Few concerns have a more gripping psychological impact than hair loss. Our hair is our crowning glory, but its texture, thickness, and look can change significantly as we get older. In women, this typically occurs from the age of 45-60 due to hormone changes, which can lead to hair thinning. Just like your skin, bone, and muscle integrity changes as you get older, so does your hair, and as many as 40% of women are thought to suffer from hair loss.

We all lose 25 to 100 hairs per day due to the body’s natural shedding process. But if you notice hair falling out more rapidly or in significant clumps, it’s crucial that you seek professional advice – the sooner, the better. For many women, the cause of hair loss is hormonal, but other common causes include heat damage, medical problems, and stress.

While hair restoration techniques are more effective than ever, prevention is always better than cure. Start putting in the work to maintain a healthy hair and scalp now, and if you suspect your hair might be thinning, don’t delay – seek help from a medical professional so a diagnosis can be made. In the meantime, incorporating these simple healthy hair habits can help you get ahead of hair loss.

Limit heat styling

Overuse of heat styling tools such as your hair dryer, curling tong, and straighteners can make your hair dry, prone to breakage, and consequently more likely to fall out, especially if you use them every day. This is because when too much intense, dry heat is applied to the hair, it weakens the hair shaft. Always use a good-quality heat defence spray and towel dry your hair gently but thoroughly before picking up your tools to minimise the time spent using them.

Avoid brushing wet hair

Hair is at its weakest when wet, making it prone to tangling. Combing and excessive pulling of tangled, wet hair increases your chances of hair breakage and eventual hair loss. If you need to brush your hair whilst wet, a wide-tooth comb is a safer option to avoid pulling out too much hair.

Reconsider your hairstyles

Tight braids, buns, extensions and ponytails can cause tension on the scalp, especially when worn frequently or over time. That tension can cause inflammation at the site of hair follicles which eventually causes vulnerable strands to fall out. When you wear your hair pulled back, loosen the hairstyle slightly, especially around your hairline.

Don’t ignore dandruff

Dandruff is often caused by seborrheic dermatitis, which is thought to be an immune response to yeast in our sebaceous glands. It sparks mild inflammation that makes the scalp red, itchy and scaly. If the inflammation progresses and goes unchecked, it can eventually destroy hair follicles.

Depending on the level of severity, a hair specialist can suggest the proper treatment – be it a prescription-strength or over-the-counter antifungal shampoo or a mildly exfoliating formula with exfoliating acids. Hair loss resulting from this scalp condition typically reverses once the dermatitis is under control. Talk to a professional about your best course of treatment.

Supplement nutritional deficiencies

Changing your diet to ensure it contains enough protein and iron can help both your health and your hair, as can adding more omega-3 oils (found in oily fish like salmon and seeds, including chia and flax) into your meals. Check for deficiencies with a blood test via your GP. Consider supporting your hair health with a supplement like Viviscal Professional, which nourishes thinning hair and promotes hair growth from within each hair.

It contains key nutrients, such as Biotin, Vitamin C, and Apple Extract, which help prolong the hair growth cycle and promote existing hair growth, alongside AminoMar C.

Manage your stress

The stress hormone cortisol negatively impacts your hair growth cycle by affecting nutrient absorption, messing with hormone levels and impacting the health of your scalp. It can lead to a hair shedding condition known as telogen effluvium, whereby the hair’s normal growing and shedding cycle is disrupted, causing less hair in the growing phase and more in the resting, shedding phases. In this case, once the stress-causing lifestyle factors are addressed, the body should recover from the disruption on its own.

Consider preventative treatments

Treatments like HydraFacial Keravive and Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) are both very effective ways to support scalp and hair health and reduce hair thinning and loss.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a non-surgical treatment that harnesses the growth factor–rich stem cells from your own blood to stimulate hair growth. Once blood is drawn from your arm, it’s spun down in a centrifuge to separate the plasma. This solution is then injected or microneedled into the scalp to boost blood flow to the hair follicles, resulting in a thickening of existing hairs along with the sprouting of new strands.

HydraFacial Keravive, on the other hand, uses all of the implements of a high-quality medical-grade facial, but it delivers its benefits directly to the scalp. The Keravive is a deep exfoliating HydraFacial treatment specifically designed for maintaining scalp health to promote thicker, fuller and healthier looking hair.

It works by unclogging those all-important hair follicles, boosting circulation, and removing dead skin cells and congestion, all whilst delivering growth factors and proteins to hydrate the scalp and stimulate new hair growth.

Worried about hair loss or want to find out more about any of the options I’ve mentioned here? Click here to book a consultation.