Losing your hair at any age is a traumatic experience. It may occur incrementally at a pace so slow you don’t notice, but it can be brought on by changes in stress levels, too. Hair goes through four stages:

• Anagen – growing
• Catagen – brief transition between growing and resting
• Telogen – dormant/resting
• Exogen – shedding

Most of the time, your hair is in the anagen stage. Certain health conditions, like pregnancy or thyroid conditions, disrupt the natural progression from one stage to another, so if your hair loss is particularly acute, consult with your primary care physician to determine the root (no pun intended) cause. Once medical conditions are ruled out, there are several lifestyle and self-care changes that can awaken those sleeping follicles and get them back on track and growing again.

#1 Purify Your Scalp Weekly

Depending on your exercise or styling product preferences, you may need to deep clean your scalp every other week or more often if you don’t shampoo daily. Clarifying or purifying shampoos should leave your scalp feeling clean without making your strands feel dry. Just don’t use these cleansers too often and avoid surfactant-heavy shampoos that strip essential oils from the hair.

#2 Maximize Your Strands with a Hair Mask

Dealing with hair loss is a two-fold process. You want to regrow hair as soon as possible AND make your existing hair look fuller, healthier, and more voluminous. As part of the treatment family, hair masks restore lost moisture and plump up strands, so they look thicker. Swap out your daily conditioner for this Soft & Volume Mask once or twice a week. Distribute it through damp, freshly washed hair with a smooth wide-toothed comb, and then let it work its magic for 2–5 minutes before rinsing.

#3 Use a Heat Protectant

Dry hair is weak hair, and a lack of moisture can make strands more susceptible to breakage because they lose their elasticity. To prevent split ends and prevent environmental free radicals from stressing your strands, add an antioxidant-rich hair oil to your routine. Plant oils, like those found in the Amazonian Sacha Inchi plant, contain abundant fatty acids as well as vitamin E, which hydrate and protect hair from damage. And you know the flaxseeds in your morning smoothie? They’re from the same plant that linseed oil comes from, and you’ll find both ingredients in the White Moss Normal & Delicate Hair Protecting Fluid.

#4 Break Your Hairstyle Habit

Be honest here. How often do you braid your hair or pull it back into a bun or ponytail? If the answer is “once in a while,” your hair will handle it like a champ. But if your predominant style involves excess tension, like the kind that comes from tightly weaving your strands together or creating a face-lifting ponytail, you may be unnecessarily straining your hair and pulling it out prematurely. We shed 50-100 hairs a day naturally, but tight hair accessories and styles overtax the follicles and cause hair loss, particularly near the hairline and the temples. Tip: Try to reduce your reliance on salon or at-home treatments that relax or temporarily restructure the hair, too. Any of these habits can cause hair loss.

#5 Switch to a Scalp Massaging Hair Brush

Last, but not least, rethink your hair tools. A scalp that’s struggling to produce new hair may benefit from the gentle massaging action the right brush provides. Massaging any area of the body improves its circulation and increases blood flow. The scalp is no different. The looped nylon bristles in Acca Kappa’s Beechwood Protection Brush are suspended in a rubber cushion, so every stroke glides through the hair while applying feather-light pressure to the scalp. There are no rough edges to grab weak strands, so you’ll get the benefits of massage while detangling as well.

Wondering what you can do for the man in your life who’s struggling with hair loss? Check out our tips here.