We’re so used to piling on products that after many years our hair may be out of control, frizzy, limp or any of the above. Fortunately, today, there are many new ways to wash your hair without a sulfite containing shampoo and we can have awesome hair without using wax and chemical filled products. The trick is to first use a clarifying shampoo to remove all residues from products, then get all spit ends trimmed, and then switch to an alternative hair cleaner. There are various types on the market. Once your hair is clean, do not use that shampoo and again unless you put styling products on your hair that have waxes, silicones, or other such products.

You can buy one of the shampoo replaces like Wen, or Hair One, but you can also use any of the following depending on your hair type to clean your hair.

Straight or oily hair – Lemon juice, baking soda, or apple cider vinegar.  Mix one-tablespoon baking soda with one cup warm water, or mix one to two tablespoons vinegar to one cup of water, or mix equal parts lemon juice and water, distribute evenly on hair combing through with a wide-tooth comb then rinse completely. If needed apply an all-natural conditioner.

Curly /dry hair – Use an organic and all natural conditioner, distribute evenly through hair with a wide toothcomb every two to three days massing into scalp, rinse completely. You can do this every two or three days using one of the above methods if your hair gets too oily.

While it will be strange compared to your normal routine your hair will start looking better after about 30 days of not using harsh chemicals and shampoos in your hair. You’ll notice the shine coming back, bounce and curls instead of frizz, and the natural beauty of your hair will return. You’ll feel 20 years younger when you get back the healthy hair of your youth. It’s hard to believe that you don’t need a lathering product to clean your hair completely. In fact, those lathering products are leaving behind chemicals that only make the appearance of the hair look good for a short period stripping it of its natural beauty.

While some women swear that going gray is the best thing they ever did for themselves and their self-confidence yet others will say they will never go gray no matter if they become contrarians or not. Going gray, or not going gray is of course completely up to each individual and there is no judgment that any of us can pass on whether or not you choose to go gray.

One woman started going gray at about 42 years old. She noticed it one day while looking in the mirror at the beach. The sun was shining in the window at such a way that it highlighted and made her gray hairs at her roots sparkle. She breathed in a deep breath of disappointment. She had been coloring her hair blond since she was 17 and had finally let her natural brown hair grow out in just the last two years. “Why now”, she thought, “I’m too young for this!” as she grabbed her keys and went to the drugstore for some relief. She doesn’t feel like she’s delaying age, but she feels like her hair is part of what makes her feel beautiful. She is in a new relationship with a man 8 years younger, and simply figures… “Hey, I did it when I was 17, why not now? What’s the difference? It’s not like I’m telling a lie now any more than I was then.”

Yet another does it because her husband enjoys her long red curly locks and she doesn’t have the heart to tell him that they’re not red any longer, she’s been coloring for five years. She doesn’t feel like she’s lying to her husband, she feels like she’s helping him continue his own youthful fantasy by having a hot redheaded wife even though he’s nearing 60 himself. She loves going to the salon and having her hair freshly colored and cared for, she’s not sure how long she’s going to do it, but she doesn’t see changing anything for the foreseeable future. She’s 56 years old.

Today there are so many products, even natural products that are less damaging on the hair that a woman can use that unless she just wants to go gray she doesn’t really have to. It’s completely up the woman. Each woman has to do what makes her feel good about themselves. Some women want to be gray and let nature take its course, yet others are going to fight it all the way. Isn’t choice grand?

Do you have dark hairs on parts of your body they don’t belong, like your face and neck? Or, maybe you just want to get your bikini line cleaned up? You can have the treatment in the bikini line, under the arms, on your back, legs, chest, abdomen, arms, and face. Whatever you want to do, laser hair removal might be something that will work for you.  Here is what you should know about laser hair removal.

Dark hair — If the hairs on your face are dark and coarse, the laser will work great for you, but it doesn’t work on the light hair colors. If you have white, blond, gray or red hair it probably won’t work on you. You’ll have to seek alternatives if you don’t meet the criteria for the treatment.

Pain – Many women report the treatment feeling like someone is snapping them with a rubber band.  Some women report this pain as “extremely painful” others describe it as livable but they all usually say it feels like a rubber band snapping them.  Most women report that it hurts less after a couple of times.

