With a burgeoning beauty and wellness market in India, consumers are inundated with multiple options for products that claim to stop hairfall but hairfall cannot be countered by a one-solution-for-all approach, since the causes of hair fall may differ from person to person. Hairfall is a very common concern that is caused by even more common practices such as over shampooing, poor diet, scalp buildup or even tying the hair tightly for a long period of time.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Namita Pandharipande, R&D Personal Care at Netsurf Communications, shared, “Although hair fall is a natural phenomenon, one the most common reasons for the same is Stress. It is important to identify the cause of your hairfall- is this stress, or perhaps a change in lifestyle or diet?” She suggested the following to avoid:
1. Overexposure to environmental pollution and the sun. Cover your hair while going out.
2. Frequent hairstyling that pulls your hair. Breakage is one of the leading causes of hair fall.
3. Excessive chemicals and treatment. Use natural and herbal products to nourish your scalp.
4. Frequently switching between hair care products.
Instead, she recommended:
1. The proper nutrition for your hair- internally and externally. Your diet has a direct effect on your hair.
2. Regular oiling and care. This good old granny’s trick never fails to reduce damage and improve the hair quality
3. The right harmless and natural products for your specific kind of hair.
Sunayana Walia, Founder and certified formulator at Raw Beauty Wellness, advised, “I would suggest everyone to exfoliate their scalp once or twice in a week. A clean scalp is key in keeping and maintaining healthy hair roots. Keep on check on your diet intake and make sure to have a healthy intake of nutrients like Riboflavin, Biotin, Folate and Vitamin B12 as they are essential for scalp and hair health. Dry massage your scalp to stimulate blood circulation.”
According to Dr Kalyani Deshnukh, Dermatologist at Traya, there are top three tips that one can follow when it comes to reducing hair loss. These include:
1. Get the right diagnosis – 80% of the problem is solved with the right hair fall diagnosis. Hair fall occurs in stages and knowing which stage of hair fall you come under helps you analyze what kind of treatments can work for your specific hair condition. Another thing to note is that hair fall is a reflection of your internal health. This means the factors affecting hair fall are mostly internal – lack of sleep, high stress, nutrient deficiencies, and more. A right diagnosis for your type of hair fall and identifying the reason behind it makes looking for a solution 10x easier.
2. Stay away from anti-hair fall shampoos – Shampoos are simply meant to clean the dirt, dust, and sebum off the scalp. They cannot solve hair fall. This is because shampoos have a very short period of contact with the scalp. So, it just doesn’t have enough time to stimulate hair growth or prevent hair fall.
3. Avoid consuming dairy and gluten – A healthy diet is very important when it comes to hair fall but what’s more important is restricting foods that can cause it. Gluten and dairy are food groups that aggravate heat in the body (pitta) which increases hair thinning and eventually hair fall.