Cupping guides
Hair loss: causes in women and men (stress, iron deficiency, hormones, thyroid, heredity, after pregnancy, medicines), how to know which type you have, how much hair is normal to shed, what helps, when to seek care, and scalp massage
More hair in the brush, a thinner ponytail, a wider parting or clumps in the shower: hair loss is frightening, and the first thing you need to know is that there are a few types that look completely different and have completely different causes. The most common is telogen effluvium, where hair sheds evenly over the whole head two to four months after a strain (stress, illness, fever, childbirth, rapid weight loss, iron deficiency, thyroid, a new medicine) and grows back by itself once the cause is gone. The second most common is hereditary hair loss, which in women gives a wider parting and thinner hair on the crown and in men a receding hairline and thin crown, and which needs treatment to slow down. Here is how to tell the types apart, how much hair is normal to shed (50–100 strands a day), the causes in women and men, which tests to ask for (ferritin, TSH, B12, vitamin D), what really helps (iron if deficient, minoxidil, time, food, stress management) and what doesn't (most supplements and shampoos), when to seek care, and how scalp massage and light cupping of the hairline increase blood flow to the hair follicles.
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Always cold? Why you feel cold easily when others don't (iron deficiency, thyroid, low weight, circulation, stress, hormones, medicines), when to get tested, what helps, and how cupping and movement improve circulation
You wear a jumper in July, have cold feet in bed all year round, and freeze at the office where everyone else sits in short sleeves. Feeling cold easily is one of the most common complaints that is rarely taken seriously, and it almost always has an explanation: the body prioritises keeping the internal organs warm and reduces the heat in hands, feet and skin when for some reason it has no margin. The causes in order of frequency: iron deficiency (the most common in women, even with a normal blood count), an underactive thyroid, low weight or little muscle mass (muscles are the body's radiators), reduced circulation, chronic stress and sleep deprivation (lower the metabolism), hormone swings, certain medicines, and being a woman (seven times more common, for physiological reasons). Here is how to read your own coldness, which tests to ask for (haemoglobin, ferritin, TSH, B12, blood sugar), the warning signs, what really helps (iron if deficient, muscle, movement, food, sleep, layered clothing, external heat), and how cupping of calves, thighs and back plus daily movement improves circulation to hands and feet.
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