Everyday Habits That Could Be Causing Your Hair Fall

As anyone who's ever clogged a bathtub drain or made a hair collage on the walls of a shower knows, people shed their hair. But no one wants to let go of any more precious hair than they need to.

Hair loss doesn't just happen in old age either. It not infrequently occurs in women in their 20s due to genetic factors or autoimmune diseases, but there are other ways hair loss happens, caused by common things you do every day. This type of hair loss is usually temporary, but still scary.

Cosmopolitan.com spoke to Jerry Shapiro, MD, professor at the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, NYU Langone Medical Center​​, and Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a trichologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic, about the surprising ways hair loss happens.

1. Taking birth control. Hormonal contraceptives can contribute to hair loss depending on the type of contraceptive and your unique response to it. The hair loss is typically temporary, but, according to Dr. Shapiro, "If you have a predilection toward hair loss, such as a family history, you may lose some hair permanently."

2. Going on a juice cleanse. Phillips frequently sees clients who, in the two to three months prior to experiencing hair loss, went on an elimination diet like a juice cleanse or a detox. They won't lose hair during the diet but will notice it weeks after it's over. "If there's a caloric restriction, then the variety of nutrients narrows," Phillips said. "The system's response is to cut off or lessen the supply of energy to hair, which the body considers a non-essential tissue." The hair loss that occurs in response to nutrient deficiencies is usually temporary and there isn't any damage to the hair follicles.

3. Not washing your hair enough. Alert, lazy girls everywhere: Wash your hair! Most women think that washing hair too frequently can promote hair loss, but washing regularly (once a day, for instance) "is absolutely not a problem," Dr. Shapiro said. For Phillips, what she sees more of is women under-cleansing the scalp. Each person's needs differ depending on the texture and type of hair they have, but, she said, "If your scalp ​has any inflammation — if it's itchy, flaky, or has any sensitivity — that can contribute to hair loss. If you exercise and you sweat, your scalp needs to be cleaned."

4. Regularly wearing tight hairstyles. Both Phillips and Dr. Shapiro referenced ballet dancers when speaking of hair loss that can happen around the edges of the scalp. Wearing tight ponytails or buns, or even braiding hair too tight "over time can without a doubt cause trauma to the follicles and compromise them," Phillips said. "If it feels sore, it's too tight."

5. Enduring stress over an extended period of time. I'm not talking about a busy week or a bad day, but an event that might cause more long-term stress, such as a breakup, a trauma, or career movement. "Cortisol can impact shedding or loss," Phillips said. "Not only that, when stress is higher, we don't make the best nutritional choices and we don't absorb nutrients as well either.​"

6. Experiencing regular heavy periods. The periods themselves don't equal hair loss, but over time, you may be losing enough iron from your system and if not reintroduced, this could be an "eventual trigger," Phillips said. "Iron matters whether we're 25 or 45."

7. Taking prescription drugs.​ In her practice, Phillips has seen patients come in with hair loss that she's able to link to acid reflux medication, for example — but that's not to say that all acid reflux drugs will cause hair loss in all people. "Prescriptions have the potential to be interrupters," she said, "but it's not one size fits all. It's individual sensitivities to hormonal receptors. What you want to have the individual understand is that if it lines up time-wise, and there's no additional variable that's relevant or potentially a culprit, then it makes sense to go back to your physician and say that you've noticed hair loss since the onset."

8. Overusing hot tools. Whether it's a curling iron, blow-dryer, or straightener, your hot tool is probably too hot. " Turn the heat down. If it's burning the back of your hand, it's burning your hair," Phillips said. "Hair will take some heat, but chronic repeated used will lead to breakage." Also make sure that if you are using hot tools, you hydrate your hair.

9. Heat styling wet hair. "If you have your hair wet and you [apply a hot tool], bubbles can occur within the hair shaft," Dr. Shapiro said. Air fills the hair shaft in multiple spots, leading to the bubble effect, and the hair can look dry or even get patchy on the scalp.

10. Applying chemical treatments. ​Treatments that curl or relax the hair can lead to breakage, and it's one of the more common causes of hair loss that Dr. Shapiro sees in his practice. Make sure that you or your stylist use the treatments properly, and not more frequently than the manufacturer suggests.

Remember that shedding hair is completely normal. But, if you think you're experiencing more hair loss than usual, consult your primary physician or a dermatologist. It could be a sign of a systemic issue such as an iron deficiency or a thyroid problem, for example; it could be a metabolic problem; or it could be genetic, according to Dr. Shapiro. And once you have a diagnosis, there are a number of different solutions available to treat hair loss.

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