Why Hair Texture Changes

Your hair,like everything else on your body, can change over time for many different reasons. Even with the proper care and maintenance, there are some external factors that can play into how your hair’s growth, curl pattern and texture change.

1. Hormones

This is the most common reason for your texture change. The hormone chemicals in your body play a direct role in your hair growth. Normally, a hormone change takes place during pregnancy, and you will notice your hair to be thicker, longer and shinier. The vitamins are usually given the credit, but it is actually the intense amount of estrogen in your body. It slows down the hair’s shedding process, giving you the illusion that your hair is thicker. There is also something called a thyroid imbalance that can have a negative impact on the hair as well. According to trichologist Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips,  a thyroid imbalance can cause  “the hair to appear coarser, feel drier and more brittle. Other hormonal hair-changers are insulin, androgen and thyroxine/triiodothyronine, which cause hair loss, thinning and dryness.”

2. Health & Diet 

That beer belly isn’t the only thing n0t happy with your diet. Your hair and skin are affected by your choice of consumption as well. Your hair and skin crave high amounts of zinc, biotin, iron, vitamin E and omega fatty acids. These are often found in salmon, eggs, avocados, oysters, and dark green vegetables such as kale and spinach. If you are living on a champagne diet your hair is likely to become dry and brittle.

3. Aging

I am quite sure this comes as no surprise, but as we age the glands on our scalps aren’t able to produce as much sebum as they did during our youth. This causes your hair to become courser. In some cases, people genetically begin to have thinner hair as well. “Generally speaking, each follicle is still producing a hair but the diameter of each individual hair can marginally decrease over each growth cycle,” explains Phillips.

4. Medication 

Medications that affect your hormones, such as birth control and thyroid medication, can make your hair look and feel extremely brittle. In some rare cases people have even experienced hair loss.

5. Over Styling 

Too much heat styling can alter your natural texture/curl pattern. If you are one to straighten your hair every week, even if you are natural, this can begin to “train,” or in some cases, damage your hair. You will begin to notice that when you wash your hair the curl pattern may appear looser. The unfortunate part about this is it’s not reversible. This type of hair change can only be addressed by cutting your hair and starting all over.

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