Tanning – Don’t tan before or after your treatments because it increases your risk of getting a skin infection and may contribute to scarring and blistering. Tanning is bad for you anyway so find a good natural self-tanner or bronzer to use instead.

Board Certification – Ensure your practitioner is a board certified dermatologist before using them. The practitioners assisting should be licensed nurses.

Cleanliness – Make sure that the office and procedure rooms are clean and that they use universal precautions and follow safety procedures to protect you and themselves from illness and infection.

Curly Hair Issues – If you have curly hair and get bumps in your bikini line after shaving, using a laser treatment instead will usually alleviate this issue. With enough treatments you won’t have to shave anymore and that will eliminate the issue with bumps.

Cost – The cost will vary from doctor to doctor and patient to patient depending on the amount of hair, how your hair responds to treatment and many other factors. You can count on spending about $300 and on up depending on how much hair you’re treating.

At some point in life, often right before, during or after menopause we start noticing something strange in the mirror, those wiry, sparkly, shiny hairs that at first glance you tell yourself are blond highlights.  But, eventually,  no matter what your husband tells you, you realize, nope they’re grays.  Immediately you rush to the nearest drug store to find some hair color so you can get rid of this all to obvious sign of age. But, wait, should you cover your grays or should you embrace it and go natural?

Honestly, whether you’re pre or post menopausal with some gray hair, salt and pepper, or you’re almost fully gray it depends on what makes you feel good about yourself. Today, women do not have to live up to  anyone else’s definition of beauty. Women have the power to chose to color their hair or not color their hair and still feel wonderful.

Anne Kreamer, creative director of Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite and a columnist for Martha Stewart Living wrote a book called: Going Gray: What I Learned about Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters. At 49 Anne saw a photograph of herself that made her decide to not only allow herself to “go gray” but she explores all aspects of the implications of either going gray or not going gray, what it means, how it affects women in all aspects of their lives. If you’re coloring your hair, or you are considering it, read this book first.

Stars who have allowed their hair to be gray and look awesome!

• Rosanne Barr
• Jamie Lee Curtis
• Nichelle Nichols
• Tyne Daly
• Anna Ford
• Diane Keaton

There is an awesome new website called Going Gray Looking Great which declares to be the official website of the first and only beauty bible for women of all ages who want to know how to make every stage of going gray absolutely gorgeous! You can see photos of women in various stages of gray and they look really beautiful.

I still firmly believe women have the choice, dye your hair or go gray. While there are some people out there who will disagree and proclaim that women should never go gray at any age, even after menopause. It would seem a lot of our female politicians agree, you can’t find any gray headed female politicians even though surely some of them are.

How do you feel about going gray before, during or after menopause? Are you going to color, be all natural, or what? And why?

As women it seems like we spend our lives trying to simultaneously grow a thick, glorious head of hair, and stunt the growth of hair on the rest of our bodies.  The market place and products a variety of hair removal products to assist us in this endeavor. Before and during menopause the hair removal process gets more confusing. We start having hair in places we never had it before which brings new problems.

Many hair removal products are chemicals and very harsh and you might not want to use them on your face, but you also do not want to shave like your husband if you can avoid it.

So, what to do?

Depilatory Creams
There are many different types of creams on the market that will remove your hair. These are harsh chemicals and remember everything you put ON your skin, goes into your blood stream. But many women do like using a cream and have found some gentle enough to use on their face or other sensitive areas with great success.

Removing Tools
These types of hair removing products essentially pull your hair out, or “pluck” it out. This includes waxing, and electric pulling machines and tweezing.  Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Most women find that it hurts, (a lot)  but with each use the pain seems more bearable because your hair grows back thinner and less course over time.  These methods also inhibit hair growth by eventually killing off the hair follicle.

Shavers
Most of us are familiar with these types of systems to remove hair. There are the old fashioned razor blades, and electric razors. All work with varying degrees of success, it really depends on the results you’re looking for.

