What is an Aging Hair?

1- Mechanical Wearing Off

The hair is long lasting, and the stability of its molecules is remarkable. It is even rot-proof when it is preserved in the right conditions. Haven’t mummies taught us that Ramses II, dead for over 3,000 years, had blondish red hair? However, stability and invulnerability should not be confused. The keratin, of which our hair is made, is a dead substance that deteriorates on a daily basis if we do not take care of it. That is why the hair must be treated delicately; otherwise its beauty will not be able to resist to the multiple aggressions it receives.  

EXTERNAL FACTORS
- The sun and free radicals
- Pollution
- Clothes rubbing

HAIR UPKEEPING
- Frenetic brushing
- Excessively detergent shampoos
- Excessively hot blow drying, too close to the stems
- Colourations and decolourations, perms or excessively frequent straightening
- Daily use of gel…

Under the microscope, the analysis of a poorly treated hair appears as if it were split in two different parts. The stem’s portion that is closes to the root is perfectly smooth. Throughout the length, however, one can see micro splits, scales, split ends and other irregularities… The hair then becomes dull, fragile and starts to break.

This is a lesser evil, though, given that the hair constantly grows back and renews itself.

2- Physiological Erosion

What is more serious is the loss, both in density and in appearance, due to the degradation of the hair’s vital functions. With aging, the body’s cells do not regenerate themselves as well, and that rule also applies to the scalp. In the table below, we have listed the functions that make the hair live and grow, as well as the damages the hair can go through as it gets older.

Centre Clauderer's Opinion

Actually, according to our experience, all those damages, apart from the whitening, remain very theoretical. The hair does age, but much less than the rest of the body and the face’s skin, for instance.

Let us take a set of healthy hair, never altered, neither by the negative action of androgens on the scalp (androgenetic alopecia), nor by stress, a lack of iron, or any other hair problem… With age, such a set of hair may lose some volume, but only very little. The loss will begin in an almost unnoticeable way, after the age of 40, and should not exceed 20 to 25% of the initial density, at a very advanced age. For men as for women of the age of 50, if the hair starts to thin out and fall excessively, it is not just a matter of aging: other factors are involved, and their cause must be found. For instance, in women, hair loss, as of menopause, is often linked to an androgenetic problem, sometimes very discrete beforehand, but that should be treated as such.

In case of a doubt, if you are worried about the loss in your hair’s density, we advise you to check via a hair diagnosis whether some condition is not acting on top of natural aging, which, again, should only be very progressive, and mild.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION :
- Hair Loss: How to Identify Your type of Hair Loss (or Alopecia)?
- Thinner and Fewer Regrowing Hair (with sketches). What to do?
- Androgenetic Hair Loss/Alopecia Men Women
- Impact of Androgen Hormones on Hair Loss Men Women
- Iron Deficiency and Hair Loss
- Thyroid Problems and Hair Loss
- Daily Hair Loss: What is the Norm?
- Hair Properties (quiz)

FOR TREATMENT :
- Clauderer Anti-Hair Loss Treatments 
- Hair Growth an Regrowth: Where Precisely to Act
- Hair Loss Treatments FAQ
- Clauderer in-Depth Diagnosis

Diagnosis In-depth Clauderer Diagnosis: Have a complete hair checkup