Could LED light therapy be the hair regrowth solution you've been looking for? We dig a little deeper with the help from an expert.
As a much in demand hairdresser and trend consultant, Tom Smith, is well respected among beauty editors, celebrities and all those lucky enough to walk through the doors of Billi Currie salon in London’s Marylebone.
He knows more than anyone that the haircare landscape is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate, with new (and often hailed 'miraculous') solutions to a variety of hair concerns landing in the aisles and springing up regularly online.
This is why we’ve gone directly to Tom (who also happens to be our very own CurrentBody Skin hair care expert), to hear about the issues, causes and treatments he sees firsthand in the salon.
Here, he's sharing his thoughts on hair loss in particular, emerging new treatments such as LED light therapy and how to establish a routine that will have your tresses looking healthy, nourished and renewed in no time.
Salon concerns
For my clients, noticing the appearance of shorter hairs, around the hairline, or an increase in the amount of hair shedding when washing or brushing is when they start to seek answers. I reassure them that throughout the year, an increased bout of shedding is normal but in other cases, the shedding can be prolonged due to physical or emotional stress factors.
People are becoming equally as focused on maintaining the quality of their hair growth as they are maintaining the quality of the hair that has already grown out of their scalp.
Key causes
Hair loss and thinning can have various causes, but most commonly in the salon I see a correlation between poor health, a bout of illness or a period of high stress shortly. Hormonal changes in the body also play a role, with thinning hair during menopause or after having a baby also being quite a common concern.
Emotional stress and its connection to hair loss is often noticed less, and it's only after a conversation with the client that we can trace the hair loss back to a stressful period, emotional trauma or shock.
Share your hair story
Hair is so deeply intertwined with our sense of self that it can be hard to acknowledge or discuss when we notice our hair changing or thinning. Thankfully, more information is available and the conversation about how hair growth is connected to our emotional and physical health is more common. This increased awareness combined with an increase in treatment options means so much more can be done and means conversation around hair loss can be a proactive and helpful one - with multiple options to consider to help get things back on track.
Make the right choices
Healthy, stable hair requires a multiple-faceted approach. The first thing I’ll do is troubleshoot with my clients. Together we figure out the factors that are causing hair loss, damage or thinning, and pinpoint various adjustments that can be made to the haircare routine and discuss options for treatments.
Firstly, we break down the at-home styling routine (minimal heat and styling damage is often the most common cause) and ensure the salon appointments are reinforcing the quality of the hair rather than damaging it.
Next, investigate the potential cause of the hair loss: is it emotional, physical or hormonal? If there has been a stressful period of life, a pregnancy or a bout of poor health, hair loss is likely temporary and the treatment protocol is about rebuilding the density of the hair and adjusting the style to maximise condition of the hair in the short term, as well as defining long term goals.
If the hair loss is related to an ongoing illness or long-term hormonal changes, getting blood work and a hormone panel with a medical professional or Trichologist is recommended and will determine any deficiencies. The first step should be to prioritise a healthy lifestyle, like good diet choices and a focus on managing stress levels, followed by science-led implementations such as LED red light therapy and home use stem cell exosome treatments.
Embrace the new
Initially LED red light therapy for hair growth can be hard to understand. But, we already know about the energy-giving benefits of our sun - it preserves all life on our planet. So harnessing specific wavelengths of light (and avoiding the harmful ones) makes complete sense. Many clients are familiar with red light treatments in the form of face masks or in conjunction with facials and beauty treatments and so are aware that red light is a positive treatment option but haven’t yet considered it for hair health. One of the things I’m most excited about is having a treatment option to increase the quality of the hair before it has even left the scalp. This combined with a traditional haircare protocol is the gold standard of healthy hair.
Supercharge your habits
The LED technology is proven and offers a simple and effective option to improve the quality of hair growth, but secondly, for optimal results, incorporating the CurrentBody Skin Hair Growth Helmet into your daily self-care routine provides a change to your mindset and your habits around self-care. Requiring only ten minutes and incorporating the Bluetooth headphone speaker makes this habit super easy to implement, and taking ten minutes of self-care per day to know you are making positive and proactive steps to the health of your hair growth and therefore your self-esteem is a powerful emotional state to create a habit around.
We feel more hopeful and powerful when we take control of the challenges we face in life, and so the mindset benefits of this proactive habit have a knock-on effect even greater than the red light therapy alone.
Keep it simple
Each person who has sampled the LED Light Therapy Hair Growth Helmet comments that ten minutes is a reasonable amount of time for a beauty treatment, especially when you can multitask while wearing it. Many clients comment on the soothing nature of the treatment and how it encourages a moment of calm and stillness, a positive impact on the nervous system and stress levels is always a good thing.
I like to recommend aligning the use of the helmet with an existing habit, like charging the device next to your kettle will help you ‘habit stack’ that ten minutes of red light while you have your morning coffee, or perhaps it sits near your TV remote to remind you to use it while you unwind in the evening. There are always ten minutes to spare throughout the day somewhere - it’s just about finding the most suitable time before long the use of the helmet will be as intuitive as brushing your teeth.
Read more about the power of LED:
Everything You Need To Know About LED Light Therapy
How Can Blue LED Light Therapy Help Problem Skin?
Can LED Light Therapy Ease Rosacea Symptoms?
