Can dying your hair cause hair loss?

If I use a just for men hair color every 6 to 8 weeks, will this damage my hair? A hair doctor has advised me it will not. Thank you.

Thanks for your question. Hair dye can damage your hair, but in most cases it will not cause hair loss. Dying your hair causes protein loss from the hair in tiny amounts, which can make the hair appear thinner, especially if you lighten your hair color. However it rarely causes hair loss.

UPDATE: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

I received this comment on this article from someone who has had first hand experience of hair loss caused by hair die. Everybody please read this.

I am so frustrated with all the many “hair loss experts” saying absolutely not or an emphatic “NO” when asked if hair color is related to hair loss. After 4 excruciating years of losing my hair, a team of doctors – an internist, an endocrinologist, a dermatologist, teamed with a chemist and a seasoned Cosmotology instructor from a reputable Hair school it was determined that YES INDEED, it was the hair color making my hair fall out. More specifically, the volumizer in the hair color product was THE ONE & ONLY CULPRIT to my hair loss. The chemical travelled up through the hair shaft, under the surface, killing the hair follicle beneath the scalp. Because I was hard pressed to find any mention of hair color being the culprit, I continued to color my hair. I also continued to have vials of blood drawn on a regular basis because all the “hair loss experts” said “it’s definetely not the hair color, it’s your thyroid…” or “…it’s stress” , “must be an auto-immune defeciancy”, “…it’s hormonal” or just my bad luck. Had ONE of the so-called professionals been somewhat open minded and considered “hey, it might be hair color”, I might have been spared a couple of the four years of misery I experienced. I wish I could get the word out that hair loss can be caused by a number of factors, one of which IS HAIR COLOR so cease everything until you are certain what is making your hair fall out!

Rebecca

Thank you so much Rebecca for sharing this with us. Although your case is a rare one it is something that is well worth reading and carefully thinking about. This is great advice. I hope everyone reads this and pays careful attention to it. If you are suffering from hair loss and you use hair dye, cease using the hair dye to see if your hair loss improves. It’s a simple step but may save your hair.

How does hair dye damage your hair?

Hair dyes use chemicals to bond the colourants to the hair (both internally and externally) and this means the hair must be penetrated by the chemicals. Dying your hair darker is far less damaging than dying it lighter, but will most likely cause some very mild damage, unless you go to a really good hairdresser.

If you are dying your hair darker to cover grey you really don’t need to worry about this. The damage will not be noticeable. In fact the only damage that you would notice would be as a result of combing your hair while it has the dye in, as this might increase protein loss.

As far as hair loss is concerned, colouring your hair does not cause hair loss because the visible hair is already dead. Any hair that you can see (above the skins surface) is dead and is not growing. The only part of the hair that is alive and growing is beneath the skins surface. This is the most important part with regard to hair loss and hair growth.

If the hair bulb is affected by some chemical or hormone in the blood, hair loss can result. And if the hair bulb is not being adequately fed via the bloodstream, hair growth will stop. However dying your hair only affects the hair above the surface of the skin. If you want to increase your hair growth you need to influence the part of the hair that is beneath the skin — and that is how we stop hair loss and promote hair growth.