4 Things to Avoid If You Have Thinning Hair

The ugly truth is that sometimes, thinning hair happens. Thinning hair can be a stressful experience for sure, but once you understand the causes, you can slow it down and even stop it. Here’s a list of four things to avoid if you have thinning hair. We’ll help you steer clear of these bad guys, so you can repair and maintain your hair and scalp health. 

1. Excessive Heat Styling

Sounds simple and obvious, but we are NOT big fans of heat styling. Heat styling tools like blow dryers, curling irons, and straighteners can cause significant damage to your hair, especially if not used the right way. Excessive heat can weaken the hair shaft, and immediately or overtime, cause breakage and thinning. If you’re heat-styling-obsessed, always apply a clean heat protectant spray and remember to keep your temperature settings low. This will not only help hair thinning, but will also help prevent heat damage to your hair. 

2. Harsh Chemical Treatments

Harsh chemical treatments such as bleaching, perming, keratin treatments, and relaxing can severely damage your hair, and damaged hair is way more prone to breakage and thinning. We know everyone loves a good highlight appointment and especially a good keratin, but as a former colorist and stylist, and someone who used to do these treatments on the regular – they can strip your hair of elasticity and eventually weaken the hair structure. Consider single-process color instead of bleach, and consider clean products that will truly help bring out your natural hair shape, so you can use less chemical treatments to alter it.

3. A Trash Diet

Surprise! An eating style that lacks essential hair and scalp nutrients can contribute to hair thinning. You want to make sure your diet includes plenty of vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, biotin, and omega-3 fatty acids – these are the golden ticket to nourishing hair and scalp  and promoting long term hair and scalp health. Just like our skin, food can have a huge impact on our hair health. Check out ourHair Talk: Nourish Those Locks: Tippy Top Foods for Hair & Scalp Health for quick ways to boost your hair diet. 

4. Stress and Lack of Sleep

Is it just us, or does good sleep rule everything? High stress levels and not enough sleep can be a trigger for hair thinning and loss. Stress can affect the hair growth cycle, pushing more hair follicles into the resting phase, which leads to increased shedding. Set a goal of 7-8 hours of sleep each night – our new bedtime goal is 10PM, screens down!

It’s really all about awareness and creating a purposeful practice around certain topics. If your hair is thinning, just decide to start paying attention and taking care of it, and follow these steps. That's the half of it, really. Avoiding these five common mistakes can significantly improve the health of your hair and potentially slow down the thinning process. Get on the path to stronger, healthier, denser hair – stay mindful, and get some sleep!