Five care tips for thinning hair

People lose hair for various reasons. Illness and medication (like chemotherapy to treat cancer) can cause hair loss. Hair loss can also be inherited from a parent. Often, hair gets thinner because it is fine-textured - or because too many harsh chemicals have been used on it - so it breaks easily.

These are hair-care tips to help protect hair, prevent further hair loss and add volume to your existing hair.

1. Try colouring

If you inherited a tendency for hair loss, you probably have very healthy hair overall. Therefore, your hair can benefit from permanent or semi-permanent colour to give body and volume to hair.

Medication can weaken hair, causing it to break or fall out. Semi-permanent colour is good in this case, too, because it does not contain ammonia or peroxide. It will not damage hair, but will give it body and volume.

If your hair is fine-textured, semi-permanent or permanent colour is fine, as long as it is professionally applied. Coloured hair can easily get over-processed, which damages it, causing further hair loss.

2. Use volumising products

Many volume-building hair products contain paraffin, which is beeswax. This is not good for hair, because it builds up and can make hair break.

However, volumising products sold in salons do help. They won't weigh hair down, and they won't damage it. Mousse, for example, can be applied at the root area for support. Then, begin blow-drying the root area, applying tension with a brush to build volume. Use a light finishing spray to hold it.

3. Shampoo and condition your hair when dirty

To protect hair, the best practice is to shampoo only when hair is dirty. Because fine hair gets dirty faster, people with fine-textured hair need to shampoo more frequently - even though fine hair breaks more easily.

For that reason, fine-textured hair benefits from a good shampoo and volume-building conditioner.

4. Find a style that suits fine hair

Hair dryers should not be a problem, even if you have fine hair. However, be very careful about putting high heat directly onto hair. Flat irons and curling irons can cause damage and breakage.

Because they contain very strong chemicals, curl-relaxing products should not be used for fine hair.

5. Get a permanent wave

Perms can help give volume to fine-textured hair - but hair must be healthy, not dry or brittle. Only a gentle body wave is advised, because tighter waves can damage the hair. Because chemicals in perms are harsh, a perm should only be a last resort for fine-haired people.

Again, make sure a professional stylist gives you your perm, so that hair is not damaged.