“My father lost his hair in the 40s, but I am going bald at 25. Why is that so?” A common question nowadays. Hair and teeth are supposed to be two tissues of the body which are hardest to destroy. Then why is the present generation going bald faster than ever before? This can be attributed to the 3 Ws of modern living.  Weather, Water, Worry.

Weather

Global warming is now leading to extremes of temperatures. Summers are hotter than ever before leading to excess sweating on the scalp and winters are colder leading to more dryness of the hair.

Water

Do you think twice before filling the permanent address column on the bank account opening form? Then you are a victim of frequent water changes. Work which involves changing cities every six months to one year involves many changes of water that the hair finds difficult to cope leading to hair fall.

Worry

The problem with stress is deciding whether we have stress or not. A thumb rule is that if you are sleeping for less than six hours per day over a period of one month, then you qualify for being under stress.

The best home remedy for controlling hair loss is developing the right hair care. Follow the 5-step mantra to make your personalised hair care routine 

*Understand whether your scalp type is dry or oily. For this we can do a simple test called the blotting paper test: Don’t wash your head for two days in a row and then press a blotting paper to the scalp for about 15 seconds. If you find the blotting paper becoming wet then you have an oily scalp. If you find dry debris on the blotting paper then you have a dry scalp.

*Now choose the right shampoo as per your scalp type. For oily scalp you will be better off with shampoos that have a deep cleansing action. These are shampoos which have higher levels of an ingredient called SLES. For dry scalp, choose a shampoo with a moisturizing effect. Shampoos having a higher conditioner base qualify.

*Decide on the oiling and conditioning.  For an oily scalp, the last thing you want to do is put more oil or conditioner on the scalp. Avoid these like the plague. If you have long hair, then you can apply oil on the hair ends, but that’s it, nothing more than that.  For a dry scalp, oil using jojoba oil 1-2 times per week, but in cases of hair loss, avoid conditioners altogether.

*Cut your hair

If you are working 10 hours a day, let’s face it — you don’t have time to take care of long hair. Shoulder length hair for working women is the ideal length to keep. It’s easy to dry and maintain before you rush out to work in the morning. Always trim your hair every month even if you do it yourself at home.

*Choose the right dietary supplements

There are two main foods for hair — iron and protein. You will be surprised to know that you can be grossly overweight and yet be anaemic and if you are on a weight loss programme, deficient in protein as well. Both of these are known to aggravate hair loss. But every protein is not good for hair. Hair needs only 4 out of the 22 amino acids that proteins contain and if you are taking the wrong set of amino acids then you will build your muscles, but not your hair. To verify if you are anaemic, check your blood Ferritin levels.

That’s more accurate then checking the haemoglobin. 

The author is a leading leading Trichologist. He can be contacted on 25201175.