It’s no secret that women are the biggest critic of themselves, and many hours of wondering, pondering, worrying and pontificating goes into the age old question of ‘am I looking alright today?’. Although this has long since been recognised as a problem, the explosion of social media platforms and the love of ‘the selfie’ have caused this to spiral, and women’s expectations of themselves can be sky high as they try to live up to expectations of what is perceived to be ‘normal’.
It won’t surprise you to hear that the biggest concerns that women have about how they look and feel are weight related, however, close behind that are concerns regarding their hair.
So what is it that has us tied up in self-conscious knots about our hair? Feeling that your hair is greasy or frizzy top the list of complaints in a recent Invista poll of 2000 women, and the effect of either of these issues can cast a dark cloud over the start of the day. It is suggested by this poll that women who identify either of these problems with their hair will then spend up to an hour fretting about it throughout the day – which is a lot of wasted worrying time.
Always wanting what you can’t have
The most important thing to remember is that the grass is not always greener. The person with long straight locks is probably lusting after hair that curls, the mousy brown could be wishing she had stronger colour, while others are busy bleaching the natural colour from their hair. The lady with thick unruly hair is probably looking wishfully at the thinner hair of a lady who wishes she could inject some volume into her locks, while the person enviously eying up another’s fringe may have others who admire how her hair frames her face without hiding behind a fringe.
The moral is that women are naturally self-critical of themselves and should try to take a moment to reflect on the good things about themselves and their hair, rather than become hung up on what they perceive to be the negatives.
Worrying about something important
Aside from those who worry about aesthetic issues regarding their hair, there will always be some who really do have something to be concerned about. Take hair loss as a prime example of this. It is estimated that around 40% of women will suffer from some form of hair loss at some point during their life. There are a multitude of different reasons for this, ranging from genetic predispositions, hormonal changes and thyroid complaints, to overzealous hair styling, deficiency of key vitamins and minerals, and also stress. While some of these are relatively easy to reverse over time, others are far more challenging.
Expert help
There are hair and scalp experts called Trichologists who can help offer support and advice if you are worried about hair loss and are unsure what the best options are for your own personal circumstances. If you have any concerns at all, it is better to reach out to the professionals sooner rather than later, they can either put your mind at rest or help you understand what is causing your hair concerns, and what the options are for treatment.
