Hair loss is bad enough and embarrassing for many who suffer with it. Many believe they must be resigned to their fate. This is not true anymore. Seeking treatment as early as possible will provide a better chance of halting the problem and preventing any further loss. It is possible, though not in all cases, to have some hair re-growth.
Normal Hair Growth Cycle
Hair goes through three basic phases on an ongoing basis. All of your hairs do not grow at the same rate or at the same time. The Anagen phase is the growth phase and just over 80% of your hairs are in this phase at any given time. This phase can last up to ten years.
The Catagen phase is a time of transitions when the hair is between growth and resting. It lasts for only a week or so. Only about 1% of your hair is affected. The Telogen phase is the resting phase which lasts approximately 6 weeks. The hair then dies and falls out. The Anagen/growth phase then begins all over again.
Loss in Men and Women
Some loss of hair naturally occurs as we age. If you are seeing more hair than usual in your brush or on your pillow, you might consider at least consulting with your doctor to see whether you should consider treatment.
Loss of hair in men usually will begin in the temple areas and progress toward the back of the head. This can result in hair being left on the sides and back of the head or complete loss.
Loss in women begins with an overall thinning of the hair. Loss is also noted along a part site of women. A part is where the hair is separated leaving a line in a woman's hair.
Causes of Hair Problems
There are two types of causes of hair problems: avoidable causes of hair fall out and unavoidable causes of baldness. Within these categories is a wide array of the causes of baldness.
Avoidable causes include excessive use of hair products such as dies, tints, and straighteners. When used properly these things don't normally cause loss of hair. Hair can become burned and brittle. Excessive washing and blow drying of your hair can damage it and cause it to fall out. Hairstyles can be stressful on the hair as well. In tight styles such as ponytails and braids the hair is pulled tight. The hair becomes weak and breaks off. If the hair lies in an unnatural position for too long it could also be a cause of baldness.
Unavoidable causes include child birth and pregnancy or the use of birth control. About 3 months after delivery a woman will likely experience the fall out of what seems like a lot of hair. Pregnancy keeps hair in the growing phase for a longer period than normal. That hair then when it goes into the resting stage will fall off. The normal hair growth cycle will eventually return and the hair you lost will grow back over time.
For some people, a diet that is deficient in protein could also cause problems with ones hair. This can cause hair loss because the body takes that protein meant to grow hair to supply the rest of the body.
Illness, high fever, major surgery, or injury can cause hair to fall out. Some medications especially those used in chemotherapy and radiation will cause minor baldness but once the treatments are ended, over time hair will grow back. Sometimes the hair may change in quality and even color. Stress of all kinds can also cause hair ailments.
Conclusion
There are avoidable causes of blandness as well as those that are not avoidable. Some types of hair problems can be stopped; further loss prevented, and in some cases have hair grow back after treatments. Research suggests that early treatment gives hair the best chance of recovery.
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Causes and Treatment of Hairloss in Women
Hair usually grow at the rate of half an inch per month, and each hair goes through a growth phase of two to six year. After this, the hair rests for a while, and then falls out, giving way for new hair to grow from the same follicle. Most people think that only men suffer from hairloss, but millions of women all over the world suffer from some form of hair loss, and the number of suffering women is increasing each year.
Sudden hairloss is not dangerous or painful, but 60% women suffering from it find it very devastating emotionally, that affects their career and marriage, and causes many other psychological problems.
Baldness is one of the most traumatic experiences for any woman, and it can be devastatingly heartbreaking. No woman ever contemplates seeing her hair fall out in lumps, and still not able to do anything about it. Baldness occurs when hair fall out, but is not replaced by new hair.
Androgenetic alopecia is the most common type of hairfall seen in women, and it is also known as female pattern alopecia. The hair start thinning predominantly on the sides and top of the head. It can begin as early as puberty, but is mainly seen after menopause.
Physical stress, medications, thyroid abnormalities, emotional stress, rapid weight change, illness, anemia, hormonal changes such as menopause, pregnancy and birth control pills, diet, and ringworm are some of the common causes of temporary and permanent hair loss.
Female pattern baldness is different from male pattern baldness, and this may include breaking of hair, temporary shedding of hair, skin disease or patchy areas of total losing hair. Female pattern baldness is usually mild or moderate, and is permanent.
If the person is comfortable, no treatment is required to cover the baldness, but for those who want a cure, minoxidil is the only medication that has been approved by FDA. It is applied on the scalp, and helps hair grow in 40-90% of the population. There is also an option of hair transplant, or using wigs to hide the bald spots.
