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The chances of hair breakage around your crown are higher than in any other region of your scalp. This can be linked to trauma and damage to the hair follicles among others. However, there is one cause for breakage in this area that’s rarely discussed: high porosity.

Understanding Porosity

The outermost layer of the hair, or the cuticle layer, is responsible for protecting the inner layer in the hair shaft. The cuticle layer consists of various scales that are flat or either lifted, affecting the movement of moisture between the cortex and the environment. This is where porosity comes into play. Women who suffer from high porosity have missing or damaged scales. This renders their hair unable to transfer the moisture to other hair strands.

Are Porosity and Crown Breakages Related?

Yes, these two aspects are directly linked to one another since the crown is exposed to severe damage at a structural level. As is the case with hair strands, the texture of your scalp and porosities vary as well. Even though the rest of your hair is low on porosity, there’s a chance that the crown may have high porosity.

Constant exposure of the crown to the sun’s ultraviolet rays is a major contributing factor to this issue. If you don’t wear a hat or scarf whenever you go out, your hair may end up growing slower, weaker and sometimes with an entirely different structure. Dry hair can also elevate this issue, so keep moisturizing your tresses to protect them from the elements.

Now that you have a good idea about the link between these two aspects, you should put in extra effort to ensure that your crown is protected from everything that can harm it and cause hair breakage at that sensitive spot.

Consumers are growing more concerned about the ingredients available in their shampoos. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate especially has become a hot topic on all hair and beauty product forums. Many claim that this chemical compound is responsible for causing problems affecting both the scalp and hair itself. Question is: is there truth to these claims.

Sadly, the answer is yes.

Sulfates are commonly used as lathering agents in your shampoo. Their main purpose is to cleanse the hair from dirt and dust. However, using sulfate shampoos will get more than dirt. The chemical reacts with your scalp and hair, causing dangerous side effects you could do without. To give you an idea of what problems you can expect, here are four common side effects.

Dry Hair – Your scalp and hair will be deprived of the essential oils that keep your hair moisturized. As a result, it will go dryer than normal.
Itchy Scalp – As your hair turns dry due to the addition of sulfate to your shampoo, you scalp may develop dandruff. As a result, it may start feeling tight and itchy.
Hair Loss – Since your hair and the follicles suffer extensive damage, substantial hair loss will follow. You may start losing more hair quickly if you don’t rinse shampoo out of your hair.
Fading of Hair Color – Sulfates are quite aggressive in nature. While they may be great for cleansing your hair, they can leave it dull and force you to live with faded locks.

So if you have a few sulfate shampoos in your bathroom, it’s about time that you dump them for a safer alternative. The simplest way to avoid this harmful ingredient is by screening the labels of your new shampoo before buying it. However, you can always choose a natural product instead to steer away from chemicals altogether.

Women enjoy flaunting their hair; it is their crown of glory and one of the features that make them stand out. However, healthy hair is becoming a rarity among today’s women as they tend to face a number of hair-related problems. If you’re wondering what those are, here are five common issues.

1. Dandruff

Dandruff is the white particles that stick to your roots and are hard to hide. If you’ve been careless with your diet lately or are suffering from a low metabolism rate, scalp infection, and stress, dandruff is inevitable and so is hair loss. The solution to this problem is anti-dandruff shampoos and a healthier lifestyle.

2. Split Ends

Split ends occur when your hair turns brittle and dry. If you comb or brush your hair more, go for perms and dye frequently, or expose your hair to heat often, split ends will quickly form. Use conditioners that suit your hair type to avoid split ends.

3. Frizzy Hair

Women consider frizzy hair a curse, but it’s basically an issue caused by loss of moisture. To protect the natural moisture of your hair, don’t brush your hair often, especially while using a hair dryer. This condition can be hereditary passing from parent to child, so identify the cause first and then look for a treatment.

4. Flaky Scalp

Flaky scalp is yet another common issue women want to get rid of. Dead skin flakes reduce the hair growth process, leading to hair loss. To reverse this condition, you need to take vitamins and stop using hair styling products with high chemical content.

5. Hair Fall

Just like men, women can be victims of hair loss. The main causes of hair loss among women are stress, birth control, hormonal changes, DHT, menopause, reaction to medication, and excessive use of styling products. To counter this issue, use a shampoo formulated to combat hair loss that provides nutrition to your hair and cleans off the dirt, oil and other residue.

If any of these issues haunt you, consult a specialist immediately or use home remedies for the best results. What issues haunt your hair? Comment below with your thoughts and hair issues.

Accounts of people with red hair can be traced back through history to ancient Greek and Roman periods. Red hair has been found among ancient Chinese and even found to be common among some Polynesian tribes. Overall 1-2% of the population at any given time have red hair with 5-6% of red heads being found in Northern and Western Europe. So where did red hair actually come from?

Red hair is by far the least common natural hair color and the highest concentration of red heads today live in Northern and Western Europe. The largest concentration of red heads can be found in Scotland which boasts a 13% red headed population.

