When people think of hair loss, they think of how they can prevent it from ever occurring. They think about doing what they can to make sure that they do not lose what that they still have. Prevention starts with understanding the cycle of hair growth and how it works, so that you can understand what damages it, and how to take care of it. If you are looking into hair loss prevention, you will want to make sure that you do everything you can, as early in life as you can.
What is a Hair Cycle?
Many people do not realize that hair grows in a cycle. When you have a healthy head of hair, you are continuously losing or shedding and re-growing it. Each individual one is shed and (hopefully) re-grows every 1000 days or so from a healthy follicle. If you begin shedding and not re-growing it, most people start looking for hair loss treatments.
Why does a Hair Cycle Matter?
Paying attention to your hair cycle is important because it helps to show you exactly how you are doing in terms of your chance for balding, and your need for the prevention of this condition. If you are losing hair from shedding, you know that it should re-grow, as the new hair is what pushes out the old . If you are not shedding, however, and it seems to be coming out in clumps, you know that your hair is not re-growing. This is the time to get serious about all of the treatments you can investigate and begin to use.
What Causes Hair Loss?
There are multiple factors that cause loss.. Some of these factors can be prevented, while others simply cannot be avoided. If you are having to take certain prescribed medications, or have male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia), you will find that there is little you can do in terms of hair loss prevention, but several treatments to re-grow your hair are still an option.
There are other factors that may cause loss that can be more easily prevented, however, and will still respond to some treatment methods. If your body does not have the nutrition that it needs, your hair will begin to suffer, and may begin to fall out (as new growth is stunted). If you are someone who is under a lot of stress, you will also find that you are prone to hair loss. Proper diet and nutrition along with trying to keep stress at a minimum can go a long way in ensuring that you are keeping your hair healthy and growing as long as possible.
What can Damage Hair?
There are also external factors that can damage hair. If you do not wash your scalp enough, the oils that build up on the scalp can actually damage hair growth by clogging the follicles. If you wash your head too much or use harsh shampoos, this strips the natural oils, and can lead to damaged hair or actually break the hair shaft. People may believe that they are helping their scalp by washing too often, but they are actually hurting it. There are other ways that people damage their hair, including the use of extreme temperatures (curling irons and flat irons that many women use can actually do tremendous damage). Also the continued use of harsh bleaches and dyes strip the shafts of their natural oils, drying it and causing splits and breakage.
Many people do not realize all of the variety of things that can cause hair loss, and fail to understand how they are damaging their hair. Some will damage the follicles and shafts in multiple ways without realizing what they have done. If you are looking into hair loss prevention for yourself, you need to understand how to take care of your head and scalp. By understanding it's cycle and understanding the causes of damage and loss, you can be better prepared to do what you can to promote healthy hair growth.
Carol is a freelance writer working in the health care industry for over 30 years. Her main interests are in promoting health care products that help men and women maintain their natural, youthful looks at any age. Her prime topic is the problem of hair loss, and highly recommends the natural products available from the Nutreve International Hair Therapy Systems.