Rosemary oil, silk pillowcases, what actually causes hair loss and what is actually just a myth? 

If you have been anywhere in the social stratosphere in the last few months, you will have inevitably seen videos of people talking about hair loss. 

You might have found yourself watching conflicting videos that rosemary oil can both cure and cause hair loss, that tying your hair up to tightly will lead to more strands of hair falling from your head and unless you have a silk pillowcase you will, ultimately, lose all of your hair and there's nothing you can do about it. Eek! 

Well, we are here to debunk some of these myths and get into the nitty gritty truths of some of the different causes of hair loss people can experience. 

Let’s face it, until recently we never heard women talking openly about hair loss, it was reserved only for middle-aged men. 

This is starting to change. Hair loss is beginning to get more and more airtime (or screen time, for those of us who are glued to our phones). With the hard-hitting stat that 4 in 10 women have experienced hair loss (that’s right 40%!), it appears it happens to more of us than we might have initially thought. Shout out to Jada Pinkett Smith and Oliva Bentley, who have come out and spoken about their personal struggles with hair loss. Voices like Jada and Olivia have helped open up the conversation around women's hair loss – thanks girls! 

Hair loss is a completely normal part of our daily lives, it is estimated that we lose an average of 50-100 strands of hair A DAY!! This seems like a lot of hair to lose, and you're now probably wondering how you don’t leave a trail of hair behind you wherever you go. Yet when you compare this to the incredible 100,000 hair follicles, we have on our heads it doesn’t seem as shocking. 

But what about when you start seeing more hair on the bathroom floor than normal? Why does it happen?  

So, here we go, our first fact dump… 

Your clever little head has a three-stage hair growth cycle. Each of your hair follicles goes through three different stages of a life cycle. AND each follicle is going through a different stage in the lifecycle than their bff sat next to them, which means you won't normally notice it happening.  

Firstly, you have the active growth stage, known as Anagen. This is the longest stage as it can last anywhere from 2-7 years (see, I told you your head was clever).  

Next, when the hair fibre stops growing your hair follicle will have the Catagen phase where it has a chance to transition into its final stage.  

Telogen is where your hair is slowly pushed up towards the surface of your skin, where it then sheds and a new anagen hair takes its place.  

While lots of different things impact why you might be experiencing hair loss (we’ll get into these a little later) there are only two different groups of hair loss, genetic and reactive.  

If you are genetically prone to hair loss you may notice your hair thinning over time, which is known as genetic hair loss. On the other hand, reactive hair loss happens as a reaction to something, like a trigger.  

Right, so that was our first fact dump, get ready, there's more coming up! 

So now we know the science behind our lovely locks, here are 5 reasons why you might be experiencing hair loss... 

Stress 

We all have our own ways of dealing with stress, whether it be running a marathon or pouring a glass of wine and running a bath. Unfortunately, some of us may share one of the side effects of stress, hair loss. 

When your bodies experience stress it can alter your hair growth cycle, switching from the growing phase to the shedding stage in just a few months. If you remember from before, this usually takes 2-7 years!!  

Hair loss from stress won’t usually be immediate and you might not notice it until 3-6 months after a stressful episode.  

Lifestyle/environment  

Unfortunately, the environment around us can have a negative impact on our hair, pollution in the air, the sun in the sky and even the minerals in the water we wash our hair with can play havoc with our hair. 

Now, we are all a fan of a fun hairstyle, and I’ll admit I’m the first to blow dry my hair on wash day and then pull it back in a sleek (*cough* greasy) bun in between.  

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but these hairstyles could be damaging our hair. The heat from our style products will weaken our hair and cause it to break off. The same goes for tight hairstyles such as buns or ponytails, these can actually cause something called Traction Alopecia, where repeated tension and pulling on the follicles can cause your hair to fall out. 

 Diet/Nutrition 

A happy scalp = happy hair.  

I know it might seem obvious, but, it’s important to remember that your hair grows from your scalp due to all of its lovely vitamins and nutrients. All this goodness comes directly from what we put in our bodies, which makes it extra important to eat those veggies and take those vitamins.  

For an extra boost, GLOWWA’s hair food will give your scalp all the goodness it needs to thrive. So go on, give it a go.  

 Hormones  

Hormones, hormones, hormones.  

These things in our bodies seem to rule so much of our lives and this is no different when it comes to our hair.  

Hair thinning can happen due to a number of hormone changes. Some are completely natural changes such as after pregnancy or during menopause. Other times it can be part of bigger health issues such as thyroid conditions.  

 Autoimmune condition  

Finally, autoimmune conditions, such as alopecia. 

Alopecia affects around two in every one hundred people. Some people may experience this hair loss in dribs and drabs over a period of time, or it may be persistent.  

The condition causes the body's immune system to attack the hair follicles, leading to hair loss.  

(For more info on this, check out our alopecia blog post). 

If you are worried about hair loss or any other medical condition, the GLOWWA team would always recommend getting in touch with your doctor. Make sure to share with them if your hair loss is affecting your well-being, and ask them what treatments there are available.  

Remember if you are struggling with hair loss of any kind, GLOWWA hair food is here to help, we are recommended by trichologists worldwide. A little helping hand to support you in your hair journey.