The Hair Analysis Test
Testing is an integral part of my holistic chiropractic practice because of the information that it gives us. When we have factual data, we understand what may be happening in our bodies and why. It also enables us to create your unique roadmap to better health.
This article dives into the hair analysis, which tests for 39 different toxic and essential elements, including arsenic, lead, mercury, calcium, zinc, and selenium. Specifically, in this article, we will look at the impact of lead and mercury.
The hair indicates a long-term exposure of at least 3-4 months. The amount of each element found in the hair is proportional to levels in other body tissues. This makes the hair analysis a suitable indirect screening for physiological excess, toxic burden, deficiency, or maldistribution of elements in the body.
There are two general forms of toxic exposure:
Acute- from intense exposure of short duration
Chronic- from repeat low-level exposure over a prolonged period
The latter, chronic exposure, is more common. Today, lead is hiding in various places, including pipes, water, soil, and in the home. Mercury exposure is found in fish and pesticides. And this is just naming a few sources.
Your body is your ecosystem. When one area is impacted, it may affect other areas of the body. For example:
MERCURY displaces glutathione, vitamin C, selenium, and alpha-lipoic acid
LEAD displaces notably iron, calcium, and zinc, within the body.
High levels of toxic elements mean you are not adequately absorbing the nutrients your body needs. By getting tested, you know the steps needed to heal from dis-ease and return to your balance.
Watch this video to hear Dr. T speak about the importance of the Hair Test.
WHERE IS LEAD FOUND?
The EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) states, “Lead can be found in all parts of our environment – the air, the soil, the water, and even inside our homes. Much of our exposure comes from human activities including the use of fossil fuels including past use of leaded gasoline, some types of industrial facilities and past use of lead-based paint in homes.
Lead and lead compounds have been used in a wide variety of products found in and around our homes, including paint, ceramics, pipes and plumbing materials, solders, gasoline, batteries, ammunition and cosmetics.”
That’s a lot of lead exposure!
HIGH LEVELS OF LEAD IN HAIR
The three main types of categories of symptoms related to lead poisoning include gastrointestinal, neuromuscular, and neurological issues.
Early stages of lead poisoning include headaches, vertigo, tremor, joint pain, neuritis, general mental symptoms, psychoneuroses, problems with sleep, nausea, and fatigue.
LOW LEVELS OF LEAD
If the levels of lead in the hair are low, your body may be unable to excrete lead, therefore storing it in your body, including the brain.
Getting to an issue before it gets severe is essential. If we discover that there are high levels of toxins in the hair, we might go the route of helping facilitate detoxification through the True Cellular Detox program.
By getting concrete answers from bloodwork and hair analysis tests, we are best able to plan to heal all parts of the body.
What is Mercury?
Mercury (Hg) is a toxic element for humans and animals. The hair mercury level is an accurate indicator of mercury body burden.
Where is mercury found?
Common sources of mercury include large fish, pesticide residues, mercurial fungicides on seed grains, dental fillings, coal burning, calomel (mercurous chloride), interior paints, pharmaceuticals, the manufacture of paper, pulp, and plastic products, and water.
How does it affect nutrition?
Mercury displaces selenium (a major anti-oxidant), zinc (helps your immune system and metabolism function), and copper. Even very low levels of mercury have been found to suppress selenium activity. Selenium is a key to thyroid function.
See how interconnected we are. One area of weakness can affect the whole body. Getting to the root cause of dysfunction and restoring balance is what we are all about!
How does high mercury feel?
Symptoms of chronic contamination:
Gingivitis
Weakness
Ataxia
Intention tremors
Chronic fatigue (caused by inhibition of thyroid conversion of T4 to T3)
Depression
Poor memory and cognitive function
Learning disabilities
Behavioral disorders
Emotional instability
Speech impairment
Irritability
Peripheral numbness
Tingling or neuropathy
Sleep disturbance
Decreased senses of touch, hearing, or vision
Hypersensitivity and allergies
Persistent infections, including chronic yeast overgrowth
Compromised immune function
What to do next?
When you get the whole hair analysis, we can get concrete data on various toxic and essential elements. Considering your test results, we develop a personalized plan with dietary recommendations and a specific supplement protocol.
Many people often call for the True Cellular Detox program, which helps detox the body from toxic elements in three phases:
Prep Phase: Strength downstream detox pathways to support toxin removal.
Body Phase: Removes toxins at the cellular level and sets up a concentration gradient to move toxins from deeper tissue stores (i.e., brain).
Brain Phase: Clears deeper bio-accumulated neurotoxins that lead to most symptoms.