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how to stop hair loss

HAIR LOSS!!  O-M-G – let’s talk about the trauma of hair loss and the reasons why you might be losing more than the normal 50-100 strands a day. 

Is washing your hair a frightening experience these days, because you feel like you’re losing all your hair when you do? Believe me, I know the feeling.

When I became a mom, I went through the very same thing. So I want to share with you some of the different reasons you may be losing hair, and offer you some tools and methods to fix the cause and maximize hair growth. Though we tend to think of hair loss as a “man’s issue”, this is equally important for men and women, and it’s for folks of all ages too.

Hormones and Hair Loss

The major factor behind hair loss is DHT levels. This is a particular type of hormone that is converted from testosterone. It actually targets your hair follicles and minimizes hair growth and causes hair loss, so this is a big hormonal imbalance that we can deal with.

Another imbalance to look out for is with your thyroid, Thyroid imbalance, Hashimoto’s, and auto-immunity can be a big factor behind hair loss, as can pregnancy and postpartum hormone changes. That’s my issue, and why I’m so adamant that folks know that hair loss is not just a symptom of aging or a benign problem.

After I had my son, I had significant clumps of hair falling out. And for my imbalance now, it’s important to manage my hormones as we’re going through the weaning process and breastfeeding is coming to an end. 

In fact, as I mentioned, I have dealt with hair loss too. And the way I approach it is both topically and internally. From what I’ve seen, and researched myself over the past 10 years, it seems everybody’s talking about topical methods, but nobody’s really talking about the internal stuff, like diet and hormone imbalances. So I’m giving you two different plans of attack for managing hair loss, to help you minimize the factors that you can control.

The Reasons You Might Be Experiencing Hair Loss

This can happen to men and women, and, this may come as a surprise but you don’t even necessarily have to be testing on the scale for hormonal imbalances. Your variables and ratios may be causing the hair loss. 

Genetics and Hair Loss

Another factor behind hair loss has to do with genetics. You can look at your mother, father, and your grandparents, and likely figure out what your hair loss situation will be. Balding of the full head or part of the head has to do with genes, and hair loss tends to be genetic for many women too. I saw a statistic once that indicated 80 percent of all women experience hair loss by the time they turn 60. 

Stress And Hair Loss

Stress is the third factor behind hair loss, and let’s face it: stress is everywhere. That’s another topic for another day, but where hair loss is concerned we’re talking about stressful events as well as stress on your body physiologically: internal related stress, immune system stress, hormone imbalances caused stress, and then also mental and emotional stress. 

Toxicity and Hair Loss

The fourth element behind hair loss has to do with toxicity. “Toxicity” can mean an assortment of toxins, or toxic environments, that are bombarding your body and causing hair loss.

The first toxin that is very well known is chemotherapy. I work with a lot of cancer patients, and hair loss is very common for anyone going through chemotherapy.

You don’t have to necessarily have cancer to be given chemotherapy drugs. Nowadays, the drugs are being utilized for a variety of other medical conditions. Chemotherapy causes chemical toxicity in your body and as a result of this toxicity the hair follicles release the hair. But as many people have seen in their friends and loved ones: when they stop the chemotherapy treatment, when that chemical toxicity is no longer bombarding their body, hair regrowth begins to happen. 

Auto-immunity And Hair Loss

Auto-immunity is another element that is at play. Alopecia is something that a lot of people are familiar with or have heard of. It’s a condition where there are small patches of balding, typically a round spot, or even a square or triangle somewhere around the crown area. Alopecia tends to be autoimmune related, where the body’s own immune system is actually attacking the hair follicles and causing the hair loss. Managing auto-immunity sometimes becomes a big component in turning around hair loss and regrowing the hair. Check out this homeopathic that I recommend to patients with alopecia.

