Holiday shopping and holiday stress

Holiday Hair Stress

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holiday hair stress

The holiday’s can be a very stressful time. Most people are aware that stress can take a toll on your mental well-being, but did you know that stress can also affect your hair? Often times stress and anxiety can cause hair loss, which may induce more stress initiating a vicious cycle.

Hair loss can be a complex issue. Stress and anxiety increase levels of cortisol in the body. The influx of cortisol may cause hormone imbalances and increase skin sebum production. The body’s supplies to maintain healthy hair and growth are diminished.

The American Hair Loss Association states that during this time your body does not supply the hair with the nutrients it needs and tells your hair in the growing and resting phase to shed. The increase in sebum also clogs the pores on the scalp, which obstructs hair growth. Because of this, it is important to maintain a healthy scalp for healthy hair. The hair loss is not an immediate reaction, and often times an individual will not experience hair loss or shedding until 6-12 weeks after the stressful event. In some cases, shedding may not begin until 3-9 months after the event.

Holiday stress from traveling

With the holiday’s approaching, it is important to remember to take time for yourself and decompress–self-care during the holidays is extremely important. Ideas for stress relief include: meditation, yoga, or exercise. Eating a well-balanced diet and getting 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night can also help ward of stress and hair loss.

If you are experiencing an increase in hair loss this holiday season contact us at 615.662.8722.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

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Hair today, gone tomorrow

Is PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) For Me?

Are You A Good Candidate for Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Hair Treatment?

When we start considering the first steps of combating hair loss, there are so many options that it can be overwhelming as you try to decide which route to take! As each day passes, the hair loss world is revolutionizing and becoming broader, with more research leading to more knowledge. It’s a wonderful time for YOU – as a hair loss sufferer!

One procedure that has really made its way to the top of the market recently is Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP for short.  Sounds intriguing, but your next question likely is, “what in the world is PRP and how do I know if I am a candidate?!” Not to fret, passing along our knowledge and answering your questions is what this blog is all about!

Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (PRP) began over two decades ago in medical offices across a wide-range of rehabilitation therapy. PRP is now used in hair restoration for a natural way to restore stronger, healthier hair.  PRP hair restoration is suitable for both men and women. According to the article, Platelet-Rich Plasma in Androgenic Alopecia: Myth or an Effective Tool in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health PRP is an innovative and natural choice of therapy for quality hair restoration. Because of its use of the body’s own plasma, men and women of all age groups are ideal candidates for PRP hair treatments.

Based on the recent study’s results, the treatment is believed to work best on those who have viable hair follicles in a sub-healthy state that have fallen dormant due to the nasty DHT (dihydrotestosterone)! DHT is to blame for most hair loss and when testosterone reacts to the enzyme 5-alpha reductase.

HPIHair Partners is seeing great results & success in pairing our PRP treatments with our Low-Level Laser Therapy treatments for an added incentive to get those lazy hairs moving again!

HPIHair Partners has a team of Trichologist and hair loss specialist to help you sort through your clinical and holistic options for treatment. Visit our PRP page for more information and testimonials from our very own PRP clients!

Call us today to explore your options, (615) 662-8722. 

Restore Your Confidence, get back to YOU!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

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hair today, gone tomorrow part 2

Dealing with Hair Loss, Part 2

Social Acceptance

Socially, there are a lot of people who are teased or have been teased for hair loss.  As presented in the first post of this two-part hair loss series, stress can add to hair loss as well as lead to additional personal struggles–social ridicule makes the struggles with hair loss even harder.

People are often uneducated or naïve to the medical or genetic conditions that can cause hair loss. Studies show that 60% of men are teased for balding at some point in their lives. Hair loss often causes people to limit their social activities, causing them to stay indoors, and often retract themselves from others or the public in general. Surveys have also shown that around 40% of women with alopecia have had marital problems, and around 63% claimed to have career related problems, such as, limited opportunities for promotions or advancement.

