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Although it’s a common beauty issue to struggle with, hair loss will never be a welcomed problem. Stemming from a number of causes both natural and artificial, adjusting your hair care routine to account for thinning strands can make all the difference in allowing for regrowth and reducing the appearance of fallout to begin with. However, pinpointing the primary cause of your hair loss is essential for knowing which habits to change in order to prevent future fallout and allow your hair to grow back stronger than before.
Seeing as when you’re in the shower is one of the most common times to experience an excess of hair loss, it’s fair to guess that there are mistakes you may be making while shampooing or conditioning your hair that may be to blame for falling strands. We checked in with Dr. Dominic Burg, chief scientist, hair biologist, microbiologist and trichologist for evolis Professional to determine the shower habit that may be at the root cause of hair loss, and what changes you should make in order to prevent this from becoming a continued issue.
Excessively hot water
We were relieved to learn that while using scalding hot water may have a significant impact on the strength of your hair follicles, showering is generally pretty low on the list when it comes to common causes of hair loss, according to Burg. That being said, your hair does become significantly more delicate when it gets wet, and using water that’s too hot may expedite hair loss over time.
“The act of showering shouldn’t impact your hair roots unless you are using really scalding hot water and burning your scalp as well,” he explains. That being said, making small adjustments to your shower routine can help to preserve your fragile strands from breakage that may have otherwise occurred.
A certain amount of hair loss and breakage (between 50-150 strands) each day is perfectly normal. However, when your hair is wet it immediately becomes more prone to snap off, as the cuticles swell with water and weaken. Additionally, it’s generally from heat, whether it be hot water or extreme hot tool usage after your shower, that may be increasing the number of strands you’re seeing on the walls of your shower.
“Using hot styling tools on wet hair after showering can also lead to damage and breakage, as this “flash drying” is essentially boiling the water residue inside your hair,” explains Burg.
Brushing your hair with a regular brush while wet may also cause excessive hair loss, breaking the hair at the root, so it’s important to switch to a wide tooth comb for during or after your shower in order to eliminate tangles without causing fallout. “Make sure you gently detangle when your hair is dry, optimally before you shower. In the shower use a wide toothed comb and use minimal force,” suggests Burg.
Moving forward, after your shower your hair will benefit from being dried with a microfiber towel rather than going straight to the blow dryer. However, when it is time to dry, start on a lower setting so as not to make your strands brittle. “Blow dry on a cool setting prior to using any heat tools. Use a heat protectant if styling with high heat,” he adds.
While integrating these changes cannot fix existing damage to your hair, it can reduce the risk of hair loss in the future, particularly in the case of wet, weakened strands. Additionally, integrating strengthening ingredients such as jojoba or flaxseed oil can also make an impact in softening and building up the outer layer of your strands, effectively reducing breakage.
Minimizing heat on your hair from both your shower water and after the shower will help to keep hair loss to a minimum, and switching to a wide tooth comb in the shower is an actionable change you can make to strengthen your strands for overall healthier, thicker hair.
