Hair Mineral Analysis

Ideally, do not apply hair sprays, creams, gels and oils the same day of collecting the sample. The hair should be washed within 24 hours before taking the sample and must be dry for at least 4 hours after shampooing.

If you color your hair, either plan the snip before your next coloring, or wait until you've shampoo'ed about 5 times.

If you use Head & Shoulders, Selsun Blue, or Rogaine, switch to a different shampoo for 10 shampoos. (these 3 have minerals in them that will skew your results). 

No. We take tiny snips from all over, using the underneath layers so it won't be visible to anyone.

You are also welcome to have your hair stylist do the snip for you - the instructions are easy to follow. 

You may also submit hair from the groin area. You can take the kit home with you to do this. It is not recommended to use hair from the beard or armpit.

No, not in the way you’re thinking of it. This isn’t a cosmetic analysis of your hair itself. It’s a reflection of what’s happening INSIDE your body, which in the long run can also improve your hair quality over time but it will not give you any recommendations for hair care products, etc.

We will go over the results together so I can explain what it means and how to start rebalancing. The booklet will also include recommendations based on your results.

Because it is difficult in our current way of living to rebalance through lifestyle alone, I will also give you suggestions of vitamin or herbal supplements that will specifically help your situation, which I have available for you at the clinic. You are under no obligation to purchase supplements through me. I simply offer them as a convenience to you because I have worked with these for years and know their effectiveness.

No! Still go to your annual check-ups with your doctor and have your bloodwork drawn on a regular basis. A hair mineral analysis is not a substitute for medical care and will not give you a diagnosis. It cannot tell you if have a particular condition or disease – you need to see your doctor and get blood work for that.

The hair mineral analysis and your annual bloodwork are two important but very different ways of looking at the body.

The blood needs to stay in a very narrow range of its levels at all times, so the body does what it can to protect that. So, in many situations, something has to be bad enough, long enough before it shows up in blood work, and then it can be diagnosed by your doctor.

Hair is storage and elimination tissue so it works differently than a blood test. The hair mineral analysis is used as a tool to start bringing the body back into balance to feel the best that you can.

For most people, their first hair analysis is very reaffirming – they knew something felt a little off, but nothing showed up in their bloodwork at their doctor visits. For others, they might feel a little discouraged seeing their first hair analysis, so there are two important things to know…

First, EVERYONE is out of balance in some way. Whether from stressors, diet, social pressures, lack of sleep, toxins in the environment, medical conditions, etc, our daily life affects our mineral balance at all times.

Second, and more important, the hair mineral analysis is an entirely different way of looking at the body. We are most familiar with a biomedicine mindset about health - you are considered healthy until one day your blood test shows a reading that’s off, and, bam, now you have a diagnosis.

But, except for accidents and certain conditions that can develop quickly, most of our current symptoms were slowly and gradually started years ago, but so subtly that we don’t pay any attention to it until it gets bad. This is what lack of balance means. The changes you make now will have positive benefits for years to come.

This depends on what changes you make based on your results. The fastest improvements are when you follow the recommendations. Typically, you will start noticing improvements within the first one to three months. It can take up to one to two years to see significant changes in your results because these are long-standing patterns that developed over your lifetime.

This depends on your goals. Some people are curious and just want to see what it tells them. Most people use this as another way to monitor their health. You are eligible to retest every 3 months – the hair takes about that long to grow out and reflect the recent changes. However, I recommend retesting at six-month intervals. Your body changes and your plan should change with it so you are taking care of your body as it is today, not as it was a couple years ago.