Hair Loss vs. Hair Breakage: The Difference (and HowTo Prevent It and Treat It)

What Medical Conditions Can Cause Hair Breakage? Stress is one of the biggest health issues that can affect your overall health and your hair. Stress can do physical damage to your hair.

Increased levels of stress hormones like cortisol alter your hair cycle causing havoc on your hair! Sometimes breakage can be an indication of an underlying health issue. Health conditions can absolutely play a part in hair loss: Thyroid disorders nutrition deficiencies Scalp folliculitis Always consult your doctor to accurately identify the problem.

What Causes Hair Breakage? There are many reasons that your hair may be breaking Processing

Overly processing your hair causes the probability of breakage to increase significantly. Harsh chemicals like bleach or relaxers can break down the bonds of the hair, making it weaker and more prone to breakage.

The damage your hair sustains when you color it can also make it more likely to break. If your hair is double processed: color and highlight that adds more chance for hair fragility and breakage. Heat styling can also put enough stress on your hair to cause breakage, so it is always important to use protectants before heat or styling. Hair Texture Breakage is a problem for those with curly hair due to the lack of ability for the oil produced by the scalp to extend the full length of the curly hair shaft. The shape of the strand makes it particularly difficult for the natural oils to travel down the shaft, making it prone to dryness. The tighter the curl or coil, the more susceptible it is to breakage. Unfortunately, aging and gray hair also break off more easily. Aging hair, grey or white, tends to be coarser and resists moisture absorption. It has also lost elasticity, making it prone for breakage. Styling Tight ponytails, buns and braids, can all contribute to breakage. Tight hairstyles really can cause significant breakage. Hairstyles with tight braids can cause significant hair pulling at the temples and recession of the hairline. This can lead to permanent hair loss and is called traction alopecia. What does hair breakage look like? How do you know if your hair is breaking or if it is shedding?

Take a close look at the hair if you're shedding. Notice any broken strands? Normal shed hairs tend to be about the length of your hair, with a tiny little white bulb at the end. It is completely normal to lose approximately 50-100 hairs per day. If your hairs that shed are shorter and feel drier than usual, you may be dealing with breakage. You can differentiate damaged hair from healthy hair as hair that is damaged tends to be shorter, drier, frizzy, and with frayed ends Healthy hair is shiny, smooth with an intact, shiny cuticular layer and good elasticity. What To Do? There are some cases in which your hair is so damaged, you may just want to snip the weak parts of the strand. Depending on the extent of your breakage, you may be able to gradually cut off the damaged ends, but speak with your stylist . Once the ends have started to split, there is no way to repair them and a trim will help prevent the breakage from traveling up and damaging new growth.. THINGS YOU CAN DO AT HOME

1)sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase can reduce breakage, due to the slicker nature of the fibers. 2) microfiber towels — they are much gentler on your strands than terrycloth 3) Use a shampoo for your hair type and massage onto your scalp 4) If you have dandruff or flakes, treat it 5) Avoid hot water when washing your hair 6)Air dry hair first then blow dry to keep heat styling at a minimum 7) Put away the flat Iron, that can definitely break your strands especially if your hair is color treated or highlighted 8) For more product suggestions visit: Houshmand Health Hair Must Haves For Dry/Damaged Hair: https://shopmyshelf.us/collections/1215