Although all of this may come across as very discouraging news, the GOOD news is that we have great options at HPIHair in Nashville for those battling hair loss! Many people will often try in-home remedies such as, oils, hair masks, or over-the-counter vitamins to begin. Although we are certainly not opposed to this idea, most hair loss sufferers will need to seek professional screening and/or blood testing for a proper diagnosis before being able to know how or where to begin treating. We recommend starting with your local physician or dermatologist.

Available Solutions

We offer non-surgical solutions for men, women, children, adults, and seniors! These solutions include Low-Level Laser Therapy, DHT fighting products, scalp injections, growth factors, and customized enhancements! All of which have the capability of helping you look and feel like yourself again! Our focus is making every person feel the very best about themselves and we look forward to sending our clients out of our doors with restored confidence and with a renewed outlook on the day and life.

“And suddenly you just know…it’s time to start something new & trust the magic of beginnings.” -Meister Eckhart

Call us today to explore your options, 615.662.8722. 

HPIHair Testimonials: Woman & Men tell their stories

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

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hair today, gone tomorrow!

Dealing with Hair Loss

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you woke up one day and didn’t have your hair anymore? This is an unfortunate realization and struggle so many people face on a daily basis. Often, it’s not an overnight issue; however, that doesn’t make it any less traumatic. Sometimes people battle hair loss as early as infancy into latter adulthood.

According to The Hair Society, approximately 35 million men and 21 million women suffer from hair loss. Typically beginning at age 35, men have a 40% loss rate which increases to a 70% loss rate at age 80. However, women age 60 who experience hair loss will be in the 80% range.  Much of the world-wide population will lose more hair than they ever dreamed and they will need professional services to help them restore their hair.

Stress and Hair LossCould you imagine how that would make you feel? How would it affect your psychological behaviors, social life, relationships, self-confidence, or even your career path due to your physical appearance? It can really take a toll on people mentally & emotionally! It often causes people to stress, which may initially, or later, lead to impulsive behaviors to find the right “quick fix.” Here at HPIHair, we often consult with those about some of their very deep insecurities that they may have lived with for many years. Furthermore, we see many people who are affected by anxiety brought on by their hair loss. The fear of people knowing or noticing, just people looking in the general vicinity of the head will often make people extremely self-conscious. Depression is another well-known side-effect of hair loss.

According to EMedExpert, the discovery of hair loss is a stressful experience for both sexes, but substantially more distressing for women. Throughout the course of history attitudes towards baldness have been overwhelmingly negative. Living with alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, alopecia universalis, trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling), or genetic hair thinning can be difficult in a culture that views hair as a sign of youth, beauty, and good health.

“Whether you are bald by [medical diagnosis, uncontrolled behaviors, genetics], or by choice, you are FABULOUS! It is the quality of the heart and soul that makes you, YOU! and that is a beautiful and special person.” – Bald & Fabulous

Call us today to explore your options, 615.662.8722.

Learn More About Hair Loss and HPIHair Solutions

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH BFRB & TRICHOTILLOMANIA

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back to school with bfrb & trichotillomania

First and foremost, we’d like to thank our friends at The TLC Foundation for a great amount of information, tips, & tricks for our body focused repetitive behavior clients! Their newsletters, webinars, and resource lists are so very helpful for us and our trichotillomania community, and we’re grateful to have them as an outlet to better ourselves as well as our clients!

You may be wondering what BFRB is, and that is a body focused repetitive behavior. In our world, we deal with trichotillomania patients daily. Trichotillomania is a disorder that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out body hair. People who have trich have the urge to pull out their hair, usually from their scalp, eyelashes, and eyebrows. Trichotillomania is a type of impulse control disorder. People with these disorders know that they can do damage by acting on the impulses, but they cannot stop themselves.

As you can imagine, having BFRBs can really be impacted by changes or certain activities that can trigger extra stress. Heading back to school certainly falls into the category of stress-related triggers!

“Most children with BFRBs experience some resumption of the behavior during the first quarter of the school year,” says TLC Scientific Advisory Board members.

Teens, college students, and adults with BFRBs may also experience increases in these behaviors as their schedules get busier & continues to fill up and add to the amount of pressure or stressors. TLC has come up with some great ways to cope with the anxieties of starting off a new school year on the right foot!

