Why are Gen Zs losing more hair than millennials?

Hair loss has officially become a hot topic. For millennials, early greying and bald patches were an inevitable part of the ageing process. However, Gen Z are now discussing volume loss, split ends, flat ponytails, and thinning hair in their 20s. Is Gen Z really losing more hair with advancing age, or is it just a generational shift in perception? Here are the various reasons that support the claim that hair loss is becoming more prevalent with each passing generation.

Excessive workload, financial worries, aggressive academic environment, job-related stress, and a constant need to be connected can all affect the state of your hair. Telogen effluvium is a condition characterised by hair loss due to stress, which leads to an excessive number of hair follicles entering the resting phase prematurely.

The American Academy of Dermatology Association points out that stress-inducing events may precipitate telogen effluvium.

​https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/hair-loss/causes/18-causes​

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Crash dieting and strict dietary restrictions can cause hair to become deprived of vital nutrients. Gen Z is obsessed with dieting, where aggressive calorie restriction and extreme fast weight loss programmes are popular among the youth of today. Hair is not one of the body’s vital organs, and as such, it is deprived of nutrients first if one’s body does not receive enough energy or nutrition. This does not mean that all vegetarians, vegans, and people on restricted calorie diets will necessarily experience hair loss as a side effect, rather, it is the insufficient daily intake of nutrients that causes the symptoms, regardless of the diet’s name.

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Iron deficiency is indeed a serious condition that requires much consideration, particularly in young females. The connection between iron and hair loss, in particular, is not as straightforward as certain social media influencers may make it out to be. An Indian study conducted on women with diffuse hair loss also concluded that chronic telogen effluvium was the most diagnosed condition among the patients, alongside observing lower-than-normal levels of several nutrients in their bodies. The main point is that one should not simply go on a self-imposed iron supplement binge. Hair loss may present in a variety of forms and should be dealt with accordingly under the care of a medical professional.

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Not all cases of "hair loss" originate in the follicles. Overuse of bleach or other chemicals, heat styling, or tight styles can cause hair to become brittle and break easily. Additionally, hair loss can occur from pulling hair back too tightly. This is particularly relevant for a generation that frequently colours their hair, adds extensions, wears slicked-back styles, uses heat styling, and wears protective styles. A receding ponytail doesn't necessarily mean your follicles are dying, it could be that your hair is simply breaking more easily.

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