Red hair is actually the result of a genetic mutation which is also responsible for fair skin and freckles. In 2001 research indicated that the gene for red hair possibly began its origins with none other than Neanderthal man. Red hair is actually caused by a mutation in the Melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1r), which tells cells to produce either a lighter or darker pigment of melanin called eumelanin. People with the mutation of the MC1r gene actually produce another melanin called Pheomelanin which is responsible for the lighter red/brown pigments.

While medieval beliefs often thought that red heads were the sign of sexual desire and moral degeneration; science has told us that it’s just a mutated gene that produces the fiery red colors of the red head. A far cry from the witches, werewolves and vampires that were once thought to be the cause.

Resources

Have you ever tried to count the hairs on your head? It may seem like a task that you can complete with some time, but chances are you’ll never make it. The average individual has approximately 100,000 hairs on his or her head. This number is the same for both men and women. Do you think that you could count that many tiny hairs?

More on Hair

On an average day an individual will lose 60 to 70 hairs. But don’t worry. Most of those hairs are replaced with new growth. The average person will also regrow about ½ an inch of hair every single month!

Hair on the head is not constantly growing, however. If it did you might see yourself looking like a gorilla and not liking what you are seeing. There are active phases and resting phases. The active phase is known as the anagen phase while the resting phases is known as the telogen phase. The hair comes out of the head during the telogen phase.

Why Do We Have Hair?

Do you have any guesses? Hair protects the skin from harm and irritants. Our entire body is actually covered in hair, although some of it is too fine for us to see. The only exception to this is the palms of the hands and the feet. These two areas do not have any hair on them. Of course, men have more hair than women in most cases.

Hair is something that each and every individual has, and some of us have more than others. Hair plays an important part in how we perceive other people and how they perceive us, so it is no wonder that most people look for ways in which they can prolong the life of their hair, make their hair appear fuller and healthier, and try to regrow hair that has been lost through aging.

Resources

http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-edge-newspaper-2012/mar-02a.html http://www.sharecare.com/question/hair-functions-purpose

By now you must have already gotten accustomed to lots of myths and rumors about hair loss and how to get your hair back on in the event that you have lost hair. One of the most common myths that people have about hair loss is that it is caused by a decrease in the flow of blood to the scalp. Much as this might sound like something that makes sense, you can rest assured that there is nothing more to it than a propagated myth that has been around for so many years. There is no connection between these two, and you can as well be sure that a decrease in the flow of blood to your scalp will not cause hair loss.

On the other hand, it is also important for you to come to understand that there might be another view of this altogether. When you think about it, you will need some blood flow to grow your hair. However, you also need to realize that once you have lost your hair, the amount of blood that flows to your scalp will tend to reduce. The reason for this is that the absence of hair makes it unnecessary. It is pretty important also to point out the fact that hair loss usually happens to a lot of people before the flow of blood reduces. What this means is that you might need to look into the relationship between hair loss and blood flow to the scalp closely.

According to so many scientists, a decrease in the flow of blood to the scalp cannot cause hair loss, but as a matter of fact, hair loss is a result of the same. There are those who have been able to prove this for a very long time. if you try to get some good air and manage to have it on a bald scalp, you will be able to make some observations. In the event that the scalp in question has experienced decreased blood flow, you will be able to realize that the flow of blood will continue only as long as the hair has started growing.

There is a very elaborate connection between your hormones and the fact that you are losing hair so fast. It is more or less the same thing that happens with genetics. A good number of people are not aware of this though it is one of the most elaborate and widely studied field in as far as hair loss and reasons thereof are concerned.

The most basic definition or interpretation that anyone can give you is the fact that the older you grow the more your hormones alters to adapt for each stage of your life. Each of us experience this, and it is for the same reason that you will find it necessary to try and understand the connection between your hormones and hair loss.

One of the most common things that happen in the process that occurs when your hormones change is the fact that your hair also gets to reduce. As a matter of fact there are observations that have been made which indicate that your hair will usually reduce at faster rates when your hormones are changing. According to some scientists, there are more than enough reasons why your hair behaves in this way. First of all, you have to look into the fact that in the course of the transition from one stage to another the hormones tend to be in a state of frenzy. It is during such transitions that you usually end up having hair loss. During such times the hair reduces so fast.

The biggest question that most people ask in such a case is whether or how to handle the reduction in the hair loss since in the event that your cause is hormonal. Well there are so many ways around that. First of all, the cheapest and most useful means of handling this is to try and make sure that you do not think about it too much. This will lead to stress, which will only make things bad for you. Always be optimistic and keep it out of your mind, and things will go on so fine for you.

The best way to define the catagen phase is by looking at it as a short transition stage. It is the stage where the hair transitions from being a growing, healthy component, into the shedding and replacement phase. The active growth of the hair comes to an end here. While the growth phase may take anywhere between two and eight years, the catagen phase only lasts a few weeks.

What specifically happens?