Environmental Toxicity And Hair Loss

The other factor is environmental, and it’s a big one. I work with a lot of individuals who have Lyme disease, and people who have candida or really significant yeast overgrowth within their body. This overgrowth can be systemic, but it may be external too, like those who are dealing with mold in their homes. Mold is a big one, and presents a mixed bag in terms of hair loss. As someone who practiced for over a decade in Florida, I can tell you that mold is prevalent in many homes, and I had lots of patients who were dealing with hair loss due to mold toxicity. Mold is a huge component, it can’t be overstated.

Nutrient Deficiencies And Hair Loss

The fifth factor in hair loss involves nutrient deficiencies or nutrient imbalances, particularly a decrease of the building blocks, like key and trace minerals, necessary for hair follicle health and growth of hair. Similarly, a lot of my hair loss patients are either protein deficient or do not have the ability to break down proteins properly to assimilate those into hair growth. 

If you are seeking to turn around your hair loss, I’ve created a powerful Hair Regrowth Protocol – you can access this free protocol by setting up a patient account.  You’ll receive 20% OFF your first order and 10% OFF all orders thereafter.

Topical Solutions For Hair Loss

For many folks, castor oil can be very helpful in managing hair loss. It can be very beneficial for rejuvenating the hair follicle, and easy too: just dab some on the scalp. I like to use it with a few drops of rosemary oil. For those who might be dealing with auto-immunity related mold, or candida of the scalp, I suggest two drops of tea tree oil,  gently massaging that into the scalp. Peppermint oil is also great for hair rejuvenation and natural ways to stop hairfall, it provides a nice tingle that enhances your circulation.

All of these tips apply to eyebrows and eyelashes too! Often when people experience hair loss, they also notice a thinning of their eyebrows. This tends to be something of an age/genetic component. 

Fenugreek And Hair Loss

One of the herbs that I love to recommend for hair loss when it’s related to high testosterone is fenugreek. It can be taken internally, but you can also get fenugreek seeds, mash them up with a little castor oil, and make a hair mask. I like to dab a little castor oil on a Q-tip and swab my eyebrows, eyelashes, and along the top and bottom eyelash line. 

Get To The Root Of Hair Loss – Internal Solutions

One of the most important ways to minimize hair loss is to get to the root of it, pun intended! It’s crucial to balance hormones, minimize the stress effect on the body, and get rid of toxicity. Those are the factors we can control, separate from genetics and even auto-immunity, which we may have some control over. When we address the root causes, we can reverse hair loss much faster. In fact, if you don’t address the root cause of hair loss, you won’t get the full effect of any topical treatment. It may be great, but it’s not resolving the internal factor.

Herbs can be wonderful for hair loss, and reversing some of the root causes and factors behind hair loss, including stress.

Saw Palmetto And Hair Loss

Saw Palmetto that is wonderful for blocking that conversion from testosterone or excess testosterone to DHT. Eating pumpkin seeds and drinking green tea can also be beneficial because they have the same properties to minimize DHT. You can buy my preferred saw palmetto supplement here.

Adaptogenic Herbs And Hair Loss

I love adaptogenic herbs, and ashwagandha and rhodiola in particular for hair loss. Adaptogens help minimize some of the body response that can drive up testosterone levels in both men and women, which may be the root cause behind your hair loss. These herbals are particularly helpful in calming the stress response system of the body which triggers slow follicular growth and can even trigger the elevations in DHT.

Addressing stress is critical to promoting your hair growth journey.  This is one of my favorite adaptogenic herbal combos that I recommend for patients suffering with stress induced hair loss. Here are the tips on natural ways to stop hairfall.

Testing Is Crucial When Dealing With Hair Loss 

There are lots of ways to address hair loss, but for us to get the exact hormone levels of your body, and to get a better, broader picture of the unique hormonal landscape you’re living in, testing is crucial. 

If we don’t know how high your testosterone might be, or the degree of estrogen dominance in your body, or toxicity levels, or what nutrients might be imbalanced in your diet, we have no way of creating a plan that will actually succeed. So always test first, and from there, the solution practically writes itself.

Need some help with this? Book an appointment with me here.