Hair Color and Hair Loss

Is There a Connection Between Hair Colors and Hair Loss?

If you are dying you hair, because it’s getting gray or just because you prefer a different color, you may have concerns about the connection of hair colors and hair loss. For years, hair coloring has been blamed from the occurrence of hair loss to the occurrence of cancer and other medical conditions. Is that true? is there a connection?

Hair Colors and Hair Loss Facts

Dr.  Philip Kingsley a leading authority in hair health in London rejects this claims:  “During my many years of practice in my London and New York clinics, I have never been able to associate hair loss with coloring. I did an eight-month study involving 30 women and three men, who all underwent various types of hair coloring and none showed signs of extra hair loss. A bad color job, however, can cause hair breakage, which may be confused with extra hair loss.”

In order for hair color, or any other substance to cause hair loss, it has to penetrate the scalp, into the hair follicles and cause damage. Fact is, hair color does not penetrate or absorbed, therefore it can’t damage the follicles. Millions of people, men and women are coloring there hair every day, and still don’t suffer from hair loss. If dying your hair would have caused baldness – no one would have color his hair.

What can still cause hair loss are:

• The use of low quality coloring agents, that cause skin irritation or allergic reaction.
• Too much heat during hair treatments (using fans). Heat may damage the skin – and the follicles, so be careful using it.

In these cases, the hair itself may take damage and break. In extreme cases visible thin spots may appear. Always use reputable hair coloring products. This is easy – you will find them in many stores and in the barber shop.

Are Hair Colors Toxic?

There are some myths about the toxins in hair colors. In the past, hair colors contained high levels of toxins, for example Ammonia, but today, there is a huge advance in the field, damaging ingredients have been taken out and new ingredients replaced them, including natural and nourishing ingredients.

Dr. Bryant Decker, a hair loss specialist from Florida, refers to the connection between cancer and hair colors. According to Dr. Decker, research and studies about the effect of hair colors on health are being made for over 30 years now. There were some studies that indicated a link to cancer, but none could be substantiated on humans.  All studies that showed a link were conducted on mice – hair of mice was shaved daily and hair color applied to their skin. After few months (about 100 applications), most of the mice had bladder cancer. Thing is, it is unreasonable to base a link on this method of testing, as daily applications on shaved skin would seriously affect absorption rates. In real life you color your hair once in a month at most, and never on shaved skin but on your hair.

Research on humans were trying to find a link between hair dying and breast cancer,  bladder cancer and hematopoietic cancers. Results showed that people who used dye and those who didn’t had roughly equal chances of getting those two types of cancer. For hematopoietic cancers, studies have found a slightly increased risk of cancer in people who had used hair dye, however when the researchers looked more closely, they found that using hair dye intensively or using permanent dye, which contain more carcinogens than temporary dyes, did not increase the risk of hematopoietic cancers, meaning that hair dye wasn’t to blame for hematopoietic cancers.

Hair Colors Alternatives

If you would like to avoid chemicals like peroxide and ammonia, simply check the ingredients of your hair color. There are many companies who offer improved dying formula’s that contain less chemicals and more natural ingredients, for example – you can find many hair-coloring agents today that utilize henna or chamomile. While these hair-coloring agents are not as permanent as synthetic colorants, they are relatively safe and less risks are associated with them.

Hair Color and Hair Loss Conclusion

Hair colors should not cause hair loss, or health problems, as long as you use them with concern. If your hair color cause allergy – stop using it, and change is to a different, more gentle color, maybe of a different brand. You can also use natural color formulas that are safer. In any case, hair colors has nothing to do with pattern baldness, which is genetic. If you are losing your hair and coloring your hair, make sure to use gentle dying that do not cause skin irritation, as such irritation may increase the process.