Did you know, for most people, the cycle of hair growth lasts between 2 to 6 years. Hair grows approximately 1 centimeter a month during this period. Most (about 90%) of your hair is growing at any one time. The rest 10% is in a 'resting' phase. Ever 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and is replaced by new growth. Normally, as part of this cycle some hair is shed every day. However, some people do experience hair loss. This can happen to all, men, women and children.
A number of factors may be causing excessive hair loss. Here are just a few:
* You could loose excessive amount of hair after an illness or if you've had major surgery. the primary factor here is the stress of the illness and should be temporary.
* Some Hormonal problems may also cause hair loss. Overactive or under-active thyroid glands can cause your hair to fall out. Hair loss resulting as a cause of this problem can usually can be treated effectively.
* An imbalance of the male or female hormones, (Androgens and Estrogens) may cause hair to fall out. Dealing with the hormone imbalance usually helps and may stop your hair loss.
* Many women usually notice hair loss about 3 months after they've had a baby. This is also related to hormones. As you can imaging, during the pregnancy, high levels of certain hormones cause the body to keep hair that would normally fall out. After birth, and when the hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels, the normal cycle of growth and loss starts again.
*Certain types of medication can also cause hair loss. You stop losing hair when you stop taking the medicine. Some of these medicines which can cause hair loss are:
- Anticoagulants or blood thinners
- Medicines used for gout
- Medicines used in chemotherapy to treat cancer
- Vitamin A (if too much is taken)
- Iron deficiency
- Birth control pills
- Antidepressants
* Stress can also cause hair loss, and may be the hardest to overcome.
* Finally and probably important, hair loss may occur as part of an underlying disease or medical problem. This can be Lupus or Diabetes. This is the body's way of warning you of a possible medical problem. It is vital that the cause is found and be treated as soon as possible.
Can improper care of hair lead to hair loss?
The simple answer is 'Yes'. If you wear your hair in pigtails or cornrows or use tight hair rollers, the pulling action on your hair can cause a type of hair loss called 'traction alopecia'. If the pulling is stopped before scarring of the scalp develops, your hair will grow back normally. However, scarring can be the cause of permanent hair loss.
If you use oil hair treatments or chemicals used to perm hair, you could start losing hair. These treatments can cause swelling of the hair follicle, which will result in scarring and hair loss.
Male-pattern baldness or the term "common baldness" is baldness and is the most common cause of hair loss in men. Usually, men who have this type of hair loss and is hereditary. Some men start losing their hair at an early age and tend to develop a more extensive baldness. Common baldness, hair loss is typically and results in a receding hair line and baldness on the top of the head. Some women who develop female-pattern baldness, where the hair becomes thin over the whole scalp.
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Doctors, can they treat hair loss?
Perhaps yes, but the answer really depends on your doctor.Your doctor will probably ask you some questions about your diet, medications you may be on, whether you're recovering from a recent illness and possibly how you treat your hair. For women, your doctor may ask you questions about your menstrual cycle, pregnancies and menopause. It is possible that your doctor may need to perform a physical examination to investigate other factors which may be causing your hair loss. In some cases, your doctor may request either a blood test or a biopsy of your scalp in order to investigate your hair loss.
Are there any treatment for hair loss?
Depending on the type of hair loss, treatments are available - rest assured, you just have to find out the cause and a cure for it.
If your hair loss is due to the medication you're on, you may be able to request something different.
If you have an infection, this needs to be recognised and treated accordingly.
If the cause of hair loss is one of hormone imbalance, then you should seek to correct this and stop losing hair.
There are certain types of medicines or products which may help to slow-down or prevent the development of common baldness occurring. One such medicine, is 'Rogaine', and is available without a prescription.It can be used both both men and women and needs to be applied to the scalp. Something that is only for men is 'Propecia' and is available as a prescription drug. It comes in the form of tablets. Any of these products take a while until you start noticing a difference.
Alternatively, you could always seek advise/help from other suffers. With the Internet, there are vast amounts of information on almost all topics. You may also find natural cures and remedies which will cost you nothing and also not be detrimental in other ways.
If all else fails, you could consider either a different hairstyle or even wear a wig, hairpiece and investigate artificial hair replacement.
Having an Iron deficiency may cause hair loss. This can be corrected by taking Iron pills.
If your hair loss is due to the stress factor in your life, you might want to look into ways of relieving the stress and try to relax more. Hopefully, your stress is only temporary, so you shouldn't have to worry about losing hair as well!
