bensyd

Hi

Slightly OT, but can anyone shed some light.

Since I moved to London 4 months ago my hair has been falling out. I have been told that it maybe to do with the water. Either because it is to 'hard' or because it is recycled and has alot of estrogen in it.

Does anyone know if either of these are true?

For the record I had a lustrous full head of hair , and there is no-one in my family either side going back two generations who has had hair loss.

Thanks

alanR

Have you thought of seeing a doctor?

And has the hair fallen out of everyone else in London?

stut

London water is quite hard (not as much so as further South, but still). Maybe it has oestrogen in, that would explain all the man-breasts appearing about the city...

Mr MCO

I personally love the water in London... It makes my hair and face very soft....

It is more likely to have to do with the chemical reaction with the shampoo or some other hair product that you are using. Try a new champoo first. If not... I am sorry to say... we tend to loose the hair as we get older... just kidding. We had a similar situation at a local university years back and was not the actual water.

EWANMEBABE

just check first to see if you are glowing in the dark, if this is the case then I suggest you only drink beer, bottled and imported as UK beer is bloody awful

hobarthoney

Maybe wash your hair in the beer

mattm199

Yes, I agree that radioactive tea should be excluded!

But probably worth seeing a doctor; various medical issues should be excluded.

bensyd

Thanks for the responses a quick poll around the office indicates I'm not the only one suffering from this problem, a few people who have also recently arrived have said the same thing, and my flatmate said she also had the same problem when she first moved here. Apparently it is to do with the hardness of the water causing a layer of sebum to build up. So I will be taking the spring water challenge, washing my hair with bottled water for two weeks and seeing what the result is.

I'll keep you posted

jabrams72

If it just happens to people moving in, you may want to not switch to spring water, so as to build up tolerance.

Interesting, this didn't happen to me when I moved here.

BEYFlyer

Likewise... I wonder if your job is more stressful or your diet has changed significantly since you've moved... Both would contribute to hair loss...

LapLap

People mention to me all the time how well their hair behaves in London - last time someone said it was a lady in a shoestore in Toronto who said how much she missed her London locks (well, not quite like that...). The hardness in the water here seems to stop hair from getting too fluffy

I knew an English girl who's hair initially fell out on moving to San Francisco, but my family has hosted loads of people from Spain and other parts of the world where the water is softer and none have experienced major hair loss. My husband moved here permanently from Japan last year and there was no hairloss from him either.

Has your diet changed at all? Again, have you tried switching brands to a UK formulation? And all those jokes about beer aren't completely stupid - it's extremely good for your hair applied topically.

If it is due to tolerance (I tend to get an upset stomach for a while when I drink tap water in another part of the world so I don't see why the water wouldn't affect the colony of bacteria that lives in the sebum on your head) I'm not sure that putting off getting acclimatised by using spring water will be beneficial in the long run. Main reason for concern is that it is unlikely that you will fully rinse all the shampoo/conditioner out of your hair with this method - it's a common cause of dandruff and, occasionally, hair loss.

CT-UK

What a crap statement, unless of course you have tried every type of beer, lager stout, light beer etc that is offered in the UK.

It is about as valid as a guy from the UK saying all US beer is crap and on invetigation they base this on try BUD once.

chris18london

Exactly ^ especially when Budweiser isn't even American anyway.

Maybe it was Fosters he tried

nimeta

Yes, but BUD is so very awful that I wouldn't blame anyone for forming such a conclusion

Back on topic though, I lived in London for 7 years, usually drinking tapwater each day, and I am pleased to report that I have hair everywhere I should have. Also, I don't recall seeing unusual numbers of bald people in London, so I would hazard a guess that the water is OK.

erila

Water in most areas of London is very hard - I wouldn't have thought that would make your hair fall out though! If it's really bad I would see a doctor.

As for the water, if you are concerned, you can get a filter fitted to the taps, they need changed every few months, and are expensive, but they are worth it. Personally I only filter drinking water, not water to bathe in, though.