Throughout your life, your hair changes and may lose its volume and lustre, without any apparent reason. We understand that this can be discouraging, but don’t let it get you down! There are lots of natural methods to encourage stronger, healthier hair. If you are concerned with hair thinning, or hair loss we have outlined some of the common causes as well as a natural remedies and diet tips to help your support natural hair growth.

Common Causes for Hair Thinning and Hair Loss:

Iron Levels

Low iron can affect your hair. If you are following a vegetarian or vegan diets, you may have low iron stores in the body. Low iron can cause the hair cells to grow less efficiently, leading to early follicle death and thinning of hair on the scalp. This is also true for women who experience heavy periods. Our suggestion is to go see your doctor and ask for a ferritin test which measures how much iron is stored in your body, and discuss a plan of action accordingly.

Low Thyroid Function

Some women may be prone to the Hashimitos thyroidits. It is a disease that slows down regular thyroid function, the metabolism and causes hair loss. Hashimotos can be inherited genetically, as well as brought on by emotional stress, dietary allergies, or poor immune regulation.

Hormone Imbalance

If you have a sudden drop in estrogen in your body, for example after pregnancy, during or post menopause, the lack of estrogen causes the shortening of the growth phase of hair. This also means that if you are getting off birth control you may experience hair thinning as your body adjusts to the changes in your hormone levels.

Support your hair with the following tips and tricks from Dr. Irons and our holistic aestheticians:

Diet

Focus on foods that contain selenium such as kelp, brazil nuts, algae, coconut water, mushroom and sea vegetables. Make sure you’re getting your B Vitamins through grains, bright orange and green vegetables. You can also try taking a B7 biotin as a supplement to help combat brittle hair. Foods rich in silicon such as cucumber, celery and watermelon are essential for speeding up nail and hair growth as well as increase their strength. Lastly, we suggest supporting your hair through foods with sulfur content such as garlic, radishes and cacao.

Essential Oils + Oil Masks

Apply castor oil with rosemary essential oil* and massage into scalp. A warm oil massage is a stimulating way to encourage healthy hair growth at the roots. After thoroughly massaging the oil into your scalp, use a towel to wrap your head and keep it on for as long as possible, or for a minimum of 15 minutes before rinsing it out. Covering the hair will occlude the area and allow for better penetration/absorption of the oils and thus work more effectively.

*Mix 1-2 drop of Rosemary Essential Oil with 15ml of Castor Oil. This makes the essential content 0.5% and is safe dilution to start with for sensitive skins/scalp. If you are sensitive to essential oils or don’t have them handy, plain Castor Oil will work as well.

If you are experiencing thinning, or hair loss around your hairline, we suggest massaging our Full Brow Serum into a damp hairline.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture encourages blood flow which nourishes the muscles, nerves, and skin in the area. A technique called Surround the Dragon is when the needles are placed in a fence-like structure circling the thinner/bald area in order to bring more blood to the tissues of the bald spot. This promotes increased blood flow to the tissues and can help speed the recovery of damaged follicles. It can also stimulate growth of new hair follicles.

Book an acupuncture or naturopathic treatment with Dr. Irons at our skincare clinic!

Everyday Hair Care

We would also recommend skipping blow drying and allowing you hair to dry naturally. Blow drying your hair strips its natural moisture and causes the hair to become brittle and break. We also discourage using rubber bands to tie your hair, to prevent any unnecessary breaking and damage.

Self-care

In many ways hair tends to be an external indicator of the state of your internal health. Along with every else we’ve outlined we also want to emphasize the havoc stress causes. We want to encourage you to find ways to relax and ground. It has to be something that works for you, so that you look forward to it and partake with joy. Some of our favourite ways to de-stress are meditation, movement, taking baths, cooking and spending time with our loved ones.