Hair loss affects both men and women, but there are different causes behind it. Stress, hormones, excessive heat styling, a poor diet, and the choice of products you use can all contribute to hair loss.

Known as androgenic alopecia, this type of hair loss runs in families. It dictates your age when you start experiencing hair loss, how quickly you lose it, and the extent of your baldness.

Hereditary hair loss is one of the most common reasons behind thinning hair, and there’s one quick way to find out if genetics is causing your valuable locks to lessen without having to take a genetic test.

You can find out if you have hereditary hair loss simply by looking at the pattern of your baldness. In men, it typically starts out with progressive thinning in the crown, temples, or hairline. In advanced stages, the only hair left are located behind the scalp, or a rim of hair forms in the side of the head.

For women, hereditary hair loss isn’t as obvious because unlike other causes of hair loss, it’s widespread yet concealed. That’s because the hair on the temples and along the forehead stay normal among women despite general thinning of the hair.

Treatment for Hereditary Hair Loss

Without treatment, hereditary hair loss will continue becoming more pronounced. Generally speaking, the earlier you experience hair loss, the more prominent it becomes. This is why it’s recommended to do preventive treatment as soon as you start to suspect you may be losing hair. If hair loss runs in your family, you may want to start even earlier!

Here’s what you can do about hereditary hair loss without resorting to medications:

1. Give up your harmful hair products. Take a look at your dresser and bathroom to check out the ingredients found in your styling products, shampoo, and conditioner. If you want to prevent hereditary hair loss or are already experiencing it, the chemicals found in many of these products can actually speed up hair loss. Make the switch to gentle hair products, especially the shampoo and conditioner that you use.
   
   
2. Fill up your diet with hair-loving foods. Biotin, sometimes referred to as vitamin H, is a B vitamin that helps your body produce energy from food. Getting adequate biotin is essential for healthy hair. It’s most abundant in liver and meats, egg yolk, seeds, nuts, dairy, salmon, sweet potato, avocadoes, and yeast. Other food that’s rich in vitamins that are good for both your hair and body include spinach, berries, fatty fish, and sweet peppers.
   
   
3. Natural stress relief: If you’re constantly stressed out, this contributes to quicker hair loss. Making the time for natural, proven stress-relief techniques such as exercise, meditation, and yoga will do wonders for stress while keeping the rest of your body healthy. The reason why stress affects your hair is because the hormonal changes it causes in the body affects the hair growth cycle. (Read More: Stress and Hair Loss)
   
   

Even though hereditary hair loss can’t be prevented forever, you can do your part to minimize its effects on your crowning glory.