Why is my hair thinning, and how do I make it stop?

Ah, my most frequently asked question. 

I hear this from men, women, and nonbinary folx. It doesn’t matter who you are, thinning hair can impact anyone, and unfortunately there's no one-size-fits-all solution. That's not to say there aren't some simple, natural, and free ways to help heal and re-stimulate hair growth—but first, it's important to understand why this might be happening (and also important to remember that some shedding is perfectly normal in your hair’s lifecycle).

Before we get into the nitty gritty, allow me to quickly disclaim: I am not a medical professional. This blog is not meant to diagnose any medical conditions or prescribe any treatments for hair loss. If you’re concerned about the amount of hair you’re shedding, please see your doctor. It’s always better to be on the safe side.

Okay, now that that's out of the way...

Let's talk about the why.

There are a number of reasons why your hair might be feeling thinner than normal. Sometimes thinning hair can be a sign of an underlying condition, or a part of aging or genetics—which we have less control over and should talk to our doctors about—but often enough, the cause is something that's actually within our control. Which is good news.

Let’s look at a few of the most common, non-medical related causes of thinning hair.

Stress

Check. Your. Stress. Levels. 

I can’t stress this enough (pun intended). Even if you're not necessarily feeling stressed out at the moment, we're living in unprecedented times. Chances are, you're probably (consciously or unconsciously) feeling some of that stress—on top of the stress of just, you know, life.

But how does stress contribute to thinning hair? Elevated stress levels increase cortisol in your body, which can push your hair follicles into a resting phase, which causes the hair growing from those follicles to fall out easily (and come back more slowly) when combing or washing your hair. Not ideal, but a great excuse to schedule some self-care and start saying no to the things you really don't want to do that add unnecessary stress to your life (we'll get into this later).

Lifestyle

Are you drinking enough water? Eating lots of ultra-processed or fast foods? Getting enough sleep? Your everyday lifestyle choices can contribute to thinning hair.

Just like everything else in our bodies, our hair and follicles are made out of cells that need the right vitamins, nutrients, and rest to regenerate and stay healthy. 

Let's start with water. Good ol' H20. It can be such a challenge to get enough water in a day. I used to be horrible about it until I figured out how much better I feel when I'm not dehydrated—and that includes my hair. When you're dehydrated, your body will neglect your hair follicles to prioritize water for more essential functions, leading to weaker follicles, slower hair production, and dry hair.

Next: ultra-processed/fast foods. While delicious and typically fine in moderation, if this is the majority of what you're eating, it could be contributing to your thinning hair. Many ultra-processed or fast foods contain a lot of sugars, oils, and preservatives that are known to cause inflammation, which can increase your body’s cortisol levels (noticing a trend?) and disrupt your hair's growth cycle. In addition, more often than not, these foods lack the essential nutrients your hair follicles need to thrive, like vitamin C, biotin, niacin (and other B vitamins), and vitamin E, to name a few.

Moving on to my favorite: sleep. Something hustle-culture has made us believe is "overrated." I call bullshit. YOU. NEED. SLEEP. At least seven hours a night. Not just for your overall body's health, but to maintain that luscious, full head of hair. Getting enough sleep not only keeps your stress levels in check, but it gives your cells a chance to restore and regenerate. You know how you’re grumpy and slow in the morning when you don’t sleep well? …So are your follicles. 

External factors

What kind of water source do you have? Are you using quality products? Do you have an allergy or intolerance that you’re not aware of? I have some personal experience with that last one—it’s not fun, but easy to mitigate once you understand what your body is rejecting. All of these external factors can have an impact on your hair’s overall growth and fullness. 

Your water source may or may not contribute to hair thinning, but if you’re on well or hard water (less common in the Seattle area), the mineral buildup can negatively impact the overall health of your hair and scalp, which can lead to hair thinning or breakage.

If you’re using low-quality products, they could also be impacting the overall health of your hair and scalp, possibly contributing to thinning hair. Many of these kinds of drugstore products contain sulfates and silicones that not only dry out your hair, but they coat it (you know, for that “shine factor”) to a point where it can no longer absorb any moisture—making it even drier and prone to breakage. These ingredients can also irritate sensitive scalps, which can lead to inflammation and follicle damage.

