Does this cause Hair Loss? 8 Myths about Hair Loss Debunked

1. Shampooing too much causes Hair Loss

FALSE! This is one of the most common hair loss myths. Leading to lots of people with thinning hair or experiencing a shed putting off wash day. However, cleansing your hair is really important, because you’re not only cleansing the lengths of your hair, but your scalp as well. And a clean scalp is important for the overall health of your scalp and hair follicles.

So go ahead and wash wash wash! It’s good for your hair and good for your scalp. But while you’re at it, make sure you’re using a shampoo that is full of great ingredients. Paraben Free and Sulfate free is a good start. Sulfates in particular give you the foamy lathering that we have come to associate with “squeaky clean”, but they strip the hair and scalp from their natural oils. Use a Sulfate free shampoo that uses gentler cleansers and is packed with nourishing ingredients that are great for thinning hair like Boost & Be.

2. All Hair Loss is Permanent

FALSE! This really depends on what kind of hair loss you’re experiencing, and in some cases hair loss can be reversible. If your hair loss is related to stress, a hormonal or vitamin/mineral imbalance, postpartum, or trauma, there is a very good chance your hair will regrow if the triggers are addressed and corrected.

3. Hair Loss is inherited from your mother.

FALSE! It might be time to stop blaming your mum. It’s not her fault. Well it may not be just her fault. It’s a common old wives tale that if your Grandfather on your mums side had lost all his hair you were bound to suffer with hair loss as well. However, hair loss in the majority of cases, is a hereditary condition in which the gene can be carried on both sides of the family. In fact hair loss is ‘polygenic’ which means it influenced by more than one gene. The trait can come from either side of the family and can skip generations as well.

4. Only Men suffer with Hair Loss

FALSE! This is the problem with the term “male pattern baldness”. It makes women believe their own hair loss is unusual. Whilst it can me more common for men to experience a receding hair line, or complete baldness, around 40% of women will also suffer from hair loss. For women they tend to experience an overall thinning of the hair across the scalp.

5. Wearing Hats causes Hair Loss

FALSE! If your hats are so tight that they’re cutting off all circulation to your scalp and hair follicles, it’s time to go shopping. There’s no scientific evidence to this myth at all. In fact wearing a hat to protect your scalp from burning in the sunshine is particularly important for people with thinning hair.

6. Blow drying your hair can cause Hair Loss

FALSE! Drying your hair gets a bad rap because of the stress intense heat and harsh brushing can have on your strands. The heat can cause your hair to lose moisture, and as such feel dryer or more brittle and prone to breakage. But the hairdryer is not doing anything to your hair follicles on your scalp that could cause hair loss. If you’re addicted to your hair dryer, make sure you incorporate a good nourishing treatment like Boost & Be repair mask to add some extra hydration to your locks.

7. Stress Causes Hair Loss

TRUE and FALSE! This is a little bit of both. Stressing over being late, or spilling coffee on your white shirt, and small everyday stresses are not going to lead to a catastrophic hair shed. However longer periods of stress and trauma and illness can lead to telogen effluvium. This is a condition where stress leads the hair follicles to prematurely enter the telogen (resting) phase and then falling out. This can take some time. So if you’re experiencing hair loss that you think may be stress related, its best to look back at what was happening three months prior.

The tricky thing is that sometimes the hair loss can cause stress as well, leading to a prolonged cycle of hair loss. It’s important to take steps to reduce your stress levels where possible and take care of yourself.

8. Taking Vitamins will stop Hair Loss

FALSE! There are so many hair supplements and vitamins on the market, that often it can feel like you should be taking one! Everyone’s doing it! What could it hurt? In short: unless your hair loss is due to a vitamin deficiency, taking a hair vitamin isn’t going to do a thing except cost you money. And if your hair loss is due to a vitamin deficiency, it’s important to have that confirmed with blood tests from a doctor and talk about a targeted vitamin approach. Often these multi vitamins have so many ingredients in small doses, there’s never enough to combat a deficiency. It’s much better to take the appropriate dose of the vitamins in which you’re deficient.

About the Author:

Bambi Staveley is a nurse (RN), author of How to Make Thin Hair Fat - Causes and Solutions of Unexpected Thinning Hair in Women (published by Barrallier Books 2016) and herself a female hair loss sufferer. Following her own hair loss journey which began in 2008, Bambi dedicated her life to female hair loss research and to finding some way to solve the mystery and at the very least, cover up the problem so it was her own secret. Naturally, once she was able to both cover up her hair loss and eventually, grow her hair back, she was driven to share that information with female hair loss sufferers the world over.