Style by Anastasia

Alopecia

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Common Hair Problems and What to Do About Them – Oklahoma City Salons

Almost everyone wants to have healthy, beautiful and easy to manage hair, but split ends, dry hair, oily hair and hair loss if often difficult to overcome for many people. If you have problems with your hair and have tried product after product with little to no improvements, it could be you are using the wrong product. Many store bought hair shampoos and conditioners contain harsh chemicals that only temporarily improve the look and feel of your hair. Home remedies have been effective for centuries for adding moisture to dry hair, eliminating the oil from oily hair and stopping the itch and dryness associated with dandruff. Homemade hair care treatments are excellent for your hair, do not contain harsh chemicals, smell great and can save you money. Here are some of the most popular homemade treatments to help restore shine and healthiness to your hair.

Dry Hair

Traci Dries Her Hair
Traci Dries Her Hair (Photo credit: Old Shoe Woman)

The daily use of blow dryers, curling irons and oil stripping shampoos can leave your hair dry, brittle and full of split ends. Make a conditioning mask made with two eggs, 6 tablespoons of coconut oil and 1 teaspoon of honey. Pile hair on top of your head and cover with a shower cap or plastic wrap and leave the mask on for about 20-30 minutes, rinse and shampoo with a light shampoo (baby shampoo works great). For a deep conditioner, add one teaspoon of lavender oil to ¼ cup of coconut oil, heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds and apply to your scalp and hair. Leave it on overnight and shampoo the next morning. The overnight mask should be done twice each week to maintain the softness and shininess of your hair. Your stylist can recommend the appropriate deep conditioning treatment (ask questions about whether it’s more than just heavy conditioner) to help you resist your scalp drying out, and your hair with it. Hair can be restored, often enough, with proper professional attention.

Oily Hair

If you have oily hair, it is typically due to an excess of oil being secreted in the scalp. Most people with oily hair find it becomes “sticky” a day or two after shampooing and will wash it more than necessary. Oily hair should not be washed more than three times a week, because it will only increase the amount of oil being secreted. It is best to use a natural, mild shampoo and massage your scalp while washing to loosen the oil that is built up on the hair shafts. A great homemade remedy to reduce the oil, prevent drying and have soft, shiny hair is to mix one teaspoon of aloe Vera gel and two tablespoons of lemon juice in a half full bottle of baby shampoo. Use the shampoo solution each time you wash your hair and follow with an oil free conditioner. To help reduce the oils in your hair, twice each week apply a mask of pureed carrots to your hair, leave on for about 15 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water. Your stylist can recommend an appropriate regimen and help style your hair to reduce oil buildup.

Dandruff and Itchy Scalp

Having dandruff and a dry, itchy scalp can be embarrassing and frustrating. Some of the dandruff control shampoos work fine at reducing the dandruff, but they never seem to last longer than one shampoo. There are several homemade remedies that will help eliminate dandruff, without drying out your scalp. Make a soothing mask made with ¼ cup of oatmeal, 1/8 cup of water, 6 drops of lavender oil, 3 drops of rosemary oil and 4 drops of tea tree oil. Mix the ingredients together, apply to your scalp and let sit for about 20 minutes, shampoo and condition as normal. Use the mask at least once each week to eliminate an itchy scalp and dandruff. Mixing unrefined virgin coconut oil with a few teaspoons of tea tree oil and rosemary is also a refreshing way to alleviate itching and dryness on your scalp. Your stylist will have products you can’t get just anywhere to help with this, and can implement regular scalp treatments to reduce the flaking.

There are several remedies that can help you maintain a beautiful head of hair, but not all ingredients will work for everyone, so play around with different herbs and essential oils until you find the combination that is the best suited for you particular type of hair. As always, consult your stylist.

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Medications and Medical Procedures May Cause Hair Loss – Oklahoma City Hair Salon

Hair loss can be caused by many things. Hereditary plays an important part in hair loss for men and women. Men normally experience hair loss in a horseshoe formation, while women usually experience thinning at the crown and hair line. Hair loss can be heart breaking no matter what age it appears. Did you know some medications and medical procedures can contribute to or cause hair loss?

A pill box with various medications in it.
Image via Wikipedia

If you experience unexplained hair loss, be sure to ask your doctor about your medications. If you’ve just gone through a medical procedure and start to lose hair, ask your doctor to be sure there is no underlying medical condition. There are ways to combat hair loss, but it is important to know the cause so that you can be treated effectively.

Medications

Beta-blockers used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) can cause hair loss. These include Lopressor and Toprol XL (metoprolol), and Inderal (propranolol). Blood thinners such as warfarin and heparin may cause hair loss or thinning. Indomethacin, an arthritis medication, and the gout medications allopurinol and colochicine may cause thinning of your hair. Lithium used to treat bipolar disorder and other psychological conditions can also cause hair loss. Cancer medications used in chemotherapy may cause a total loss of your hair depending on their strength and the duration of your treatment. Birth control pills can cause women who have a genetic tendency for hair loss to experience thinning and loss of hair.

