What Could Trigger Hair Breakage? 12 Possible Causes

All hair types, from straight to curly, are susceptible to hair breakage. Sometimes it can be caused by hair products and the general hair care routine, or it can be a symptom of an underlying health issue. The hair has an inner cuticle with overlapping scales that holds the hair’s strands together. If it falls apart, this will result in dryness leading to breakage and damage. Also, hair breakage happens when it loses elasticity and prematurely ages. Sometimes it even happens at the roots of the hair, giving the impression that a hair fall occurs, but it’s not.

To know if a person is experiencing hair breakage, these are some symptoms: Dryness, frizzy, shedding, and short, broken hairs while combing, ragged hair ends, split ends, and white patches on the hair strands.  Fortunately, different hair treatments and products can be used at home to maintain healthy and strong hair, as hair breakage is only temporary. 

To understand more about why hair breakage happens, read below: 

Hypothyroidism

Weight loss and anxiety are two possible effects of hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid. Both conditions might result in hair thinning on the scalp and body or dry, brittle hair.

Hair thinning may also be caused by some thyroid problem medications. For example, antithyroid drugs propylthiouracil and carbimazole have a slim chance of causing hair loss. However, due to the long life cycle of hair, it can also be challenging to determine whether medicine or a thyroid disease is to blame for the thinning, breakage, and loosing of the hair. 

Furthermore, untreated severe thyroid problems might result in hair breakage and hair loss. Other bodily functions are affected when hormone production, specifically the hormones T3 and T4, is disturbed. It includes the growth of hair at the root. The scalp and other parts, such as eyebrows, may also become thin due to hair loss, which is not immediately always restored by new growth. Even after starting medication to treat this condition, a person may suffer hair breakage and, eventually, hair loss. 

Drugs are sometimes considered the main reason for hair breakage and loss with hypothyroidism, but the truth is the hair’s life cycle is the cause.