Doctor Assistance
There are various hair removal tools that your dermatologist can use to remove and prohibit hair growth from thermal treatments to laser treatments. The important thing here is to go to someone who is actually trained to use these treatments such as a plastic surgeon or dermatologist.  These treatments are increasingly offered by people who are not qualified. So be careful.

Hair loss before, during and after menopause is a common symptom of aging and it is very much related to your hormone levels. Losing your hair can be a very emotionally devastating event in your life, and one that is often overlooked because most women hide it and refuse to talk about it openly. But it is very common. Before you assume it is menopause though, keep in mind that there are several other illnesses and conditions that can cause female hair loss such as:

Genetic factors: Hormones such as testosterone, androsteinedione, and dihydrotestosterone which are present in large amounts in men, and low amounts in women are what contribute to hair loss. If your family is predisposed to having large amounts of these hormones in their females you might suffer hair loss earlier in life and it might not have a thing to do with menopause.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: This condition which women have multiple cysts on their ovaries, irregular menstrual periods, failure to release eggs, body hair, miscarriage and infertility, also causes hair loss.

Autoimmune Disorders: These disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Lupus, and others also cause hair loss sometimes resulting in loss of hair in clumps.

Dieting: Not eating correctly and overly limiting calories can also especially if you are anorexic and severely under weight.

The important thing to remember is that if you have other symptoms along with your hair loss, seek medical attention. Even if your hair loss is due to menopause, there are things that you can do in order to help grow hair again, or limit the loss but you have to tell someone in order to get the medical attention you need. Without a correct diagnosis, no one can tell you what to do about it. Sure, I can sit here and tell you a lot of spiritual platitudes on how to emotionally deal with your hair loss, and tell you where to buy a wig, or other hair products, but you need to get a correct diagnosis first.

As women it seems like we spend our lives trying to simultaneously grow a thick, glorious head of hair, and stunt the growth of hair on the rest of our bodies.  There is a variety of hair removal products in the marketplace to assist us in this endeavor. Before and during menopause the hair removal process gets more confusing. We start having hair in places we never had it before which brings new problems.

Many hair removal products are chemicals and very harsh and you might not want to use them on your face, but you also do not want to shave like your husband if you can avoid it.  So, what to do? Here are a few options.

Depilatory Creams
There are many different types of creams on the market that will remove your hair. These are harsh chemicals and remember everything you put ON your skin, goes into your blood stream. But many women do like using a cream and have found some gentle enough to use on their face or other sensitive areas with great success.

Removing Tools
These types of hair removing products essentially pull your hair out, or “pluck” it out. This includes waxing, and electric pulling machines and tweezing.  Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Most women find that it hurts, (a lot)  but with each use the pain seems more bearable because your hair grows back thinner and less course over time.  These methods also inhibit hair growth by eventually killing off the hair follicle.

Shavers
Most of us are familiar with these types of systems to remove hair. There are the old fashioned razor blades, and electric razors. All work with varying degrees of success, it really depends on the results you’re looking for.

Doctor Assistance
There are various hair removal tools that your dermatologist can use to remove and prohibit hair growth from thermal treatments to laser treatments. The important thing here is to go to someone who is actually trained to use these treatments such as a plastic surgeon or dermatologist.  These treatments are increasingly offered by people who are not qualified. So be careful.

What method do you use to keep the stray hairs at bay? Would love to hear about your success. Please leave a comment.

A common nightmare is that I am incapacitated in some way and no one plucks that one chin hair that seemingly grows two inches long over night. (Remember the first time you saw an old lady with a chin hair? That old lady is you.)

After years of plucking (ouch!) I no longer need to worry about my eyebrows, they’re almost gone, but now they’re growing on my chin.

“I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows.”  Janette Barber 

The “stray eyebrows” aren’t the only problem. Other issues frighten me while I’m awake though, not just in sleep.  For instance, when I wave bye to someone, what the hell is under my arm??? It’s like I have an extra hand waving long after I’m done waving with my actual hand. Sometimes it feels like that extra flap of skin is going to knock me down just from the shock I get when I see it flapping around in my peripheral vision.