Speaking of irritation… As our bodies change over time, our tolerances to certain foods and ingredients can change as well. If you’re noticing any irritation/dryness on or around your scalp, it could be inhibiting your hair growth—and it could be because of an allergy to something you’re consuming or putting on your body. If you suspect this might be the case, talk to your doctor. Finding out (from a medical professional) whether or not you have an intolerance will help immensely.

Okay, cool cool. So what do I do about thinning hair?

Patience, young Jedi. Your hair regenerating powers will come soon enough. 

Let me just remind you: there is no one-size-fits-all solution to thinning hair. What works for some won’t work for all, but hopefully you’ll find at least one a-ha moment below that will not only improve the health and fullness of your hair, but also your overall health. So, let’s revisit the categories we covered earlier—stress, lifestyle, and environment—and dig into what you can do in each of these areas to keep your hair thick (or at least thicker).

Stress

Sadly, it’s kind of become the norm these days, but let’s change that, shall we? Stress is such an impactful factor in hair loss (and overall health) so lowering your stress levels both in the moment, and in the long run, will help keep that hair happy and on your head.

In the moment:

• 3–4–5 breath. I learned this from a Mel Robins podcast. Inhale for 3, hold for 4, exhale for 5. Do this 5 times in a row and you’ve just spent a minute activating your parasympathetic nervous system—AKA the thing that counteracts your fight or flight response and calms you down. Big fan of this one.

• Step away. Excuse yourself from situations that cause you stress or anxiety and take a minute to get your bearings. Work getting overwhelming? Close your laptop and take a quick walk. Family dinner getting heated? Excuse yourself and breathe in the hall for a minute. Kids making you crazy? Set them in a pack’n’play (or somewhere safe) with something to occupy them and step into the kitchen to make yourself a tea or something… you get the idea. Never let anyone make you feel ashamed for stepping away—from any situation—when you need to. 

In the long run:

• Boundaries. This is essential for maintaining your peace. You don’t have to be mean to say no to things that don’t serve you. Or, if you struggle to say no (hello, all women raised by boomers), practice saying, “yes, when…” or “yes, if…” and set the expectation of what you’ll need for that situation to work. The more you practice setting boundaries around things that don’t serve you (politely, of course), the easier it gets.

• Prioritize yourself. Yes, you. I want you to start actually adding self-care time to your calendar—with pen, not pencil. This is non-negotiable you time. Read that again. In the chaos of life, it’s easy to forget or be too tired to take care of ourselves, and planning ahead will make sure your needs aren’t left on the back-burner. Then, when someone asks you to do something during your scheduled self care, what do you say? (Hint: revisit “Boundaries” above.)

• Surround yourself with people and things you love. Pretty self explanatory. Call your friends and family regularly, wear clothes that make you feel good, eat food that makes your body—and your tastebuds—happy, pursue the hobby that’s been living in the back of your mind for years. Having these kinds of things around you and to look forward to helps immensely with your overall stress/happiness. And you deserve to have less stress and more happiness.

Lifestyle

I’m not saying you have to completely change your lifestyle—in fact, I’d highly recommend not making any drastic changes. Just focus on making one small, realistic change, and do it for a long time until it becomes a habit. Then find another small, realistic change and just keep the snowball rolling. 

And don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon. Just pick up where you left off and keep going. Progress > perfection. I know, I know—you’ve heard it before. But, do you think, maybe that’s because it’s TRUE? Just a friendly reminder to be gentle with yourself.

Since this is a marathon, not a sprint, staying hydrated will be one of your best tools for maintaining a full, healthy head of hair. Check out this really interesting article on how H2O helps with hair growth, and then figure out how to get roughly half your body weight in ounces every day.

Pro tip: start every day, before eating or drinking anything else, with an 8-ounce glass of water (look at you, already knocking out part of your daily hydration before you even brushed your teeth). And think about cutting back on some of those other beverages that are known to cause dehydration (like coffee and alcohol). Or, if you’re like me, you keep the coffee and alcohol—in moderation—and drink even more water on top of it. There’s no judgement here, it’s all about finding a balance that works for you. 

Plus, when you’re properly hydrated, your body has an easier time absorbing and delivering essential nutrients where they’re needed—like your follicles. 

