How to Strengthen Hair and Promote Hair Growth

Stronger, healthier hair has always been a universal desire. But there’s no denying that the global pandemic, and all the challenges that have come with it, have put a far greater emphasis on maintaining and achieving healthy hair. By Laura Valenti February 18, 2022, https://www.vogue.com/article/strengthen-hair-guide-fine-medium-coarse “Since the pandemic, I have seen almost double the number of patients coming into the office for concerns of hair thinning,” says Joshua Zeichner, M.D., director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai. Of course, this is due in no small part to Telogen effluvium, or TE, a stress-related shedding of the hair seen after emotional or physical stressors, that has been linked to COVID-19 as a side effect of the virus. “With so many people affected by this type of hair thinning, there has been a huge shift in our conversation and approach to our hair with emphasis on protection and strengthening of the hair itself.” At the same time, New York dermatologist Dendy Engelman has seen patients with a newfound appreciation for their more natural, less processed lengths after foregoing regular haircuts, color, and treatments. “I think that ‘letting our hair go’ during the pandemic in a way made many of us see how damaging some of our regular habits are and also allowed us to press pause on them, which has caused a shift toward now repairing all of this accumulated damage with strength and growth treatments,” explains Engelman. Bridgette Hill, certified trichologist and founder of Root Cause Scalp Analysis, saw the past two years as not just a wake-up call, but an opportunity. “The pandemic touched every human and forced a connection between health and hair,” says Hill. “Prior, I believe our industry often minimized the body-beauty connection because it comes across as too new age or too esoteric, keeping everything to external fixes. The influx of hair shedding and scalp conditions surfacing is allowing hair health to be discussed in an intellectually, scientific way versus a way.”