Speaking of vision, why didn’t God make my arms longer? I have to stand at the other end of the isle at the grocery store to read the labels and forget reading medication labels, I just have to swallow the pills and hope for the best.  It’s interesting to see better far away than close up after years of being nearsighted. I know that my husband is also farsighted now, he swears that I have no gray hair and no wrinkles. God love him.

I remember when my sister was pregnant and we laughed about how funny it was that her boobs sat on top of her stomach like they were on a shelf… I had no idea that someday my stomach and my boobs would need a shelf in order not to slide down to my knees.

So I guess I have more issues than chin hairs, but I think I’ll just worry about it tomorrow. Pluck! Pluck!

“Yeeee gads! My hair is falling out!” This is a cry that can affect your whole family for long, awkward moments. What is it with your hair? Is it gone forever? Who knew that womens hair loss would be an issue? Let’s clear up some confusion and try to notch down some panic about this kind of a look in the mirror. 

About Hair
Healthy hair simply looks good. The healthier your scalp and hair follicles, the better your hair will look. If you’re starting to experience some hair loss
and a general decline in the overall health of your hair and scalp, it has probably been deteriorating for a while, and you’re only now seeing the effects.

Hair grows in a cycle of three phases. Each individual hair is in a growth phase (anagen phase) for 2-6 years, before it enters a transition phase (catagen phase) for 1-2 weeks, and then a resting phase (telogen phase) for 5-6 weeks. After that, the hair dies and falls out. Then the follicle returns to the growth phase, and a new hair begins to grow.

In normal, healthy adults, the approximate percentages of hairs in these three different phases are:

• 84% in the growth (anagen) phase
• 0-1% in the transition (catagen) phase
• 14-15% in the resting (telogen) phase

Returning your hair follicles to the anagen growth cycle is the objective of any plan to regrow healthier hair.

DHT Effects On the Hair Follicle
The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. This is defined as a state where 20% or more of a person’s hairs are in the telogen (resting) phase.

In cases of alopecia, the hair growth cycle has been altered so that the anagen (growth) phase is shortened. This results in an increased percentage of hairs in the catagen and telogen phases.

The enzyme conversion of testosterone creates a compound called Di-Hydro Testosterone (DHT). The effect of DHT on the hair follicles and oil glands of the scalp can be detrimental to the anagen phase that you want to lengthen.

In areas of female hair loss or thinning, the follicles have more sites to which DHT can attach, and more DHT at those sites. This buildup of DHT near the follicles can shorten their growth phase and increase the numbers of hairs in the transition and resting phases. A continuation in this buildup of DHT will actually shrink the hair follicles, which causes their hairs to become thinner, weaker, and look less healthy.

Reality Check: No product known today will grow a hair without a viable hair follicle. Only a healthy hair follicle can grow a hair.

A healthy hair follicle can resist the negative effects of DHT buildup and continue in a normal growth cycle longer than an unhealthy one can. Hair care products that seek to lessen DHT work by binding to the same sites on the hair follicle to which DHT attaches. This blocks the abnormal response of the follicle to DHT, so it blocks the harm that is causing the weakening and loss of the hair.

The nutritional supplements recommended by a naturopathic physician work by helping the body to normalize its hormone levels, while increasing the circulation of nutrients and elimination of waste products from the hair follicle. This increases the strength of the follicle and protects it from further damage.

The amounts of the conversion enzymes that create DHT from testosterone, as well as the amounts of testosterone or cortisol, are thought to be genetically determined. This is why some people tend to have less of a problem with DHT than others.

The good news is that a person’s genetic expression (i.e., how their body is now) can be changed by what that person does in the upcoming weeks, months, and years, as well as how they do it. With advances in the scientific understandings of these physical events, you can arm yourself with the right information and learn to make the changes necessary to stop a hair loss problem. We’ll next explain how.

Hair Loss
A variety of health conditions and environmental factors can cause hair loss. Likewise, many different approaches can be taken to stop hair loss and even grow hair back.

Certainly, having great hair is important to us, but the body has many other important things to do on a continuous basis. Some are higher priorities than maintaining lustrous hair — things like breathing, eliminating waste, absorbing food, protecting itself from infections, fleeing from danger, and so forth. If the body has a limited budget of energy, nutrients, and strength, it starts to redirect its resources to the tasks it deems most important. This is fortunate for us.

