NO! Your Shampoo Can't Fight Hair Fall

There's no 'genie-in-a-bottle' solution that can instantly fix hair fall within a month, cautions Dr Jaspreet Sarna, dermatologist, Traya Health.

It's all just marketing!

For over a century, the hair care industry has conditioned people into believing that hair fall is merely an umbrella term for split ends, hair breakage, or tangles.

This belief has let the hair care industry peddle shampoos and serums as the only solution to deal with everything from hair damage to hair loss.

But hair fall is more than just external breakage.

Before you fall prey to marketing campaigns to fight hair fall, here are five facts to bear in mind:

1. Hair fall is internal and not a 30-day problem

Most hair care brands claim to stop hair fall with 99% hair regrowth within a month or two.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is just NOT TRUE.

Around 60% of the Indian population suffers from a type of hair fall called pattern hair loss that occurs primarily due to a genetic predisposition, but also because of other lifestyle factors including high stress, unhealthy eating habits, and much more.

Just like muscle building or weight loss, managing hair fall and hair regrowth takes time.

There's no 'genie-in-a-bottle' solution that can instantly fix hair fall within a month.

This is because human hair has a lifecycle and it has to undergo four stages -- growth, transition, rest phase, and eventually the shedding phase, only then can new hair develop from the follicles.

It takes a minimum of 5-6 months to see hair regrowth provided you’re on the right treatment plan.

2. Your anti-hair fall shampoo is a sham

There are a variety of products in the market that claim to treat hair loss but only a few are science-backed and proved to be effective.

A shampoo alone can't fix your internal issues such as poor digestion or increase your hemoglobin levels.

So, let's adjust our expectations and trust shampoo to do the job that it was created for -- to clean the dirt and sebum off the scalp.

In such a case, getting a doctor-prescribed treatment would be much preferred over opting for the latest anti-hair fall shampoo on the market.

3. Onion is not a solution to hair fall

From rice water to onions, every brand wants to hop onto the latest trends of using kitchen-based ingredients to control hair fall but does this really help?

In the bargain to use these super ingredients for hair fall, the industry has missed out on the fact that a shampoo is not formulated to get absorbed, plus the so-called 'super ingredients' are present in very low concentrations.

In short, a shampoo is meant to have a very short period of contact with your scalp. So by simply adding kitchen ingredients into the shampoo, which mind you, are not a permanent solution to hair fall, makes zero sense.

3. No single shampoo/serum can stop hair fall

Most haircare brands suggest using different serums that are 99% effective in putting an end to hair fall.

But the truth is that hair fall differs from individual to individual.

If someone experiences stress-induced hair fall, someone else might face iron-deficiency hair fall.

Although hair fall can be genetic, it is also caused by a combination of factors which cannot simply be solved by applying a certain shampoo or a serum.

Surely opting for a colour-protectant shampoo or a conditioner might help to maintain the quality of the strands and damage done by the dye but if you’re specifically relying on a single product to get rid of hair fall, then it simply won’t work.

What you need to understand is that in order to manage this hair fall, you first need to tackle the root cause behind hair fall and one that offers a doctor-prescribed solution.

4. Your natural shampoo is not as natural as you think

Even natural shampoos contain ingredients like detergents, preservatives, and conditioning agents which are basically chemicals and don’t really classify as natural.

Chemical detergents like decyl glucoside and lauryl glucoside are used to maintain the integrity of the shampoo.

Conditioning agents like polymers are also used in shampoos because just 2% of the natural ingredients cannot simply make your hair soft and shiny.

Lastly, instead of natural preservatives, some natural shampoo still contains chemical antimicrobial preservatives like benzyl alcohol which is used to kill microbes. Phenoxyethanol is used to increase the shelf life of hair products.

So, don't be a victim of false claims by the hair care industry.

Get the right diagnosis and fix hair fall with a customised treatment plan meant to cater to your specific hair fall condition.

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Opinions expressed herein cannot necessarily provide advice to fit the exact specifics of the issues of the person requesting advice.

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