Hair Information

How hair information is an indicator of general health

The internet is a great source for hair information, including styling guides, tips on care, hair loss prevention, and how to manage different types of hair. One thing that many people may not realize is that although hair is composed of dead cells, hair information can actually provide a lot of insight about a person's overall health. This guide will provide you with the information needed to use your hair information to better understand your general health and what you can do to improve it.

Reading your hair information is just like reading a book in the sense that you start at the top and then progress down. The first thing to consider about hair is the skin from which it grows, particularly the level of oil that is present. The oiliness of a person's scalp can be attributed to a variety of factors, some controllable and some not. While some people generally have oilier skin than others, the scalp will provide valuable hair information that can help determine if your personal care is effective or not. An excessively oily scalp can indicate that a person needs to spend more time on personal hygiene to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and the spread of disease such as lice. This hair information may also be an indicator of a diet that is composed of too many foods high in saturated and trans fats.

Hair information - Individual Hair

The next piece of hair information to be gathered is the spacing of the individual hairs. While factors such as age and genetics contribute to the number of hairs a person has, hair loss can also be an indicator of excessive stress and anxiety, a deficiency in critical vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B and keratin, and/or exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins either in the environment or in the beauty products a person uses.

Separate an individual strand of hair from the rest and use two fingers to run from the top to the bottom. This hair information will be more valuable for those with longer hair because it has been on the body for a longer period of time and will reveal more about the history of that person's health. A generally healthy person's hair information will reveal a smooth, consistent texture and width rather than a piece of hair that thins or thickens from the top to bottom. If a person has made recent diet, lifestyle, or health related changes the hair information gathered will be an indicator as to the impact of that change. Splitting, thinning, rough, and broken strands indicate an imbalance in that person's health.

When analyzing hair information it may be helpful to consider how researchers gain information about rainfall through the spacing between individual rings on a tree. A large space indicates a healthy year with plenty of rainfall while a small one indicates a dry season. Human hair information is very much the same in that the vertical growth indicates whether the person was generally healthy during the period that growth occurred.

While hair information may simply reveal a person's personal style, it's important to remember that it can also be an indicator of overall health.