Why I No Longer Offer HTMA

I used to really believe in HTMA as a tool for mineral analysis and offered it in my practice. However, when I ran the test on myself about a year postpartum, the results didn’t make sense to me, and I started to question it. I knew I was mineral depleted, I could FEEL it, but shockingly, the results did not reflect that. I was still breastfeeding, incredibly fatigued, moody, losing hair, and had poor sleep issues. So I started to dig deeper.

Here is what I found and 4 reasons why I no longer offer HTMA:

1) It is not real time data. It is outdated data. No matter how close you cut your hair to the root.

2) Minerals can be assessed through bloodwork. It is safer, easier, faster and more accurate. I have seen online influencers who offer HTMA saying mineral analysis by blood isn't accurate, but don't fall for it.

3) The hair is simply not a reliable means of determining minerals in the body. Yes, the body can excrete things into the hair, but it doesn't always, and the air and outside environment can as well.

4) Without validating HTMA against the blood, there is way too much margin for error and too high of a risk for not catching something important. If your practitioner wants to assess your iron, minerals, or electrolytes by HTMA alone and not alongside bloodwork, walk away.

There are so many that swear by the validity of HTMA, so I know I am in the minority here, but what I hope to do with this post is bring some awareness to its pitfalls.