A hairy problem
From a certain age, few men are spared from it, but women are also increasingly suffering from hair loss. Men desperately try to comb the remaining hair over the bald spots, women use hair bands and cleverly arranged hairstyles as tricks.
Anyone who wants full, strong hair but sees their hair increasingly thinning is often desperately searching for a way to stop hair loss. This has now developed into a multi-million dollar industry that pulls money from people's pockets with unserious promises.
What helps against hair loss?
To understand what really helps against hair loss, one must know the life cycle of hair and hair follicles. Humans have over 5 million hair follicles on the head and body, exactly the same number as a chimpanzee. Although the task of hair follicles is to produce hair, not every hair follicle has a hair. Given the fact that most hair follicles are located on the forehead, that is probably a good thing.
The hair growth cycle
Every hair goes through a life cycle with three phases:
- During the two to six-year growth phase, the hair is formed in the hair follicle and becomes increasingly longer and thicker.
- In the transition phase, the hair root is no longer supplied with nutrients and hardens after 2 weeks.
- In the subsequent resting phase, the hair follicle stops its metabolism and the hair dies off.
After approximately three months, the hair follicle forms a new hair that pushes the old hair out of the follicle, so that it eventually falls out. The cycle begins anew.
Varies from person to person
Under normal circumstances, each hair follicle can go through between 10 and 30 hair growth cycles before it atrophies and can no longer produce hair. How many life cycles the hair follicles can go through and how long the individual phases of a hair's life cycle last is determined in the genes and therefore varies from person to person. This is why some men get a bald head as early as 30 years of age, others only at 60, some women have strong and full hair in old age, while others suffer from thinning spots on the head as early as 40 years of age.
Hormones also play a role, but their effects are often genetically predetermined. However, it is increasingly evident that epigenetic factors can also influence hair growth.
Another important effect is the blood circulation of the scalp. People who are under more stress have constricted blood vessels and somewhat poorer blood circulation in the terminal circulation paths around the follicles. This is why there are hair tonics with blood pressure-lowering, vasodilating medications.
When do we speak of hair loss?
If you find a few hairs on the pillow or in the hairbrush every day, you don't need to worry. Up to 100 hairs can fall out every day. In return, new ones grow back.
As long as hair loss and hair growth remain in balance, no thinning spots develop. Only when more than 100 hairs fall out daily or hair growth is disrupted do we speak of hair loss, and thinning hair and bald spots occur.
Causes of hair loss
Hair loss can have various causes. Particularly often, the cause lies in the genes, which is then referred to as hereditary hair loss. However, external factors such as hormonal changes, medications, thyroid disease, stress, and improper nutrition can also lead to hair loss. In these cases, we speak of diffuse hair loss.
While hereditary hair loss manifests itself primarily as receding hairlines and hair loss at the back of the head in men and as "thinning" of the parting in women, diffuse hair loss shows no recognizable pattern. The hair becomes thinner overall, hair falls out everywhere, and the head becomes thinner.
Deficiency of essential amino acids
90 percent of the dry weight of hair is keratin. Keratins are protein fibers, and in order to produce sufficient amounts of them, the body needs adequate protein building blocks, namely amino acids.
There are more than 270 different amino acids in the body, but only 20 of them occur in proteins. More than half of these the human body can produce itself. The eight amino acids that it cannot produce itself are called essential amino acids because they are vital and must be supplied to the body from outside.
If a deficiency of essential amino acids occurs due to unhealthy nutrition or major physical or psychological strain, the body lacks the necessary building blocks to form keratin. If this condition persists, the logical consequence is hair loss. This is also seen in chemotherapy. The body even withdraws building blocks from the expendable hair follicles in order to use them at other, more vital sites.
Nutrient deficiency
Hair follicles consist of particularly division-active cells. This leads to a high metabolic turnover and means that they need particularly many nutrients to maintain the process.
If a nutrient deficiency occurs due to unhealthy or one-sided nutrition, the hair follicles no longer get enough energy to continue their work, just like a car without gasoline can no longer drive. The consequence is a disruption of the hair growth cycle. If the deficiency persists, hair loss can quickly result.
Oxidative stress
In the human body there are so-called free radicals. These are molecules that lack an electron. They try to compensate for this deficiency by stealing an electron from other molecules. If they succeed, they damage the other molecule and the associated cell. Restricted or faulty cell function is the result. This in turn leads to faulty, slowed or uncontrolled cell division.
Fortunately, there are also radical scavengers in the human body, so-called antioxidants. These are molecules with an extra electron that they can give to a free radical without taking damage. In this way, they neutralize free radicals and protect body cells.
Various environmental toxins, nicotine, alcohol, lack of exercise, stress and unhealthy nutrition lead to increased production of free radicals. If there are more free radicals than radical scavengers in the body, oxidative stress occurs, which disrupts the cells, cell division and renewal processes in the body and therefore also negatively affects the hair growth cycle.
Physical or psychological stress
In cases of major physical or emotional strain, the body releases various messenger substances and hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. In doing so, it prepares itself for a major exertion and mobilizes all reserves. However, if the strain is not followed by physical exertion or the strain becomes chronic, these hormones continue to circulate in the blood. These stress messengers reach the hair roots, narrow the blood vessels and damage them sustainably, which in the long term leads to hair loss.
Natural tips against hair loss
While genetically caused hair loss cannot be avoided, diffuse hair loss can certainly be addressed, mitigated or prevented.
Adequate supply of essential amino acids
Ensure adequate supply of essential amino acids. They are the building blocks your body needs to form and grow hair and are thus a basic prerequisite for strong and full hair. (Priosa® energy)
Adequate supply of nutrients and antioxidants
Adequate supply of nutrients is a must if you want to prevent hair loss. Only when cells have enough nutrients available can they do their job and produce hair.
Support your body in its fight against free radicals by providing it with sufficient antioxidants. This way you prevent oxidative stress and its consequences. An important group of building materials are minerals. If they are lacking in the body at an important point, the "less important" hair must give them up. Worth highlighting are silicon (silica), zinc and trace elements (chromium, manganese, molybdenum).
Likewise, there are vitamins that serve hair growth. These are particularly: biotin, panthenol and vitamin K2.
Relaxation
Relax regularly. This way your body breaks down stress hormones before they can damage your hair roots and lead to hair loss.
Scalp massage
Massage your scalp twice daily with your fingers or a soft natural bristle brush. This promotes increased blood circulation to the hair follicles, which stimulates natural hair growth.
Aloe Vera, egg yolk and onions
A hair treatment made from aloe vera gel, egg yolk or onion pieces left in for several hours also stimulates natural hair growth and combats thinning areas.
