Whether you are a man or woman, knowing the causes of hair loss is an important tool in the fight against loss of hair.
For both men and women, if you start losing your hair, it can be very devastating.
You can either choose to live with it or do something about it.
The choice is up to you, but since you are here, you are probably looking for a few solutions as well.
Also have a look at how to grow hair faster naturally or other remedies.
While some causes can be easily treated, others may require a closer scrutiny in order to take the right actions to stop further hair loss.
Causes of Hair Loss in Men and Women
Androgenetic Alopecia (baldness)
This condition at its core comes from the over production of DHT (dihydrotestosterone).
DHT comes from testosterone; also present in females.
An excessive build up of DHT in your hair follicles causes new hair that grows to be thinner. Not only are these new strands of hair thinner, they also have a shorter duration of growth before falling out.
As there are fewer strands of new hair growth to replace these fallen hair, both men and women start to experience baldness and thinning.
Alopecia Areata (auto-immune condition)
In a healthy immune system, our white blood cells are programmed to attack infections and bacteria that invade our bodies. But in alopecia areata, these white blood cells start attacking hair follicles instead and cause hair follicles to become damaged.
As a result, hair starts to fall out and you experience balding or thinning hair. Fortunately, this isn’t a permanent condition. In many cases, hair usually grows back in a few months.
Why does this happen? It’s not known for sure, but it’s been linked somewhat to genetics. For every 5 families that have a history of alopecia areata, there is a 20% chance that a descendant will experience alopecia areata. This data suggests that perhaps alopecia areata may be an inherited condition.
Telogen Effluvium
What is telogen effluvium? If the name sounds really sophisticated or complicated, don’t be too concerned.
Telogen Effluvium is actually a condition of temporary hair loss. It can be caused by many reasons, but hair grows back after some time.
People who experience a sudden emotional or physical shock to their system can suffer temporary hair loss, but you will see hair grow back.
So what are the causes of Telogen Effluvium?
They are:
- A reaction to hormonal changes (eg. pregnancy, when a person stops taking birth control pills, etc)
- Short term illness (when a person suffers from severe infection, or undergoes surgery)
- Long term illness (cancer, liver disease, etc)
- Sudden changes in diet (going on crash or fad diets, which cause a drop in nutrition intake)
- Medications (when on anticoagulants or beta-blockers)
- Shock (emotional and physical)
Any of the reasons above could cause a person to experience temporary loss of hair.
Fortunately, once that shock or cause of hair loss is over, hair grows back.
Cicatricial Alopecia (Scarring)
When hair follicles are damaged by infection or inflammation, it causes the hair to fall out.
Scarring is also a typical result due to the inflammation.
When the scar forms, it prevents new hair from growing out of that hair follicle.
Why does this happen?
No one knows for sure why these conditions cause inflammation and subsequent scarring of hair follicles.
Traction Alopecia
You can tell from the word “traction” that this condition results from excessive tension on your hair and hair follicles. A person who goes excessive hair styling or wears a hair style that causes hair to pull tightly against the scalp can suffer from traction alopecia.
Over time, traction alopecia can result if there is a scarring on the scalp that prevents new hair from growing. However, if this particular condition is stopped early, hair can still grow back if the hair follicles are not permanently damaged.
Other Causes of Hair Loss
- Ringworm scalp infection
- Hair pulling disorder
- Stress
- Aging
- Women who have recently given birth
- Not getting the required vitamins and minerals.
Stopping Your Hair Loss
When you first notice thinning hair or excessive hair falling, it is important to start taking action as soon as possible.
If left for too long, reversing hair loss becomes harder and in some cases you may need to take even more drastic counter-measures to have a full head of hair back.
The causes of hair loss can vary and each cause will have different treatments to follow.
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