Thinning hair?

[jesis]

Hey ladies, I need some help. I've noticed lately that I have been losing a lot of hair. My hair is really becoming thin and I'm not sure what's causing it. I'm only 22 and I have a good diet.

I shampoo and condition about every other day. I use argan oil and gel in my hair after I shower. I only comb my hair in the shower while I am conditioning. I generally let my hair air dry, but I use a blow dryer for a few minutes once or twice a week. I don't get that many tangles either.
When I was a kid I had really thick hair. When I was abusing my hair every day with heat I was never paying enough attention to know if it was thinning or not.

So is it normal to lose this much hair? Someone made a comment to me this morning that my hair was really getting thin. How can I tell? I don't notice any difference on my scalp. So am I just overthinking it?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Clarisse]

The functions in our body is to a great extent controlled by hormones.
The hormonal balance changes with age and changes if you are stressed, pregnant or have thyroid issues - and can change from many different things too.
Maybe your hormonal balance is just changing at the moment, and as a result, your hair changes too.

Another explanation could be, that your body is oversensitive to something you eat or put on your scalp, and you have a very mild allergic reaction that makes your scalp shed.

Or you could be in poor health - lack of exercise, thyroid problems, lack of protein or vitamins in your diet etc.

[Rapunzal2Be]

I shed a lot, always have - but I am always trying to reduce it. I've found through my reading that there are lots of different causes, and you have to experiment to find what works for you.

First, I'd go to the doc and get checked out for health issues, explain your hair loss and don't let them just write it off.

Second, these are some big culprits off the top of my head that you could try to eliminate or add (depending) and see how it goes:

Only use cool water on your scalp
Cut out shampoo with SLS
Try CO instead
Brush your scalp vigorously nightly (not brushing your hair, but using a boar bristle brush or a wood prong brush - I use a combo of both) to brush your scalp to stimulate the follicles and do scalp massage daily
Take garlic daily or use garlic shampoo or oil with garlic infused oil
Use Monistat on your scalp
Take saw palmetto

*I've experimented with all of these and I sometimes find that what was working stops after a while so I change it up a bit. Lately I just started brushing my scalp every night again, and not only is my shedding cut down over half but I also have a brand new hair along my hair line that was not growing there before - weird, I know, but I had the same thing happen about a year ago when I was brushing my scalp regularly (I get lazy :() and it is now over 6" long - it's the oddest thing (it grows about 1 cm away from the rest of my hair line, so I can pick it out easily).

[heidi w.]

Your avatar states you're 22. The hair we had as a teen never remains the case. At this age, you're in the zone of an initial hair shed. George Michael system discusses these phases in life (can't remember all of them); other hair books I've read discuss it.

Hair volume absolutely does not remain constant throughout the entirety of our life. Nor does color, for many.

The body is constantly in some form of flux.

You might consider that if you have an upcoming visit to a doctor or ob-gyn, to request an anemia test and to request a thyroid test (both are simple blood screens, initially). Both can cause increases in hair shedding. Serious thyroid means chunks of hair literally falls out. Even a borderline anemia case (low iron in the blood) can result in an ongoing and constant hair shedding that is somewhat increased, and the thinning isn't noticed until some time passes.

Stress can affect things.

Also, if you are wearing your hair the same way daily, this can create a targeted zone of thinning, such as always pinning hair this way, or grating a hair stick against the scalp in this zone (or the updo is causing a weight problem that overly pulls hair in a certain area, causing a sore scalp in a spot).....It's important to change the updo often.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Ok, here's what I'm referencing about what Dr. George Michael said.

http://www.longhairlovers.com/gm_interview.html
They also shed their hair 60 times during their lifetime, as opposed to healthy people who shed most during six periods in our lifetimes: from birth to age three; at 10, 22, 26, 36, and 54. These "shedding times" are all related to hormonal changes in our bodies and are the body's way of ensuring a six-inch growth rate per year; no more, no less.


There it is. Age 22.

heidi w.

[jesis]

Okay thanks for the advice. I have gone through a great deal of stress lately, but thyroid problem also run in my family. I will go to the doctor and have this checked out.

[Madora]

By all means, have yourself checked for anemia!

I had it and didn't know it..and lost at least 1/3 of my original thickness..and never got it back.