If stressful events occur to lower that ‘budget,’ the body may find it necessary to prioritize other functions more highly than hair growth.

For example, if a person undergoes a series of radiation treatments to kill cancer, the treatments incur a major stress on the body. The body’s first priority then becomes to live and breathe to grow nice hair another day. As a result, hair loss is often the consequence of radiation treatments. Hair regrowth after this type of trauma is possible, however, depending on the state of the hair follicles and the person’s overall capacity to return to health. Naturopathic doctors call this their “vital force.”

Major Causes of Hair Loss
Hair loss might also be caused by various types of injury to the scalp, such as burns, radiation, acid spills, or scrapes. If the follicles are destroyed and replaced by smooth skin or scar tissue, a lotion or vitamin routine won’t very likely restore hair growth. At this point, it may be time for an implant, a weave, a wig, or a toupee. Or maybe it’s just time to accept the reality of a lack of hair. Bald can be beautiful, too.

Furthermore, various diseases, genetic tendencies, and auto-immune disorders can direct the body to neglect the health of the hair follicle, or even attack it directly. Some of these attacks might be triggered by environmental toxins, the side-effects of drugs, nutrient deficiencies, irregularities of hormone metabolism, or poor elimination of wastes. Here, we could discuss lifestyle choices and explanations of natural sciences such as nutrition, physiology, and biochemistry until your eyes glaze over.

If you have been taking anti-depressive medications like Zoloft or Paxil, you should be aware that the known side-effects of these types of drugs can include hair loss. The vicious cycle of compounding one’s depression by having to deal with hair loss makes these drugs a thing worth trying to avoid. Work with your doctor and be smart about your use of any medications, because many drugs have negative effects on hair growth.

If you are a “stress puppy,” and the slightest disruption in your plans tears you to pieces for hours or days at a time, your body’s response to those stress hormones can be yet another factor in hair loss and graying. Some training in stress management or anger resolution would be your best bet, while treating the resultant hair loss with physical medicines and lotions.

Sudden Hair Loss
Sudden hair loss can occur after severe psycho-physical stresses like illness, childbirth, menopause, losing a job, or loss of a loved one. This type of hair loss appears within a few weeks or a month of the trauma, depending on its severity. It is often reversible with time, emotional healing, and the principles of physical support described here.

Hair Loss in Women
Women seldom lose their hair for reasons of genetic predisposition. They do, however, experience hair loss from the other causes we’ve already mentioned. In addition, women are more commonly the consumers of hair treatments which are known to damage the hair and cause breakage and thinning. Rough handling, harsh commercial shampoos, perms, hair color, bleach, and cosmetics all can damage the hair follicles. Hormone fluctuations through life events of men or women also contribute to stress on the physical condition of the hair follicle.

Factors to Consider
What does your body need to keep your hair looking good? Factors include good nutrition, effective elimination of wastes, exercise affecting the circulation, a good attitude, use of safe non-toxic products, and sensible protections from injury. These contribute to healthy glandular functions, especially of the thyroid, adrenals, gonads, and liver. If the links in this chain of hormone functions are weak or broken, your hair will probably be the least of your problems. It might just be the most visible one in your mirror, though.

Before you spend significant amounts of money on lotions or supplements to treat hair loss, try to figure out what is causing your hair to fall out, and change what you can about that underlying situation.

Enlist the help of your doctor to figure out any internal causes. Have your hormone levels tested for thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, and functions of the ovaries or testes. Make sure your nutritional intake and digestive functions are up to par. Again, this is a complex issue. It may take some study about the lotions and natural medicines available to find a plan that works for you, but the benefits to your health and appearance will be worth the effort.

About the Author

Dr. Thomas S. Lee holds a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine (NMD/ND) from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. He has practiced and taught natural medicine in Arizona since 1986. His company, NaturoDoc LLC, is online at www.naturodoc.com, where you can find an extensive library of information on natural health approaches, as well as worldwide access to physician’s-quality health products that support these concepts.