Below is a list of my top five foods to get those essential nutrients in your body. Keep in mind, if you can’t get to or don’t like these kinds of foods, there are so many products on the market these days, like Mary Ruth’s (haven’t tried it myself but I’ve heard great things) that give you a lot of what you might be missing. I also highly recommend adding a collagen supplement to your routine. Your hair, skin, and nails will thank me later. But, for now, let’s get into the foods that already have a lot of the good stuff in them:

• Avocado - contains healthy fats and fiber, plus anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that can help with the inflammation from high cortisol levels. 

• Strawberries - a delicious source of vitamin C (which is essential for your body’s collagen production). As this article puts it, “a blend of culinary delight and botanical wisdom.”

• Salmon - full of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and biotin, salmon is like a superfood for hair health and hair growth. Plus, if you're in the Seattle area, we have some of the best salmon around (like at Pike Place Market).

• Nuts - especially of the almond, brazil nut, and walnut variety, are an excellent source of B vitamins, omega fatty acids, protein and more. All things that promote healthy hair growth.

• Broccoli - in my opinion, the best vegetable. And it’s amazing for your hair and skin? Who knew. Broccoli is full of A and C vitamins, plus apparently (this is new info for me, too) broccoli seed oil is great to put on your skin. Learn more here.

Okay. So. Now that you’ve got the hydration and nourishment down, let’s get your cell regeneration—aka sleep—in check. You might get tired of this broken record, but I will continue to blast it on repeat: Sleep. Is. Essential. For. Hair. Growth. And if you’re like most of us these days, the late-night doom-scrolling and email-checking is messing it all up. So, instead of giving you more to read here, I’m just going to link a presentation I put together for my networking group that has all my tips for your best night’s sleep so you can maximize your body’s cell regeneration.

External factors

Arguably the easiest thing to adjust and control when it comes to your hair and scalp health. Yay!

If you have well water or hard water (not as common in the Seattle area) try getting a filtered shower head, or if that’s not an option, use a clarifying shampoo once a week to keep the buildup in check. This, plus using quality products, will help with your overall hair and scalp health, which over time will help your hair to break less and grow happier.

Speaking of product, I’m sure you know the classic Rogaine (whose primary ingredient is minoxidil) but I want to introduce you to what could be your new best friend: Rosemary (no, not my grandma, although that was her name and where the Rose in my name comes from). 

Rosemary oil—among other essential oils like peppermint—is amazing for hair regeneration. There is one study in particular where they tested the effects of rosemary oil vs. minoxidil, and it showed rosemary oil to be just as effective in hair growth and less irritating on the skin. There’s also a ton of info about the pros of rosemary oil in articles like this—which also highlights the proper way to use it. Yep. Even with natural ingredients, you need to educate yourself on proper use and watch out for potential side-effects. 

As your body changes over time, you may even develop allergies to natural ingredients (like my friend who developed a severe avocado allergy as an adult). On top of that, more and more human-made ingredients that our bodies are not programmed to consume are being mixed into our food and products (for me, it’s any kind of processed protein—so fun). I encourage you to start paying attention to what you’re eating, the ingredients in the products you're using, and how your body responds (specifically, your skin). If you notice any kind of reaction to food or products, talk to your doctor and explore allergy testing or elimination diets. 

Phew. That was a lot of information.

If you take anything away from this blog, let it be this: 

We, as humans, through no fault of our own, have strayed so far from what nature intended for our bodies in terms of media consumption, stress levels, what we eat, and the products we use. In my opinion—not saying this is the only truth, but it’s 100% what I believe—this stray from nature is causing our bodies to behave in an unnatural way (like shedding more hair than we should be), and getting back to nature is the best way to reset our systems. If anything, it's not going to hurt to try. 

And if getting back to nature still isn’t helping with your hair loss, it may be due to an underlying condition that only a medical professional can diagnose and treat, so please (again with the broken record—sorry, not sorry) talk to your doctor if you feel that your hair loss could be related to something other than stress, lifestyle or environment. Keeping in mind that it’s perfectly normal to shed about 10-20% of your hair in its natural growth cycle. 

Still have questions? Want to learn more? I’d love to chat with you about your hair goals and work on an individual plan to help you get there. If you're in the Seattle area, schedule a free consultation by scrolling all the way down on this page, and come see me right next to Pike Place Market.