6 Things Your Hair is Telling You About Your Health

People tend to always be concerned about their hair. They need to figure out what color, style, and cut would look best on them, and they need to find the best products to make their hair perfect.

But did you ever think about how closely related your hair and health were? You can find out a lot about yourself from the attributes of your hair. In fact, your hair can probably tell you about as much as a doctor could.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not a doctor, and I recommend consulting with your physician if you think something is wrong with your health.

1. Hair Loss

The average person sheds 40-120 strands of hair a day, and that number increases as we get older. However, if you’re losing more than that, something may be seriously wrong.

Losing more than 100-200 strands per day could be a sign of stress, low iron levels, lack of protein intake or thyroid problems. Diabetes and influenza are also known to cause dramatic hair loss.

If your hair is coming out by the handful, you should probably take a trip to the doctor.

2. Dull or Dry Hair

I’m not talking about hair that is damaged from heat or chemicals, because that is something completely different. I’m talking about hair that is otherwise healthy but always appears to be dry and or dull.

This could be a sign that you are lacking essential fatty acids or certain minerals such as zinc, silica or iron from your diet.

This can also be a sign of an under-active thyroid gland. Other signs of hypothyroidism include weight gain, fatigue, slow heart rate, and feeling cold all the time.

3. Oily Hair

Although this can be caused by genetics, oily hair is generally caused by over-active sebaceous glands in the scalp. This is caused by hormonal imbalance.

4. Slow-Growing Hair

If your hair takes forever to grow, it could be caused by a variety of things like genetics and changing seasons, but it can also stem from poor diet or stress.

Look into some superfoods or home remedies to give you healthy hair and stimulate hair growth.

5. Dandruff

Most of the time, dandruff can easily be treated with medicated shampoo.

However, if you have excessive dandruff that won’t go away, it could mean that there is a bigger underlying problem.

This may be caused by nutrient deficiency like from zinc, vitamin C or essential fatty acids. It could also be caused by a fungal overgrowth or over-activity of the sebaceous glands in the scalp.

6. Hair in Weird Places

If you are a woman and you are growing hair in places that only men should grow it, it could be a sign of polycystic ovarian syndrome. This could lead to infertility and other problems so it is important to see a doctor.

Other symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome include acne, obesity, and irregular periods.

Your Turn:  Did you know your hair and health were so closely related? Are there any other things that should be added to this list. I’d love to read your feedback in the comments section below…