Emotions are what we women are known for…for better or worse! Being an emotional creature lets us be great Moms and awesome friends. Emotions get us in ”trouble” with boyfriends and husbands and male bosses when we show too much of them. Emotions are innate and can be caused by our general nature or our current hormone levels. In general, we keep them on an even keel…but if they get “out of whack” they can affect our health and even cause us to seek treatment for thinning hair! Our inner stress level and our hormone levels can cause radical changes to not only our moods, but also our inner workings and our outer appearance.

I started this series to relate to readers that our bodies react to a combination of medical, physical, environmental and emotional stressors. Today I am focusing my article on what causes hair loss in women and I find that our emotional well-being has a lot to do with our thinning hair. As we age, we expect to feel more tired and run down, but this does not have to be the case. Proper nutrition, consistent exercise, mental engagement and a great series of friendships helps our body “stay young”.

But, even with all of these in place, we sometimes cannot control our emotional triggers. Stress has been shown to be one of the top reasons for hair loss in women. It can come from feeling overwhelmed by our day to day “running the show” and trying to balance work, kids, husband and home…or just from depression even when everything “seems to be perfect” in our world. Depression is caused by and stress causes changes in our chemical makeup. This chemical change can directly affect the way our skin glows and the way our hair grows along with a myriad of other external and internal symptoms. When we attempt to change the course of either stress or depression with medications, some of the REMEDIES may indeed be the culprit for causing negative effects in the way our hair looks.

I could tour proper diet and exercise, (which DO help tremendously) as well as self help groups and meditation, but drugs are the norm right now, and not everyone can be helped without their use. Here though, I want to give hope to some of us experiencing these issues who especially are concerned about female hair loss. If you are on any medications at all, it is always wise to consult your physician and pharmacist regarding side effects and drug interactions. Many times, hair loss ceases when medicines are stopped or changed.Of course this is a matter of priority and overall health. Please do not make ANY changes without the advice of your physician! Temporary measures can be used to mask any thinning hair or baldness that will go away when medication use is ended.

The same is true for bodies stressed by radiation or chemotherapy. Most times a wig, hairpiece, scarf or hat can make a woman more comfortable when in public…although I applaud the likes of Robin Roberts who can openly discuss and flaunt a balding head as a well-earned badge of courage. Most of us are not quite so self assured! For those of us who see no realistic end to the stressor that causes hair loss in our lives, these accoutrements may become a regular staple to our wardrobe.

Hair loss also may stop when stress stops. Situational stress happens to most of us for a short time, and many of us don’t even realize the change in our hair as it recovers when we do. We more often notice a change in our skin and nails as these areas are more instantly noticeable way before we would notice a change in hair quality. Since hair (like nails) is dead once it leaves the scalp (nailbed) it is in the new growth that we first notice the change. When hair is healthy, we often see new hair sticking up around our hairline or on top or our head until is gets long enough to blend in with the rest of our hair. When it is not healthy, we just see the hair that falls out. Remember, this is normally up to 100 hairs a day! What we are aiming for is to keep the replacement hairs coming!

New shampoos, pre-cleansing treatments, conditioners and amino acid products which keep the scalp free of sebum and oil buildup are a great way to ensure that every hair we do have on our head has the best chance to live a healthy life. Also, the latest laser hair therapy treatments can actually improve your scalp’s circulation and heighten the ability of each follicle to produce a stronger healthier (shinier) hair shaft. This natural hair loss treatment is done either in salons or now in the privacy of your own home with a hand held laser device designated for personal use.

Pulsed light in the red or cool range stimulates blood flow to deliver nutrients to follicle “bulbs” or roots below our outer layer of skin or scalp. Being able to use a laser hair comb at home certainly cuts down on car trips (time and gas) to the salon!

If a follicle is producing a thinner hair than before (miniaturizing) it can be made thicker and grow longer in the growth phase, and hair that is already thick can be made shinier and more healthful looking as well. Unfortunately, follicles that are truly “dead” will not be able to regenerate. Hence…it is important to start taking care of our scalp as early as possible. When we see a change in thickness and amount of hair, or notice an unusual amount of hair falling out in our brush or on our pillowcase it is time to act NOW. Using hair products that are helpful for a healthy scalp and using a personal hand held laser with a pulsed light wave action will be giving every hair on your head a “head” start to looking its best.