Medical Treatments

Radiation treatments for cancer may cause hair loss. Up to six months after surgery you may experience temporary thinning of your hair, this usually clears up after a few months. Any medical procedure which involves anesthesia carries the risk of thinning hair and hair loss. The good news is this condition is usually temporary and your hair will return to its original thickness after three to four months.

If you do experience hair loss after starting a new medication, talk to your doctor and he may be able to prescribe an alternative for you, or adjust the strength of the medicine. Thinning of your hair and hair loss can be symptoms of hypothyroidism, menopause, poor nutrition, anemia and other medical conditions. It is always wise to consult your doctor if you begin to see your hair thinning. There are products on the market today that can help to reverse or slow down hair loss. Your stylist can help you monitor your hair with regular visits. She has the training and experience to recognize problems when they arise.

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Do Hair Loss Remedies Really Work? – Oklahoma City Hair Salon

No one likes to think about hair loss, but for some men and women it is a fact of life. Genetics, medications, illness and severe hair styling can all cause hair loss. Only a doctor can tell you if your hair loss is caused by an illness or medication, but your stylist can help you to recognize hair loss and its possible cause. If you do have hair thinning or hair loss, don’t give up hope. There have been significant advances in hair loss treatment products and procedures in recent years. What was once a condition you’d just have to live with has become a condition that many times is very treatable. While you may not be able to regain all of the hair you have lost, depending on the underlying cause, you may be able to prevent future hair loss and thinning. But what are your options and do they really work?

Alopecia
Image via Wikipedia

Surgical Procedures

Hair transplants are an option if you have experienced a significant amount of hair loss. The procedure can be painful since surgery is required. Basically how it works is a section of hair is harvested from an area of your body and transplanted onto your head. After the healing process, the hair follicles begin to produce hair and the areas transplanted usually look just like the rest of the hair on your head. The main drawbacks of surgical procedures are the cost and the pain involved.

Topical Treatments

Topical treatments have come a long way since the snake oil days of old. Today science has given people who have hair loss viable means to reverse and reduce the amount of hair loss they have experienced.

Nioxin, Rogaine and ProFollica are systems of products that when used together help to make your hair thicker and healthier looking. They work by stimulating the hair follicles and making the hair you have look and feel thicker. The drawback is you have to keep using the products and use the entire system together to see the best results.

Other topical treatments create a healthy environment on your scalp to encourage hair growth. These include Procerin, a combination of a topical application and supplement products; Corvinex is another combination of topical products and a nutritional supplement; and Revivogen claims to encourage hair growth and as an anti-thinning product.

These products are just a few of the over the counter products available today to promote hair growth, prevent hair loss and help you to have thicker feeling and looking hair. What works for you will depend upon the underlying cause of your hair loss. Your doctor has prescription medications that can help to retard hair loss and promote the regrowth of new hair, but some of these may carry unwanted side effects. Once you know why you’re losing hair, you can then seek out the best treatment for you.

Call now to book an appointment. Anastasia is a salon hair stylist in Oklahoma City, OK. Out of town appointments welcome.

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Keep Your Hair

It’s easy to ignore the possibility of thinning or lost hair until it’s already gone. But hair health is part of overall health, and you can do some basic things to take care of your hair and reduce the potential for hair loss. This applies to both women and men, younger and more mature.

My Hair Makes Me...
Image by Christi Nielsen via Flickr

You lose about 80-100 hairs per day, but if you’re losing several times that, it may be time to see your doctor, consider improvements in your diet, reduction of stress, and possibly products that help with the appearance of thinning hair, like Nioxin (available in our salon).

Protecting your hair from excessive hair loss requires some common sense hair health techniques:

  • Don’t band it with rubber bands, or tie it too tightly into pony tails. The tension on your hairline increases hair loss.
  • Use a wide-toothed comb, not a fine one or brush, especially when hair is wet.
  • Switch shampoos every 8-10 months.
  • Avoid shampooing daily. That can strip your hair of oils and proteins, and increase hair loss during washing, drying, and styling.
  • Use an essence or essential oil on your hair (again, available in our salon). This will increase circulation to hair roots and replentish hair.
  • If you’re losing hair, you probably shouldn’t be straightening, perming, coloring, or blow drying. But if you are going to do those, then do it less often, and choose processes that last longer (we use color with less fade, straightening and extensions that last much longer than normal, etc).
  • Drink lots of water. Eat healthy. Get enough sleep and routine, adequate exercise. Again, hair health is part of overall health and there are direct connections.
  • Stop stressing. Stress will leave you looking like a scalped lawn. Yoga can help, or other destressing measures.
  • Some medications are known to cause hair loss, have that listed as a side effect, or have anecdotal reports about it. Just one example with anecdotal claims of hair loss is Metoprolol, sometimes used for hypertension, but others are numerous. Chemotherapy and other cancer treatments can cause ongoing hair loss. Be aware of these risks.