Causes of Hair Breakage

Let's face it. Nobody likes to look in the mirror and see bald patches where rich, beautiful hair used to be. It's no fun, it's embarrassing, and it can be downright frightening. Now, before you go into "panic mode", take a few moments to do a little self-diagnosis and determine what might be the cause of hair breakage in your case. After all, for every symptom there is a cause and hair breakage is no different. Causes of hair breakage can be traced to a number of things including internal deficiencies or external factors.

The Causes of Hair Breakage Must be Discovered Early

The average person loses about 50-200 hairs each day. This may seem like a lot, but the average human head has around 100,000 hairs and new strands grow each day to account for those lost. So, losing 50 -200 hairs is nothing to panic about. It's a natural process. However, if you're experiencing hair breakage, you're losing considerably more than 200 hairs daily. You're probably noticing broken hairs on your pillow, in your comb, in your brush and even a few balding patches. If you've gotten to this point, there's no need to panic. You just need to determine the cause of hair breakage in your case and deal with it quickly before it gets worse.

Internal Causes of Hair Breakage

The causes of hair breakage can lie in a simple nutritional deficiency. Are you eating enough fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and good fats? If you answered "no", then this could be the cause of hair breakage in your case. These whole foods contain vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids that are good for your hair.

A deficiency of these vitamins & minerals can be the cause of hair breakage:

• Vitamin B
• Vitamin E
• Iron
• Zinc
• Silica

A lack of these whole foods can also be the cause of hair breakage:

• Sunflower seeds
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Dark leafy greens
• Flaxseed oil

Try adding these foods, vitamins and minerals to your diet along with a minimum of 64 ounces of water each day and you may restore your hair's health and shine and prevent hair breakage in the future. If this does no help, the cause of hair breakage could be external.

External Cause of Hair Breakage

More common than nutritional deficiencies, external factors are often the cause of hair breakage in most people. this has to do particularly with what you put into your hair. Chemical treatments such as perms and relaxers work wonders, especially for African American hair, but when used improperly they can be the cause of hair breakage. If these products are used too frequently or left in the hair longer than recommended they weaken the hair strands and become the cause of hair breakage for sure. In addition to harsh chemicals, excessive exposure to heat can also be the cause of hair breakage. Hot-air blow dryers, curling irons, and other heat-styling tools cause the hair to become dry and brittle making it easy for breakage to occur as well. If you're looking for a great product to prevent hair breakage, feel free to check out H2Thermal, a new product that's changing the playing field in letting us heat style without damaging hair.