Updated: April 22, 2021
If you’ve come to this article, I’m sorry if your hair seems to be falling out. I know how frustrating it can be to try and figure out what is causing it, and how you can stop the hair fall.
Hopefully, this article can be of comfort and can offer some kind of relief.
We’re going to be talking about the different kinds of hair loss or alopecia, common reasons why your hair might be falling out sparsely or in clumps, and natural hair loss treatment and remedies.
In this article, we are talking about how to stop hair loss and hair fall from the root, which can also be called shedding. This is not to be confused with breakage, which happens along the length of the hair (midway or towards the ends). Breakage occurs as a result of ineffective natural hair regimens, or damage to the hair strand during manipulation.
In other words, shedding happens from the root, breakage happens along the hair strand.
What are the Different Kinds of Hair Loss Women Can Experience?
- Involutional alopecia: This is a natural condition where the hair naturally thins out as you age. Your hair follicles gradually transition into their resting phase and the ones that remain produce shorter thinner hair.
- Androgenic/androgenetic alopecia: This condition in women isn’t noticeable until their late 40s. It is also known as female pattern baldness. It starts to show with a receding hairline, then the hair on the crown and frontal scalp slowly disappears.
- Alopecia areata: This often occurs as patchy hair loss and can start as early as childhood. It can eventually result in total baldness. It appears suddenly, but the hair will actually grow back in 90% of cases.
- Alopecia Universalis: In this case, all the hair on the head and body will fall out. This includes the eyebrows, eyelashes, etc.
- Trichotillomania: this is a psychological condition that causes people to pull out their own hair. It can happen both consciously and subconsciously.
- Telogen effluvium: Fortunately, this condition is temporary. It occurs when a large number of hair follicles are on the same cycle, and reach the resting phase at the same time. When this happens, the strands may fall out in clumps and as they prepare for regrowth.
- Cicatricial alopecia: This condition happens as a result of skin conditions and scars that block the ability to regrow hair. This can be caused by hot combs, or tightly pulled and woven which can cause scarring and permanent hair loss.
What are the Possible Causes for Your Hair Falling Out?
1. Reactive/Traumatic Reasons
When we talk about reactive reasons for hair fall, we mean that your hair is reacting negatively to something in your environment or in your natural hair care regimen.
a. Stress, illness, and childbirth: These are major stimulus events in your life that can cause hair loss. Fortunately, this hair loss is usually temporary.
b. Poor hair care: We often see the question about whether or not a shampoo can cause hair loss. The answer is “kind of.” Relaxers, perms, low-quality hair products, bleaching, or dyeing your hair improperly can actually make your hair brittle and likely to fall out.
c. Medication: Some medications can cause your hair to fall out. For example, chemotherapy drugs, blood thinners, beta-blockers in blood pressure medication, and even birth control pills can cause hair loss. Fortunately, some of this hair loss can be temporary.
d. Medical problems: Some diseases can cause hair loss. Some of these include diabetes, lupus, anemia, iron deficiency, and thyroid diseases.
e. Poor diet: A diet that is not rich in protein can cause temporary hair loss. We have this complete article about why protein is so important for natural hair. The same can be said about vitamin deficiency.
2. Genetic Reasons
Some possible reasons for hair fall are genetic. Unfortunately, we have less control over these types of hair loss. Some of these factors include:
a. Hormones: Sometimes we have irregular levels of androgens. These are hormones produced by both men and women. However, in excess, they can cause hair loss.
b. Genes: Sometimes male and female pattern baldness and other hair loss conditions are simply hereditary.
c. Autoimmune diseases: There are some autoimmune diseases that cause alopecia aerate. Unfortunately, this isn’t something we have control over. What’s good to know is that sometimes the hair fall in this case can be temporary.
7 Easy Natural Hair Loss Treatments to Tackle Alopecia!
We should remind you not to panic. Think of your hair regimen holistically and try one tip or treatment at a time until you find the culprit for your hair loss. Don’t panic.
1. Reduce stress level
One major reason your hair might be falling out is because of stress. We are so unaware of how serious stress is and how it can cause certain functions in our body to shut down. One of the easiest functions for your body to shut down is hair production.
Usually, you don’t notice stress-related hair fall until 3 months after the traumatic event so it’s difficult to point out. However, knowing this try to manage the stress via meditation, exercise, therapy, etc.
2. Use of Amla
Amla is a powerful herb that has been shown to increase hair thickness and density. So if you are experiencing hair fall, experiment with amla in the form of a tea, a mask, or oil.
Apply it regularly to the scalp and note your hair’s response to this kind of treatment. You can read this article on how to make amla tea, oil, and hair masks for use in your natural hair regimen.
3. Use of green tea
A green tea rinse is a great way to stop excess hair shedding and hair fall. You can brew a strong batch of green tea and apply it to your scalp after a wash day. You can read more about the benefits of green tea on hair shedding.
4. Use of coffee
The topical use of coffee on the scalp can stop hair loss and regenerate hair growth. This works because the caffeine content of coffee, just as in green tea, blocks the effect of DHT. It can elongate the hair shaft resulting in stronger roots and thicker hair. Making it a great option for hair loss treatment.
To use coffee in your hair regimen, you can make coffee-infused oils that you can use on your scalp together with massages. You can also brew coffee rinses that you would use just as you would a green tea rinse.
5. Evaluate your natural hair regimen
To stop your hair from falling out, you can evaluate your hair regimen to make sure it’s not the culprit. There are some things that could be causing your hair to fall. These include the tightness of your protective styles, the products you’re using, or the technique you use when manipulating your hair.
If you do tight ponytails, glue your wigs down, or cornrow too tightly, you could be pulling out your own hair.
For example, I have personally been guilty of this one; I thought that by tying down my edges tightly with a scarf to sleep that I was protecting them. The harder I “protected” my edges, the more hair I lost. I tried tying my scarf looser and on my forehead rather than directly on the edges and my edges finally began to thrive!
6. Improve your diet
Making changes to your diet like increasing your overall protein intake can mean reducing your hair fall. As soon as your hair has adequate protein for normal body functions, it can resume the nourishment of potentially dormant hair follicles. Ultimately leading to reduced hair loss, and increased hair thickness.
7. See a dermatologist/doctor
If all else fails and you are still not sure of how to treat your hair fall, please see a dermatologist or doctor. They can prescribe medication like minoxidil, estrogen therapy, corticosteroids, etc as pharmaceutical treatment to combat hair loss.
Read Next: How to Stop Breakage on 4C Natural Hair NOW!
