Did you know that one of the most important things you can do to live a long and healthy life is to sleep? While it is important to balance quality sleep with a healthy diet, exercise, and mental stimulation, sleep is what helps keep our mind stay alert, our moods and emotions balanced, and even affects the quality of our hair.
Women spend countless hours and money trying to keep their hair looking strong, healthy, and full of life. But, without quality sleep, much of that time could be wasted, and here is why.
Why Lack of Sleep Impacts Your Hair
While you sleep your body is running full speed to try to repair injuries, stem inflammation as well as process thoughts, memories, emotions, and much more. These processes require that your body goes through the nightly sleep cycles which manage your body’s nightly processes. However, when you are not sleeping the recommended seven plus hours each night your mind doesn’t have the opportunity to properly regulate the chemicals and hormones in your body. This in turn results in both mental and physical stress which plays a critical role in maintaining healthy hair.
Ways Your Hair Might Be Impacted by Stress and Lack of Sleep
It’s Oily
A lack of sleep can be the reason you wake up with oily hair in the morning. As you sleep your mind uses that time to regulate functions in your body. However, when you are not sleeping enough those chemical and hormonal functions can be thrown off balance causing you to make too much of one thing and not enough of another. One way your body can overproduce is in the production of an oil called sebum which is created in the sebaceous glands.
In addition to over productive glands, regular insomnia can lead to a lethargic state where you may be awake, but it is difficult to manage simple daily tasks such as taking a shower which only contributes to more oils in your hair.
It Falls Out
Hair is highly susceptible to stress in general, when that stress comes from lack of sleep there are studies that show hair loss may be even worse. This is due to how your body responds to the normal day-night rhythm and the production of hormones such as HGH. A low production of HGH can contribute to multiple medical conditions including thinning hair. In addition, sleep loss can cause your hair follicles to weaken resulting in hair loss.
Split Ends
The primary reason for insomnia is due to mental stress or anxiety. Simply, your mind is so fixated on the world around you that you can’t sleep. The result is a long night of tossing and turning and a frequent sleep/wake night. The friction caused by restless sleep often results in what is called a double-split split end. Stress may already deplete your hair of the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for strong hair, so when you are regularly jostling your hair at night damage becomes even more of a problem.
Whether it is sleep deprivation or you experience chronic insomnia, the stress brought on by these conditions has a direct correlation to your hair and damage. The good thing is that damaged hair and even hair loss can usually be reversed by eating a healthy diet, using beneficial hair products, and most importantly getting at least seven hours of quality sleep each night.
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