Hair Loss, Sun Exposure and Swimming in Salt Water

Sun exposure can affect your hair loss.People who spend a lot of time outdoors often ask whether sun exposure can cause hair loss. The short answer is ‘no’. However, overexposure to the sun can damage your hair, dry it out and cause it to be brittle enough to break off.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to protect your hair and scalp against the sun’s harmful UV rays with a hat or scarf, or use UV hair protectant products such as a liquid sunblock. It’s also a good idea to deep condition your hair on a regular basis if you’re outdoors a good deal of the time.

Other myths about what causes hair loss include the notion that chlorinated water can cause hair loss. Granted, chlorinated water can dry out your hair, but it does not cause hair to thin or fall out.

There’s another theory about sunscreen applied to the scalp causing hair loss. Wrong.

In fact if you have thinning hair, it’s recommended that you use sunscreen on your scalp to prevent burn and worse.

Yes, tight braiding will weaken your hair but in the short term is harmless. However, long term corn-row braiding can, over time, destroy hair follicles and cause hair loss.

And, no, saltwater does not cause hair loss, so keep surfing and enjoy the fun.

The normal amount of hair loss is about 100 hairs a day from showering and brushing.  But if hair loss is a significant problem, there could be several common causes. These causes include aging, stress, poor diet, medications, and genetic predisposition for hair loss called androgenetic alopecia (AGA, female pattern hair loss). Genetics is the primary cause of 98 percent of hair loss.

Most often, hair loss in women is the result of a hormonal imbalance. Child birth, menopause, birth control, and thyroid disorder can trigger hormonal changes, which in turn can cause thinning hair or hair loss in females.

It’s good to know that if hair loss is a problem for you, there are options to combat it – permanently. Hair restoration advances offer success for natural replacement of hair loss.

Men and women throughout the world are testament to this fact.