Stay Healthy

When we think about how healthy we are we usually think about how fast and long we can run, how much weights we can lift, what our cholesterol level is, and other things like that. These are important things to know any they will help you to understand how healthy you think you are – but there may be a simpler way.

Some of us even look at our hair to see if it will tell us if something is wrong. Many people believe that when we are shedding or turning gray too fast for our own taste that it is an indication of a serious health problem. That may be true in some cases – but in most we have to say that it is the natural order of things. Here are a list of hair problems that people usually associate with health problems.

Shedding:

Seeing a swarm of strands in the shower drain every morning isn’t necessarily a cause for alarm—or a signal that anything is wrong with you. It’s totally normal to lose about 100 strands of hair every day. And even if you think you’re losing more than that, remember that your head carries at least 100,000 hair follicles, so it’s possible to collect a handful or two out of the bath or hairbrush without it visibly changing the appearance of your mane. And since those 100,000 or so follicles have different growth phases, even as several strands fall out, dozens of new ones are just on their way in to replace them. So unless you’re starting to notice visible thinning of your hair or bald spots on your scalp, chances are the loss is nothing more than natural, everyday shedding.

Dandruff:

Dandruff is one of hair’s most misunderstood maladies. People often assume that those flakes must mean that the scalp is too dry and that, like skin that’s flaking, it must obviously need more moisture to make it look better. But while some people may indeed suffer from a dry scalp, true dandruff is not a matter of dryness.

Dandruff is the common name for seborrheic dermatitis, an inflammatory condition of the scalp that causes redness and flaking in the areas of the skin that are rich in oil glands. Other skin conditions—such as psoriasis and eczema—can also cause a similar condition in which the scalp gets red, itchy and produces flakes of dandruff. In any case, the best cure is to seek out a medicated (not necessarily moisturizing) shampoo or scalp treatment.

Turning White Overnight:

We’ve all heard horror stories of someone who, in the aftermath of some terribly traumatic event, woke up to find their formerly brown, red or blond hair turned shockingly white. Well, don’t worry about it happening to you, because, according to Dr. Arielle Kauvar, a New York dermatologist, it simply can’t happen. The only way for hair to turn gray is a gradual decline in melanin production at the root. There is no biological event that can remove pigment directly from the hair shaft. However, a physical or emotional trauma can cause a change in the hair.

The illness or stress sends actively growing hair into a resting phase, and a couple of months later, all those strands in the resting phase may fall out. So, if the dark hairs fall out and the already white ones remain, the result is hair that looks suddenly grayer.