Back to basics: Causes for hair loss and their solutions

• hair + beauty
• June 20, 2012
• Ashley

This post is for our new Thank God I’m Natural readers. Our vets can learn a thing or two from this as well, but this one is for our newly transitioned babies. Once you decide to go natural, you’re going to have to figure out your own hair regimen, go through a plethora of products before you find the right one that works for your hair and just a bunch of trial and error when it comes to styling. (I promise, it’ll all be worth it in the end) But despite all your efforts, you just might experience some hair loss. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. We’ve been doing this natural hair thing for many moons and we know just what to do and what to look out for. Take a gander at our list for the causes of hair loss, and what can be done to prevent it. Styling There is nothing wrong with wanting to look fly, fresh-to-death. As women, it’s ingrained in us from a young age to keep our hair, brows, and nails done. But too much styling on our hair, especially along our edges can be problematic. The excessive pulling on the hair will definitely have you purchasing a bottle of Rogaine real quick! Solution: Cool out on the excessive styling. Try protective styles like cornrows, braids or kinky twists that can be professional and also be fashionable to wear outside of the office, and won’t be too rough on your hair. Excessive Heat Between the blow dryer, the curling iron, the flat-iron and the hot comb, all this heat on our heads will leave you rockin’ the Sinead O’Connor look, except it’ll be unintentional. I know some of you are thinking how can you get away from heat when its such a necessity? Well…here’s how. Solution: Simply cut down how much heat you use on your hair. If you have to deep condition your mane (which is something you should be incorporating into your hair regimen) instead of sitting under a dryer for 30 to 45 minutes, try using a steamer. Or, better yet, just throw in the deep conditioner, throw on a shower cap and continue with the dishes, cooking dinner or whatever chores around the house that need to be tended to. If you have to use heat, try just using it once a week. I promise, your hair will thank you in the long run. Dryness This one may be a bit out of our control ladies. Change in season, or just grumpy old man winter could be the blame for our hair’s dryness. Solution: Moisturize! Moisturize! Moisturize! It’s just that simple. You gotta step your moisturizer game up. It can be a high-end product or it could olive oil, shea butter whatever. You just need to make sure your hair gets the needed moisture it needs or it won’t stand a chance! Split Ends Split ends are a natural girl’s enemy. Nothing good can come from a split end, and trying to hold onto them instead of cutting them off, is similar to holding onto a bad relationship (but you didn’t hear that from me.) Solution: Deep Condition your hair every week and every six to eight weeks trim your ends. I know some stylist get scissor happy and want to cut off more than is needed, but for argument sake, lets say your stylist knows what he or she is doing and is a professional. Letting go of this little bit of hair now will yield you beautiful, healthy long hair in the future. You know the saying, you gotta take a step back to take two steps forward. Yea, it applies here as well. *Bonus* Wear a scarf Okay, yes, there is nothing sexy about wearing a scarf to bed. Nothing! Especially if you’re in a relationship. However, if you want to preserve your sexy hair you have to wear a silk scarf or bonnet to bed. It helps prevent split ends, lock in moisture and it’s one less thing you have to worry about while getting ready for work in the morning. Just bite the bullet mama and wear the scarf. I mean if he really loves you, he’ll get used to it! Aside from the tips offered, how do you combat hair loss? **** In addition to the information provided here, you can learn more about how to maintain and care for your hair by picking up a copy of my new book Thank God I’m Natural: The Ultimate Guide to Caring for and Maintaining Natural Hair now available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and in the Thank God I’m Natural Store ]]>