Your hair pattern can change over time, shifting from curly to straight, straight to curly, or becoming thinner or coarser. While natural maturation is a factor as you age, there are several other key reasons why your hair texture might be changing.
Understanding Hair Texture Changes
Hair texture is not static throughout your life. It can evolve due to various internal and external influences that affect the hair follicles. These changes can manifest as differences in curliness, straightness, thickness, or overall feel of your hair.
Key Factors Influencing Hair Pattern
Based on research, including insights that reveal how factors beyond age impact hair, the primary reasons for a change in your hair pattern include:
- Maturation Process: As your body matures from childhood through adulthood and into older age, hormonal shifts and changes in the hair follicles themselves can naturally alter hair texture.
- Stress: High levels of stress can significantly impact your body, including your hair. Stress can disrupt the hair growth cycle and potentially influence the characteristics of the hair that grows back.
- Diet: Your nutritional intake plays a crucial role in hair health. Deficiencies in essential vitamins, minerals, and proteins can affect the structure and texture of your hair strands, leading to changes.
- Hormone Changes: Fluctuations in hormones are a major contributor to changes in hair texture. This can occur during various life stages or events such as:
- Puberty
- Pregnancy
- Menopause
- Starting or stopping hormonal birth control
- Medical conditions affecting hormone levels (e.g., thyroid issues)
These factors all play a part in your hair's texture, influencing how it grows and appears. While maturation accounts for some changes, stress, diet, and hormone changes are significant non-age-related culprits behind shifts in your hair pattern.
Understanding these potential causes is the first step if you're noticing a difference in your hair's curliness, straightness, thickness, or coarseness.
