The average person sheds 50 to 100 hair strands daily. This is a normal body process of getting rid of old hair and allowing new healthy hair to grow.
However, if your hair thickness and density have dropped, you may be losing way more than 100 strands a day. These problems can be due to age, hormones, stress, health conditions, or diet.
Fortunately, you can still grow thick, healthy hair with the right products and habits.
We’ll tell you how to get thicker hair in this guide, so read on.
1. Consider Taking Collagen
According to the folks at ProBody Warehouse, collagen is a substance in the skin, hair, and even nails.
The primary role of collagen is to help strengthen the tissues and make them more resilient. Since tissues are all over the body, then it’s no wonder collagen is its most abundant protein.
Unfortunately, its production decreases by around 1% to 1.5% yearly by early adulthood.
The problem is that collagen is the primary component of your dermis. Thus, it affects your hair, as the dermis is the connective tissue layer where your follicles are.
So if your natural collagen levels drop, your hair collagen levels do too. This could impair your dermis and follicles, causing hair weakness, breakage, and loss. All these adverse effects may then result in reduced hair thickness and density.
Talk to your doctor if your body’s natural collagen supplies have declined. No test can confirm its deficiency, but your doctor can use other symptoms to diagnose it. These may include skin wrinkling, sagging, or sallowness.
If you experience those other symptoms, your doctor may recommend collagen supplementation. These supplements often come from animal sources, but others are from plants.
2. Get Androgens Under Control
Androgens are sex hormones produced by both the male and female body. However, men make more of it, primarily testosterone.
Androgens are crucial in puberty, sexual functions, and bone and muscle health. They also play vital roles in red blood cell production.
Unfortunately, excessive androgen levels, particularly dihydrotestosterone (DHT), can lead to hair woes. High DHT levels can cause hair follicle shrinkage, potentially causing reduced hair thickness. They can also shorten the hair growth cycle and, over time, lead to hair loss.
That type of hair loss is what you call androgenetic alopecia. It’s the most common type, affecting up to half of men and women in the United States.
If you think your thinning hair is due to high DHT levels, see your doctor for a blood or saliva test. These measure your DHT levels and confirm if they’re excessive. If so, your doctor may recommend anti-androgen treatments and medications.
3. Manage Stress Levels
Thinning hair can be a symptom of telogen effluvium, hair loss often triggered by stress. Although temporary, it can continue for at least 3 to 6 months, sometimes even longer. Even if you’re lucky and it stops after three months, your hair still needs time to grow and recover.
Therefore, caring for hair also involves effectively coping with stress. For starters, identify your stressors and do your best to avoid them. You should also maintain emotionally supportive friendships and relationships.
If you love traveling, it could also be a good stress reliever. A nature trip can be especially beneficial, as scientists say it can lower stress levels. They also note that spending time in nature can reduce anxiety and depression.
4. Eat Healthier
Hair thinning can sometimes result from health conditions related to improper nutrition. An example is iron deficiency, affecting approximately 10 million people in the U.S.
Dietary-related iron deficiency can occur due to inadequate intake of iron-rich foods. Avoid this by eating lean meat, poultry, seafood, and green, leafy vegetables.
Another contributing factor is not eating enough foods that help with iron absorption. Prevent this by eating more citrus fruits, tomatoes, strawberries, broccoli, and cabbage. They contain vitamin C, which may help with better iron absorption.
Conversely, overconsumption of coffee and tea can inhibit iron absorption. So, limit their intake to lower your risks of iron deficiency.
Another health condition that can contribute to hair thinning is protein deficiency. Health experts recommend adults get around 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal. Fail to meet that, and you may develop hair thinning, brittleness, and bone and muscle weakness.
5. Try Minoxidil
Minoxidil is a vasodilator, which means it widens the blood vessels. That causes their size to increase, facilitating improved blood flow. The better the blood flow in an area, the more oxygen and nutrients reach it.
In the case of thinning hair, improved blood flow to the scalp may help.
Minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) is an FDA-approved drug available in topical form. It may help with hair regrowth and thickening in people with hereditary hair loss. However, it doesn’t work for everyone, and you may have to wait up to 4 months to see results.
6. Hair Hydration
Dryness is a sign of hair damage that can lead to brittleness if left untreated. Once the strands become brittle, they snap or fray easily. Every time that happens, you lose more strands than you should, resulting in hair thinning.
One of the primary causes of hair dryness is overusing heat-producing hairstyling tools. These include blow dryers, curling irons, and straighteners. They subject the hair to excessive heat, robbing it of moisture.
Regularly dyeing or using harsh hair products can also dry out your hair.
Avoid those causes and treat your hair with some moisturizers instead. Olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, and shea butter are some of your natural options. You can also use gentle yet hydrating shampoo and conditioner.
That’s How to Get Thicker Hair
Now that you know how to get thicker hair, it’s time to visit a skin doctor. This should be your first step, as a dermatologist can determine the root cause of your thinning hair. Then, with their help, you can decide which of the abovementioned methods is best for you to try.
In the meantime, check out our post on nine things you can do to improve mental health. Since they may help reduce your stress levels, they may also benefit your hair.
