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Are You Experiencing Hair Loss?
You’re not alone. Millions of people (men, women and children) experience
some form of hair loss.
The word “alopecia” is the medical term for hair loss. Alopecia
does not refer to one specific hair loss disease - any form of hair loss is an
alopecia.
Unlike alopecia, which describes hair loss where formerly there was hair
growth, hypotrichosis describes a situation where there wasn’t any hair growth
in the first place.
Reasons For Hair Loss
Most people normally shed 50 to 100 hairs a day. But with about 100,000 hairs
in the scalp, this amount of hair loss shouldn’t cause noticeable thinning of
the scalp hair. Gradual thinning is a normal part of aging. However, hair loss
may lead to baldness when the rate of shedding exceeds the rate of regrowth, when
new hair is thinner than the hair shed or when hair comes out in patches.
Causes of specific types of hair loss
- Pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia). In
male- and female-pattern baldness, the time of growth shortens, and the
hairs are not as thick or sturdy. With each growth cycle, the hairs become
rooted more superficially and more easily fall out. Heredity likely plays a
key role. A history of androgenetic alopecia on either side of your family
increases your risk of balding. Heredity also affects the age at which you
begin to lose hair and the developmental speed, pattern and extent of your
baldness.
- Cicatricial (scarring) alopecia. This type of permanent hair loss
occurs when inflammation damages and scars the hair follicle. This prevents
new hair from growing. This condition can be seen in several skin
conditions, including lupus erythematosus or lichen planus. It’s not known
what triggers or causes this inflammation.
- Alopecia areata. This is classified as
an autoimmune disease, but the cause is unknown. People who develop alopecia
areata are generally in good health. A few people may have other autoimmune
disorders including thyroid disease. Some scientists believe that some
people are genetically predisposed to develop alopecia areata and that a
trigger, such as a virus or something else in the environment, sets off the
condition. A family history of alopecia areata makes you more likely to
develop it. With alopecia areata, your hair generally grows back, but
you may lose and re-grow your hair a number of times.
Mistakenly thought to be a strictly male disease, women make
up a significant percentage of American hair loss sufferers. Forty percent of
women have visible hair loss by the time they are age 40, according to the
American Academy of Dermatology.
This type of hair loss is usually due to a change
in your normal hair cycle. It may occur when some type of shock to your system
— emotional or physical — causes hair roots to be pushed prematurely into
the resting state. The affected growing hairs from these hair roots fall out.
In a month or two, the hair follicles become active again and new hair starts
to grow. Telogen effluvium may follow emotional distress, such as a death in
the family, or after a physiological stress, such as a high fever, sudden or
excessive weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, surgery, or metabolic
disturbances. Hair typically grows back once the condition that caused it
corrects itself, but it usually take months.
Traction alopecia. Excessive hairstyling or hairstyles that pull your
hair too tightly cause traction alopecia. If the pulling is stopped before
there’s scarring of your scalp and permanent damage to the root, hair
usually grows back normally.
Other causes of hair loss
- Poor nutrition. Having inadequate
protein or iron in your diet or poor nourishment in other ways can cause you
to experience hair loss. Fad diets, crash diets and certain illnesses, such
as eating disorders, can cause poor nutrition.
- Medications. Certain drugs used to treat gout, arthritis,
depression, heart problems and high blood pressure may cause hair loss in
some people. Taking birth control pills also may result in hair loss for
some women.
- Disease. Diabetes and lupus can cause hair loss.
- Medical treatments. Undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy
may cause you to develop alopecia. Under these conditions, healthy,
growing (anagen) hairs can be affected. After your treatment ends, your hair
typically begins to regrow.
Undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy may cause you
to develop alopecia. However, not all chemotherapy drugs cause hair loss and
normally after chemotherapy hair does grow back.
Hormonal changes and imbalances can cause temporary
hair loss. This could be due to pregnancy, having a baby, discontinuing birth
control pills, beginning menopause, or an overactive or underactive thyroid
gland. The hair loss may be delayed by three months following a hormonal
change, and it’ll take another three months for new hair to grow back.
During pregnancy, it’s normal to have thicker, more luxuriant hair. It’s
also common to lose more hair than normal about three months after delivery.
If a hormonal imbalance is associated with an overproduction of testosterone,
there may be a thinning of hair over the crown of the scalp. Correcting
hormonal imbalances may stop hair loss.
Hair treatments. Chemicals used for dying, tinting, bleaching,
straightening or permanent waves can cause hair to become damaged and break off
if they are overused or used incorrectly. Over styling and excessive brushing
also can cause hair to fall out if the hair shaft becomes damaged.
Scalp infection. Infections, such as ringworm, can invade the hair and
skin of your scalp, leading to hair loss. Once infections are treated, hair
generally grows back. Ringworm, a fungal infection, can usually be treated with
a topical or oral antifungal medication.
Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder). Trichotillomania is a type of
mental illness in which people have an irresistible urge to pull out their hair,
whether it’s from their scalp, their eyebrows or other areas of their body.
Hair pulling from the scalp often leaves them with patchy bald spots on their
head, which they may go to great lengths to disguise. Causes of trichotillomania
are still being researched, and no specific cause has yet been found.
Expert consultations in a private, relaxing
atmosphere. Contact us today.
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"Because of Hair Enhancements and Debbie
specifically, I now feel normal again." ~ Betty F.
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