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Does Trimming Your Hair Really Make It Grow Faster?
February 27, 2021
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Let us take a stab at three things that may be true for you this quarantine: you’re showering less often, you’re cleaning up around the house more, and you’re under a lot of stress. And because you’re doing more cleaning, you’ve noticed a lot more hair ending up in your vacuum cleaner than usual. When you do step in for a shower, the clump of hair in your drain is a lot—and we mean A LOT—larger than it was pre-pandemic. What gives? Why are you losing hair? Could this already overwhelming year be any more stressful???
OK, don’t panic. Increased hair loss is happening to women all over the world right now—and under the circumstances, this is actually to be expected. Here are three reasons your hair might be falling out this quarantine (and some at-home solutions we know will work!).
1. You could be suffering from telogen effluvium, or stress-induced hair loss.
Those words sound serious, but TE isn’t uncommon at all—in fact, it’s happening to large swaths of men and women right now, thanks to the stress and traumatic events brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The symptoms of TE tend to show up three to six months late, and since we’re about seven months into community quarantine right now, the timelines add up.
While there’s nothing you can do to *stop* stressful situations from happening, what you can do is control and regulate your reaction to them. Breathing exercises like yoga and meditation, jotting down your feelings in a journal (from your stack of never-used cute notebooks), or even treating yourself to that tray of sushi bake will help keep your spirits up and remind you that there’s still much to be thankful for.
2. You’re lacking Vitamin D exposure.
We’re always arms akimbo about excessive sun exposure here at Belo, but a healthy level of sun exposure is beneficial for the body. More time indoors means less time out in the sun, which means many of us are likely suffering from a Vitamin D deficiency. And since Vitamin D is responsible for hair follicle growth…you know the drill.
To restore your Vitamin D reserves, load up on fatty fish like tuna, mackerel, and salmon; dairy products like soy milk, cheese, and egg yolks; and greens like spinach, kale, and okra. You can also try a tasty collagen supplement: here’s a melon-flavored smoothie that will help strengthen your hair, too.
3. You’re washing your hair less often.
“If you cut down on your weekly washes, when you do wash, expect to see more lost hairs,” said trichologist Jane Mayhead in an interview with Cosmopolitan US. And it makes sense—because we’re staying in more, we’re showering and washing our hair less. That means more hair in your shower drain. HOWEVER! However, washing your hair less often isn’t a good thing. “Your scalp is simply an extension of the skin on your forehead, and you wouldn’t skip washing your face,” said trichologist Annabelle Kingsley in an interview with Shape.
To resolve this, make sure you don’t go more than two days without washing. Choose shampoos with ingredients that naturally strengthen the hair, such as gugo, collagen, and biotin. That last ingredient, in particular, plays a huge role in the health of your hair and nails. To get your fix, try this biotin-enriched hair routine: you’ve got shampoo, conditioner, and solution covered—perfect for anyone suffering from TE or alopecia.
Hopefully, with your stress levels managed, diet changed, and hair routine revamped, you’ll start to see a decrease in the hair clogging up your drain (and stressing you out, thereby causing more hair loss—yikes). Take solace in the fact that you’re far from alone in this sitch, and that with time and consistency, you’ll be seeing a lush, healthy head of hair again.
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