There are some great tools and resources for coping with BFRB, plus books, finger fidgets, and educational materials to help smooth the transition to a more hectic time of the year. Check out The TLC Foundation website for more information.

There is also a store at their website that you can purchase helpful tools such as Sensory-stimulating pencil grips, pens, and pencils to help kids in class by serving as school-friendly finger fiddles. There are toolkits offered with these items, along with soft and squeezable stress balls, snake bracelets, & spinner rings for the college level or adult level while at work.

We hope that this information will help you or someone you know with BFRBs to tackle the anxieties of back to school & enter this school year with calmness & confidence!

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.” ~Tom Bodett

Look Fresh with a New Summer Style

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look fresh with a new summer style

You promised yourself in January this was the year you were finally going to do something about your thinning or shedding hair. Now it’s summer, we’re half way through the year, and you’ve still not made good on that resolution! What are you waiting for? Summer is still an ideal time for a renewed you, and what better place to start than at the top with your hair!

Remember what it was like to anticipate the freedom offered by warmer days? You can feel that free again when you ditch the inconvenience of trying to camouflage your thinning hair. Seek out an experienced hair replacement specialist in your area. It’s a hard first step, but many, like HPIHair in Nashville, offer free consultations and you’ll be better informed about the best options for your individual situation.

If you’re not inspired yet, take a look at some of 2017’s new hair styles. If you’re considering a bold color move, check out a deep & rich shade of brunette or red. Or, if you’re lacking moisture from the summer heat, try our new Milbon professional line to restore your dry locks! I bet there’s at least one style that would look fantastic on you and you’re only a phone call away from finding a specialist, like our staff at HPIHair, to help you make it happen!

It’s usually the unknown factors that we fear about a process such as hair replacement, but once that hurdle is cleared you are well on your way to enjoying the rest of the year, much less your entire life! You deserve the freedom to be confidently dancing amongst the summer sands at any moment!

“Let your hair down, let your heart out, and let the light in!”- Bob Schneider
www.hpihair.com
615.662.8722
4535 Harding Pike Suite 302 Nashville, TN 37205

A woman with her arms outstretched at sunset, showcasing a fresh new summer style.

Look Fresh with a New Summer Style

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look fresh with a new summer style

You promised yourself in January this was the year you were finally going to do something about your thinning or shedding hair. Now it’s Summer, we’re half way through the year, and you’ve still not made good on that resolution! What are you waiting for? Summer is still an ideal time for a renewed you, and what better place to start than at the top with your hair!

Remember what it was like to anticipate the freedom offered by warmer days? You can feel that free again when you ditch the inconvenience of trying to camouflage your thinning hair. Seek out an experienced hair replacement specialist in your area. It’s a hard first step, but many, like HPIHair in Nashville, offer free consultations and you’ll be better informed about the best options for your individual situation.

If you’re not inspired yet, take a look at some of 2017’s new hair styles. If you’re considering a bold color move, check out a deep & rich shade of brunette or red. Or, if you’re lacking moisture from the summer heat, try our new Milbon professional line to restore your dry locks! I bet there’s at least one style that would look fantastic on you and you’re only a phone call away from finding a specialist, like our staff at HPIHair, to help you make it happen.

It’s usually the unknown factors that we fear about a process such as hair replacement, but once that hurdle is cleared you are well on your way to enjoying the rest of the year, much less your entire life! You deserve the freedom to be confidently dancing amongst the summer sands at any moment!

“Let your hair down, let your heart out, and let the light in!”- Bob Schneider

You promised yourself in January this was the year you were finally going to do something about your thinning or shedding hair. Now it’s Summer, we’re half way through the year, and you’ve still not made good on that resolution! What are you waiting for? Summer is still an ideal time for a renewed you, and what better place to start than at the top with your hair!

Remember what it was like to anticipate the freedom offered by warmer days? You can feel that free again when you ditch the inconvenience of trying to camouflage your thinning hair. Seek out an experienced hair replacement specialist in your area. It’s a hard first step, but many, like HPIHair in Nashville, offer free consultations and you’ll be better informed about the best options for your individual situation.

