Top Tips to Prevent Hair Loss

Hair loss doesn't have to be a secret fear, there are many options for helping your hair to grow and stay healthy.

If you secretly feel anxious about hair loss, you're not alone. Many women and men start losing their hair earlier than anticipated, or at a particularly stressful juncture in their lives.
A new study, the National Health Report, has uncovered some astonishing facts about the way Australian women feel about hair loss, with 1 in 7 women preferring to break a bone than lose their hair.
Given 68 per cent of Aussie ladies feel uneasy at the prospect of losing their hair and only 45 per cent reaching out for help when hair loss becomes a reality, it's clear that many women are suffering in silence.
There are numerous causes of hair loss, including genetics, age, hormonal changes post pregnancy and medication.
With 1 in 4 women admitting that they are currently experiencing hair loss, it may be time to be more proactive and open about the issue. Fortunately, once women address these problems and visit their doctor, there are many solutions available.
Here are top 10 tips for healthy hair by Richard Kavanagh, Viviscal Ambassador and stylist to the stars:

1. Definitely top of the list, is the right supplement:  A supplement that helps promote a healthy environment for hair growth is essential to preventing hair loss.
2.   Salon quality shampoo and conditioner: Choosing the right shampoo for your scalp and the right conditioner for your hair is essential. If your hair is brittle, use a protein based conditioner, if it’s coarse and needs softening, use a moisturising conditioner. If it’s limp and lifeless use a very light all-purpose conditioner.
3. Good diet: It’s widely considered that a diet rich in essential oils and nutrients can go a long way towards helping your hair look its best.
4. Regular scalp massage: There’s nothing like regular massage to stimulate the circulation, and the scalp and hair is no exception. Use the balls of your fingers and apply firm pressure in a circular motion to your scalp (without rubbing and pulling).
5.  Regular salon visits: Keeping your hair in good shape with a haircut cut can help it look and feel thicker.
6. Genetics can play a big part in hair loss: It’s generally considered that you look to your maternal grandfather for a genetic predisposition to hairloss. What is your mother’s father’s hair like? Yours could potentially go the same way.
7. Stress (or de-stress):  Some people find that their hair really suffers when they are under stress. The more you can relax the better. Do whatever it takes… go for a surf, a run, a walk, hit the gym, meditate, watch a movie, and laugh. Believe it or not, the less stressed you are, the better your overall wellbeing will be and as such, the more chance you have of keeping your hair healthy and thick.
8. Haircut: The best haircut you can have for thinning or thin hair is a blunt cut. Cut the ends blunt. Keep some weight in the hair, but cut square blunt layers to give the illusion of thickness and volume. Men, cut your hair shorter, it’ll look thicker!
9.  Prepare for the times when you might have hairloss. Postnatal alopecia is a lot more common than you’d imagine. Talk with your hairdresser about styles that will work for you if you start losing your hair after baby is born.
10. Colour. Hair colour can help make your hair look and feel thicker. It can even swell the individual hairshafts slightly which adds extra body.