduces DHT in the body. You can make use of the benefits of DHT either by taking it in capsule form or by applying it topically. Topical products like SureThik Shampoo and Serum with saw palmetto can help to deliver the supplement directly to your hair follicles to protect them from the effects of DHT.

 

Women can be very susceptible to hormonal issues after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Most women will have the best hair of their lifetime while pregnant. The pregnancy hormones prolong the growing phase of the hair. You end up keeping hair that would otherwise enter the resting phase. However, nature catches up with women later – most will have a significant hair loss about three months after they’ve weaned their baby, as hormonal levels return to pre-pregnancy and lactation levels.

 

Other hormonal changes can affect hair loss too. You can lose hair when you stop taking birth control pills. You can also lose hair as part of menopause.

 

Hormonal changes can also be caused by stress or illness. For instance, it’s very common for individuals to lose hair as a result of stress, whether emotional or physical. What really happens is that the hair is pushed into the resting phase sooner than it should be. While this can be hormonal, it can also be caused by events such as high fever, excessive weight loss, surgery or nutritional deficiencies.

 

The good news is that ass soon as the resting phase is over, the hair begins to grow again. It is not a permanent hair loss, but it may take several months to have noticeable hair regrowth.

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February 15th, 2012

The Primary Causes Of Female Hair Loss

Female hair loss is not the same as male hair loss – even if some of the causes are similar. Women differ in hormonal levels and other metabolic processes, which tend to result in differing types of hair loss.

 

Women – like men – can have hair loss due to hormonal imbalance. The key hormone that directly affects hair follicles is DHT. DHT stands for Dihydrotestosterone. DHT is a male sex hormone that is present in both men and women. In fact, DHT is a normally occurring metabolite of testosterone. However, it is a more potent male, and it has much greater affinity for male hormone receptors than testosterone has.

 

The problem arises when DHT interferes with normal functions, including hair growth.

 

DHT compromises the nourishment of follicles, by blocking the receptor sites on the follicle and starving it. In the end, the hair follicles shrink and the hair gets finer and finer until there is no hair at all. This is called miniaturization, and is the process behind 95% of hair loss. The women who lose the most hair will be the ones who are predisposed to producing the most DHT.

 

You can fight DHT directly at the hair follicle. Topical products such as SureThik Shampoo and Serum will deliver natural ingredients to control DHT and nourish hair.

 

Other hormones that affect hair loss and growth are thyroid hormones. Women are typically more prone to thyroid issues than men. Whether the thyroid is overactive or underactive, hair loss can result. Thyroid disease can be easily diagnosed with blood tests.

 

Most women know that their head of hair is particularly luxurious during pregnancy. Unfortunately, nature catches up later, as hair that has stayed in the growing phase then drops out by entering the resting phase. This usually happens a number of months after the baby’s birth. Similarly, changes in hormonal status associated with menopause also tend to affect hair and increase hair loss.

 

It isn’t just hormones that affect hair. Anemia can result in excessive hair loss. Women often have greater issues with maintaining enough iron in their bodies, due to the strains of menstruation, pregnancy and lactation. When iron stores are too low, hair loss will result. This kind of hair loss is best diagnosed by a simple blood test to ensure that iron levels are optimal.

 

Women often become anemic when dieting. Dieting itself – especially severe dieting, which also results in potential deficiencies of essential nutrition – can lead to hair loss. Hair requires essential fatty acids, adequate protein, and minerals like zinc. Without key nutrients, dieting women may find that they are sacrificing their hair for a slimmer body. This is another place where nourishing topical products can help to restore the health of hair follicles.

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February 7th, 2012

Skin Conditions That Cause Hair Loss

 

It’s not always your hair that’s the problem. Sometimes, it’s actually your skin that is causing you to lose your hair! Hair loss caused by a skin condition is often reversible, so understanding what is causing your hair thinning is an important first step to treating it.

 

Seborrheic dermatitis (also known as seborrheic eczema) is an inflammatory skin condition, which results in white to yellowish scales that flake away. Typically, you’ll see these scales in oily skin areas, such as the scalp, eyebrows, creases of the nose, behind the ears and inside the outer ear.

 

If you’ve had a child with cradle cap, you’ve seen seborrheic dermatitis. However, adults can get it too.

 

Seborrheic dermatitis tends to run in families – just like cradle cap does. The condition can be worsened by such things as stress and fatigue. However, it can be reversed by proper cleaning and care for the scalp. A good cleansing routine, including items such as SureThik Shampoo and Serum to clean and nourish the scalp properly, will improve your scalp’s condition. While seborrheic dermatitis is not caused by poor hygiene, cleansing to keep follicles clear and healthy definitely helps. Daily shampooing may clear it up more quickly, by working to loosen the scales and wash them away.

 

Psoriasis is another skin condition that can cause hair loss. Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition where skin cells are building up quicker than they are being shed. As a result, it causes the creation of red or pink colored lesions on the surface of the skin.

 

The lesions cause not only hair loss, but also scarring and follicle damage. The good news is that your hair may come back if the condition is quickly and properly controlled. However, only an examination by a knowledgeable physician will confirm if the follicles are healthy enough for hair to regrow.

 

Scarring is a primary feature of scleroderma, another autoimmune disease, which is caused by a build up of collagen in the skin and other connective tissue. So much collagen can build up due to the scleroderma, that the skin actually feels hard!

 

Any kind of trauma to your skin – whether burns, infections or disease – can cause scars. Once scar tissue replaces normal tissue, hair cannot grow through it! This is called scar alopecia and it’s permanent. So, if you have been diagnosed with scleroderma (or any other serious skin disease or trauma) it’s important to have it treated early by a qualified professional. If you can avoid the scarring to your scalp, you can avoid the hair loss.

 

Once there is scarring, the only option to improve your hair loss will be hair restoration.  While hair transplant technology has come a long way since the dreaded “hair plugs”, the ideal situation is that you don’t lose your hair in the first place. So take the steps now to make sure the skin of your scalp is as healthy as it can be.

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