If you’re not inspired yet, take a look at some of 2017’s new hair styles. If you’re considering a bold color move, check out a deep & rich shade of brunette or red. Or, if you’re lacking moisture from the summer heat, try our new Milbon professional line to restore your dry locks! I bet there’s at least one style that would look fantastic on you and you’re only a phone call away from finding a specialist, like our staff at HPIHair, to help you make it happen.

It’s usually the unknown factors that we fear about a process such as hair replacement, but once that hurdle is cleared you are well on your way to enjoying the rest of the year, much less your entire life! You deserve the freedom to be confidently dancing amongst the summer sands at any moment!

“Let your hair down, let your heart out, and let the light in!”- Bob Schneider

A man and woman in a red car smiling under the sunshine.

Sunshine is not always the best medicine!

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sunshine is not always the best medicine!

Most of us anticipate summer all year round! Between the sun, the golden tans, the outdoor activities, & the upbeat attitudes, what’s not to love about summer!? They often say, “Sunshine is the best medicine.” While there is some truth to that, we have to make sure we’re protected from the dangers that come along with the excitement of the sunshine! While sunscreen is the primary tool to protect your skin from harmful rays, other elements can play a huge role keeping your skin safe in the summer sun we all love so much!
SUNSCREEN & HAT or VISOR: Make sure your beach bag is loaded with sun-protection next time you’re headed to the pool or beach. It’s especially important to protect your scalp if you have thinning hair. The harmful rays that cause sunburn can penetrate thin hair and burn your scalp, thus increasing your odds of developing melanoma in that area. Make sure to put sunscreen on your scalp or wear a hat. Don’t forget your ears – make sure they get a coating of sunscreen or are protected under the wide brim of a hat.
SUNGLASSES: You should be just as concerned about the type of lenses in your sunglasses as you are about how they look on you in the mirror. The darker the lens doesn’t necessarily mean they are better. Sunglasses should provide 100% UV protection, blocking all UVA, UVB & UVC rays. The best way to check is to take them to your optician. Most LensCrafter stores will check them for free. Those with light-colored eyes are more susceptible to sun damage because they have less melanin, which is a protective factor in the back of their eyes.
LIP BALM: It shouldn’t be difficult to find a lip balm to your liking with a minimum SPF 15, preferably SPF 30. Make sure it’s a staple in your bag! You can choose a colorless or any one of the wide variety of colors that are available.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: The sun is most damaging between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., so plan your outdoor activities accordingly for maximum benefit!
HAIR PROTECTION PRODUCT: Hair can use an extra layer of sun protection. There are products in spray-on or leave-in form that protect the hair from drying out quickly and color fading from sun damage.
MILBON: Products are SUCH a great way to preserve your hair! Summer hair calls for more attention to moisturizing and repair products to keep the hydration in that the heat & sun removes. Although we should be using a thermal protectant and often times moisturizing mist or leave-in conditioner year-round to preserve our hair from any heat damage, this is a styling secret that comes especially handy in the summertime!
HPI is the ONLY salon in the Nashville area that carries a full line of Milbon professional products that are formulated specifically for processed or damaged hair!
There’s no reason to put your life on hold just because the sun is shining! We want you to go out & enjoy your summer! However, we want to make sure everyone has some good tips & tricks on how to be safe while doing so! The time for “Hairapy” is now! Let us here at HPI Nashville help educate & nurture your locks back to great health!
“It’s a smile, it’s a kiss, it’s a sip of wine, it’s Summertime!”- Kenny Chesney

Dear Stress, Let’s Break Up!

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dear stress, let’s break up!

Stress can come from anywhere- at any time, the older we get, the more susceptible we seem to be to this imaginary bully and its destructive ways on our well-being. It seems to creep in at the most inconvenient moments and wreak havoc. Impacting our social life, eating habits, sleep, exercise plans, confidence, and overall demeanor, stress is something no one is a fan of!

A 2017 study shows that more millennials & people as young as 18 are experiencing increasing hair loss from too much stress

While adults are the most likely to report these feelings and would be the obvious age group that is impacted, adulthood isn’t always where it starts. For most teens, there’s something in their environment that’s causing them stress-related issues as well. The majority of their issues start at school with the mixture of intense courses, expectations for performance within sports and arts, and the pressure of obtaining acceptance into a reputable college. During the school year, teens report their stress level being nearly twice as much as it is during the summer and holiday breaks.