Even though it is a relatively short period, there are quite a few changes to the hair during the catagen phase. The follicle stops producing hair and the production of pigment stops as well. The hair follicle also begins to shrink, dwindling all the way down to approximately 1/6th of its previous size. The base of the hair follicle begins to move towards the surface of the skin and the dermal papilla breaks away. The hair bulb stays in the skin, and has a new hair form in it.

Club hairs

You may read that the catagen phase is considered ‘complete’ once a club hair is completely formed. When the part of the hair follicle that is breaking off comes into contact with the hair shaft, it is considered the formation of a club hair. Because this cuts off the old hair from the cellular regeneration and blood supply, the hair now transitions into the final phase.

Trademarks of the catagen phase

During this period, the following is true about our hair:

• Our hair disconnects from the blood supply
• The detached follicle will slowly shrink to approximately 15% of its original size
• The production of color pigment by the hair bulbs stops
• When the new hair is formed, the hair bulb is pushed towards the surface
• At any time, you can expect around two to three percent of our hair to be in the catagen phase

Even though our hair may not look it when we observe it with the naked eye, it is constantly renewing, regenerating, and being replaced. The hair growth cycle for every hair has a long period of growth and relatively short period of rest. During the rest period of the hair growth cycle, the hairs are still connected to the hair follicle, but have stopped growing completely. After the resting phase is over, a new hair begins to grow as the old hair is shed. Thus, the entire hair growth cycle starts over. We look at the three stages that the growth cycle of a hair consists of.

The growing stage – anagen

This is the actual growing stage of the hair follicle and takes quite a bit longer than most people may assume. The anagen stage will typically last between three to five years.

The intermediate stage – catagen

Hair follicles do not move from the growing stage directly to the resting phase; they go through the intermediate stage known as catagen first. During this phase, the hair follicles are preparing to enter the resting phase. The deeper portions of the hair follicles begin to collapse and the phase only lasts anywhere between one and two weeks.

The resting or shedding phase – telogen

We have come to the end of the line for the hair follicle and arrived at the resting period. This will take anywhere between three and four months and the older hairs begin to fall out, leaving room for newer hairs to grow. The majority of the growth cycle of a hair follicle is taken up by the anagen phase (approximately 90%). At any given time, approximately 10% of the hairs on our head are going through the telogen or catagen phase, which means that they are not actively growing. However, we avoid bald spots during this process because the hair follicles are distributed over the scalp randomly.

Pregnancy and healthy hair different for everyone

*Photo courtesy of seanmcgrath

There are many changes to a woman’s body when she becomes pregnant, but the changes to a woman’s hair while she is pregnant are rarely talked about. Pregnant women often notice that their hair feels much thicker than it did before they became pregnant.

Pregnancy hormones may change the hair texture or hair growth during pregnancy. That is not to say that every pregnant woman will experience this, the hormones affect all women differently. Some will notice no significant changes to their hair while others experience fast-growing hair that feels much fuller. The increased amount of estrogens will lead to thicker hair on the scalp by extending the hair’s growing cycle.

When do women notice?

The level of hormones starts to increase during the first trimester, so this is likely when most women experience pregnancy-induced hair growth. Even if a woman notices a dramatic difference, the hair often returns to its normal growth pattern approximately three to six months after the woman gives birth.

Popular misconceptions

Pregnant women who do notice a significant difference often assume that their head of hair feels much fuller while they are pregnant, but they are in fact not growing more hair. Whereas almost 90% of our hair is constantly in the hair growth stage, the increased level of estrogen ensures that this level increases even further. This leads to a more luxuriant, thicker head of hair.

Possible hair loss?

Most women have probably also heard that pregnancy is often associated with hair loss. However, this is not until AFTER the woman has given birth. While the woman is pregnant, she will have healthy hair because of the abundance of estrogen. However, it is possible that the vomiting and nausea will lead to poor nutrition, especially in the first trimester. During that time, it may be a good idea to take supplements to prevent hair loss. Of course, it is always a good idea to discuss that with your healthcare physician before you take anything while pregnant.

healthy hair central

Category Archives: Educate Your Hair

Are Porosity and Crown Breakages Related?

Understanding Porosity

Are Porosity and Crown Breakages Related?

Do Sulfate Shampoos Really Damage the Hair?

5 Common Hair Issues That Haunt Women

1. Dandruff

2. Split Ends

3. Frizzy Hair

4. Flaky Scalp

5. Hair Fall

What Are The Origins Of Red Hair?

Hair-Raising Facts on Hair

More on Hair

Why Do We Have Hair?

Hair Loss and Decreased Blood Flow to The Scalp

Hormones and Hair Loss

Understanding The Catagen Phase of Hair Growth

What specifically happens?

Club hairs

Trademarks of the catagen phase

The Hair Growth Cycle

The growing stage – anagen

The intermediate stage – catagen

The resting or shedding phase – telogen

Pregnancy and Healthy Hair – What To Expect While You Are Expecting

Pregnancy and healthy hair different for everyone

When do women notice?

Popular misconceptions

Possible hair loss?