How To Maintain Healthy Hair Follicles

Your hair follicles are the pores in your skin that serve the specific purpose of growing hair. These follicles are all over your body, but they are found in the highest concentration on your head.

Like the rest of your skin, your hair follicles need special care and attention. Taking great care of your hair follicles helps to ensure that your hair will continue growing well. In this post, we’ll walk you through some of the best ways to maintain healthy hair follicles. In addition, we will provide you with helpful info about the different factors that can negatively affect your follicles, as well as some habits to avoid for optimal hair care.


Are Your Hair Follicles Healthy? 

There are several ways to determine whether your hair follicles are healthy. Below is a simple checklist to walk through to examine your hair and how it grows. If anything on this list seems to be amiss, it may mean that there are issues with your hair’s growth rate, problems with your diet, or that you are dealing with a form of hair loss. 


The Follicle Health Checklist 

Is Your Hair Growing at a Healthy Rate?

One of the best ways to tell whether your hair follicles are healthy is by examining your hair’s growth rate. How fast does your hair seem to grow? Problems with your follicles can lead to a disruption in your hair’s natural cycle of growth. This means your hair can end up spending more time resting than it spends growing. 

There are several factors that can lead to decreased hair growth, including – but not limited to – the following:

In the paragraphs to follow, we’ll explore the impact that these factors can have on your hair. We’ll also provide you with valuable information about how to counteract their negative effects on hair growth.


Are You Managing Your Stress? 

Stress can lead to the development of telogen effluvium, which can disrupt your hair’s natural cycle of growth. Telogen effluvium causes your hair’s telogen phase – the period in which your follicles rest from growth – to increase. Likewise, the condition shortens your hair’s anagen phase of growth – the stage in which your hair is actively growing. As a result, you may start to notice your hair getting thin, and even falling out.

Thus, one of the best ways to take care of your hair follicles is to reduce the stressors in your life as much as possible. Stress is an inevitable part of everyday life, but there are practical steps you can take to manage your stress, including the following:

  • Getting enough sleep
  • Exercising regularly
  • Practicing mindfulness or meditation
  • Visiting a therapist if necessary
  • Spending time with friends and family

Plenty of factors can lead to increased stress, which can have a major negative effect on more than just your hair. For the sake of your overall physical and mental health – as well as your hair follicles – make sure to do whatever you can to manage stress by forming healthy habits.


Do You Have Nutrient Deficiencies? 

If you are eating a diet that is primarily processed, sugary, unhealthy foods, you may run the risk of developing a nutrient deficiency. Nutrient deficiencies occur when your body is lacking in essential vitamins and minerals. 

Several key nutrients, including biotin, fatty acids, zinc, iron, vitamin D, and many more can profoundly impact your hair follicles. Your hair needs these nutrients to stay healthy and strong. Without enough of them, you can quickly start dealing with a wide array of issues, including hair loss in some cases.

A great way to support healthy hair follicles is to eat a well-balanced, nutrient-dense diet. Plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other high-quality sources of vitamins and minerals is the way to go. You can also increase your nutrient intake by complementing a healthy diet with high-quality supplements.


Are You Practicing Subpar Hair Care?

Even if you diligently wash your hair each day, you might still be unintentionally sabotaging your hair by using low-quality or potentially harmful ingredients. 

Additives like sulfates, parabens, and more can all have a negative impact on your hair, and some ingredients can even pose a threat to your overall health in the long run. Thus, it’s essential to make sure that you choose hair products that are made with high-quality ingredients.

While getting enough vitamins and minerals from foods and supplements is a key aspect of maintaining healthy hair, you can also support your follicles by using the right ingredients in your hair care regimen.


Do You Have Hormone-Related Hair Loss?

The most common form of hair loss in adults is caused by a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT can have a shrinking effect on your hair follicles as you age, which can be problematic for your hair’s growth rate. This follicle shrinkage can lead to the development of a condition called androgenic alopecia – more commonly known as pattern baldness.

If you are dealing with pattern baldness, you have probably started to notice significant thinning in certain parts of your head. While this condition does not cause total hair loss in most cases, it can still be stubborn, frustrating, and hard to deal with. However, there are multiple treatment methods that can be effective for androgenic alopecia.

Treatments like minoxidil (Rogaine), microneedling, and DHT-blocking hair products can all be helpful for preventing and reversing DHT-related hair loss. The sooner you start seeking treatment for androgenic alopecia, the better – the condition tends to become harder to prevent and reverse over time.

If you are looking for an affordable, effective treatment for androgenic alopecia, GroMD’s hair products are the perfect choice. Our proprietary blend of growth-boosting, DHT-blocking ingredients are specially formulated to keep your hair nourished, hydrated, and resistant to the follicle-shrinking effects of DHT.


Does Hair Loss Run In Your Family?

Heredity is one of the primary causes of hair loss. If you are genetically predisposed to dealing with thinning hair and other similar issues, don’t be discouraged. Knowing that you may be more prone to hair loss means you can start taking preventive steps to keep your follicles healthy. 

If you have a genetic predisposition to hair loss, make sure to take preventative steps as early as possible. This may mean paying close attention to stress, eating a healthy and balanced diet, taking care of your hair with high-quality products, and forming other good hair care habits.


Conclusion

Keeping your hair follicles healthy is an essential part of your journey to getting the hair of your dreams. By following the tips listed above, you can have a significant positive impact on the look, feel, and overall health of your hair.

If you’re struggling to maintain a thick, full head of hair, we highly recommend checking out what GroMD has to offer. Our products are designed to be suitable for all hair types, and our shampoo, conditioner, and follicle activator spray are perfect for daily use on thinning hair. You can access our products page by clicking here.

In addition, if you have other questions about hair care, hair loss prevention, and more, make sure to visit our blog. There, you’ll find plenty of helpful information regarding assembling your own hair loss prevention routine, choosing the best shampoo and conditioner for your hair type, essential nutrients for healthy hair, and much more.

Dr. Amir Yazdan, MD, is an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon, expert guest on Dr. Phil and The Doctors, creator of the GroMD hair restoration product line, ISHRS member, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.

Sources:

https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/h/hair-loss-normal-or-hereditary/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/telogen-effluvium-a-to-z

https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/hereditary-patterned-baldness-a-to-z