How do you deal with stress? Do you lose sleep, stop working out, over eat or indulge in some other sort of comfort? Do you pick or pull out your eyelashes, eyebrows, and/or hair? If you are a young person and you pull out your hair or pick your skin, you are not alone. You and MILLIONS of other people share these problems. Learning proper stress management skills is the key to overcoming many obstacles. Additionally, the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors knows how to help those experiencing pulling and picking. http://www.bfrb.org/

HPIHair Hair Loss Image

HPIHair

Here are a few tips that we recommend for those who often find themselves paralyzed by the pressure of stress in their life.

  • Identify the source — Knowing what’s causing your problem is the first step to properly combating the issue. Keeping a journal in order to track triggers and effects of certain factors in your world that cause these feelings has been shown to help many individuals.
  • Learn how to deal or seek help — This step really encompasses a number of steps, once you’ve identified the issue comes the real need to hone in and get to work. Discovering what eases you in the moment, learning to manage your emotions instead of bottling or exploding, setting yourself up for overall success—it’s a process, and it’ll take time, but ultimately you’ll be grateful for the process that leads to a newfound sense of freedom.
  • Coping with stress is something we must all do at some point in our lives, regardless of who we are, where we come from or where we’re going. The choice is up to us whether or not we will allow this nuisance to deter us from moving forward and experiencing all that life has for us. At HPIHair we understand that it’s easy to give in, but we also know that it can lead to long-lasting effects like hair loss. We encourage you to take the appropriate steps to either gain coping mechanisms on your own or seek the help of medical professionals.Don’t stress. Do your BEST. Forget the rest!

    www.hpihair.com

    615-662-8722


    “A quiet mind is able to hear intuition over fear.”

Researchers discover that balding, gray hair are controlled by skin cells

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researchers discover that balding, gray hair are controlled by skin cells

Although it was not their original intent, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, have discovered that skin cells are directly responsible not only for turning hair gray but for balding as well. They published their study results in the journal Genes & Development.  Researchers have discovered that skin cells control balding as well as the graying of hair.
“Although this project was started in an effort to understand how certain kinds of tumors form, we ended up learning why hair turns gray and discovering the identity of the cell that directly gives rise to hair,” said Lu Q. Le, MD, PhD, associate professor of dermatology with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern. “With this knowledge, we hope in the future to create a topical compound or to safely deliver the necessary gene to hair follicles to correct these cosmetic problems.”
Dr. Le holds the Thomas L. Shields, MD Professorship in Dermatology, and is a member of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, also in Dallas, TX. He and colleagues were studying neurofibromatosis type 1, a rare genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on nerves. KROX20 is a protein associated with nerve development and is activated in the skin cells that become the hair shaft. These hair progenitor cells also produce stem cell factor (SCF), another protein that is essential for hair pigmentation.
In their murine model, these researchers found that deletion of the SCF gene in the hair progenitor cells turned the animals’ hair white. In addition, when KROX20-producing cells were deleted, no hair grew and the mice became bald.
Hair production was already known to involve the stem cells in hair follicles, and SCF was known to be vital for pigmented cell formation. What was not known was what happens after these stem cells move down to the base of the hair follicles and which cells produced SCF.
These researchers discovered that the cells involved in making the hair shaft also produce the KROX20 protein and that the cells that contain functioning KROX20 and SCF move up from the base of hair follicles to interact with melanocyte cells (which produce pigment), and then grow into pigmented hairs.
In the mouse models, hair was gray without SCF, turning white with age, and without KROX20, no hair grew at all. Dr. Le and fellow researchers are now studying whether the KROX20 in cells and the SCF gene stop working with age, which leads to the gray and thinning hair seen in older adults. They are also researching whether this dysfunction can also lead to male pattern baldness.
The research was supported by the National Cancer Institute, Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant, National Institutes of Health, the Dermatology Foundation, the Children’s Tumor Foundation, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.