There are many myths associated with hairfall such as frequent shampooing leads to hair fall, perms, coloring and other cosmetic treatments cause permanent hair loss, wigs and hats cause hair loss, shaving the head make hair grow back thicker, dandruff can cause permanent hair loss, standing on one's head increases the circulation and stimulate hair growth, hair loss affects only the intellectuals, hair loss does not occur in the teens or in early twenties, certain cosmetic products cause hair to grow faster and thicker and there is a cure for androgenetic Alopecia. These myths are very common, but most specialists suggest that you should get your hair diagnosed thoroughly by an experience dermatologist, and develop a better understanding of the treatment options best suitable for you.
Chemical Breakage Causing Hair Loss, What Causes It?
There are many things that can trigger hair loss. One common problem is chemical breakage causing hair loss in cosmetics. Women are the most vulnerable when it comes to hair loss through cosmetics. Hair loss through cosmetics is usually the result of improper use of treatment chemicals.
In cosmetics there are some treatment chemicals such as relaxers. Relaxers function in such a way that they break the structural bonds of curly thus making it much straighter. Relaxing chemicals are to be mixed in the right proportions and the amount of time the hair is to be exposed to the relaxer should never be exceeded. If a relaxer is too concentrated there are risks that the scalp will be burnt and the hair splits and breaks. Hair relaxer chemicals can irritate the skin on the scalp causing the hair follicles to shed hair. This results in hair thinning and development of hair patches. Hair relaxers have to be applied by professional hair dressers to avoid damage to hair. After treatment with a relaxer it is advisable to use a shampoo that neutralizes to ensure the relaxer chemical is completely removed.
Another common problem of chemical breakage causing loss is the dying of hair. Some dyes affect the properties making it become more brittle. As a result of this, hair becomes more prone to breakage during combing.
There are also other chemicals that can cause breakage, which are outside cosmetics. Good examples of such chemicals are the chemicals such as chlorine in swimming pool water. The mixture of chlorine and salty water from the pool remove sebum from hair. The result is that after a swim hair becomes dry and brittle. If we do not shampoo after a swim we are at risk of increasing the chances of breaking.
There are other chemical products such as styling gels and oils that people apply to soften it. Some of these chemicals in the presence of ultraviolet radiation breakdown to form substances that can either irritate the skin or disrupt the structure of hair. When the skin is irritated by these chemicals hair follicles will be disrupted causing reduced hair growth and increased breakage.
To sum up the whole issue caused by chemical breakage, it wise to let only professional dressers handle. If you so happen to encounter any loss problems due to chemicals, it is possible to solve them with some drugs and treatments that are available on the market. Never experiment with your hair, for hair is very sensitive and any stress applied to it will cause it to stop growing. It is advised that all chemical treatments be done after making sure the hair is thoroughly cleaned and washed. This is very important as it helps remove things like dandruff which can mix with hair chemicals and irritate the scalp, therefore affecting growth.
Hair Loss - Assessing The Causes and Treatments
Fractional or else total hair loss signifies a condition called alopecia. The process of hair loss is initiated in a slow manner, which is followed by occasional hair fall. In order to follow a correct procedure for treatment, it is crucial to know the causes which are responsible for this condition.
On a daily basis, you tend to drop approximately 100 hairs, and the standard scalp is constituted of roughly 100,000 hairs. Furthermore, the separate hair strands are capable of living for roughly 5 years, and it is within this time span it is capable of expanding at the rate of 0.5 inch every month. Subsequent to this period, the hair is substituted in half a year by new strands. Genetic baldness takes place when the body is incapable of generating new hairs, and it is not only due to undue hair loss.
What Are The Causes?
• If you are undergoing bodily or mental pressure, it could lead to a condition wherein almost the entire hair on your scalp could drop, and this condition is referred to as Telogen effluvium.
• This condition could also occur when you are under the influence of drugs, which are inclusive of birth control pills, retinoids, beta-blockers. A few antidepressants like NSAIDs as well as calcium blockers could lead to this condition.
• There are certain autoimmune circumstances like lupus which can lead to hair fall.
• Presence of contagious diseases like syphilis could aggravate the condition.
• Hair fall could also be due to extra shampooing with blow-drying.
• Tinea capitis which is known as ringworm of the scalp can cause baldness.
• Alopecia areata is the condition when bald areas form on the beard, the scalp and could even extend till the eyebrows.
As you are now aware of the causes of hair loss, remember there is no therapy for it. Even if you resort to a surgical procedure of hair reinstatement, it is not a complete cure. All that it would accomplish is to restructure stable hair to the various balding parts.
Drugs Which Assist In The Treatment
• There are two drugs namely Propecia, and Rogaine, which are not capable of undoing the balding course; however they do stop its development.
• Minoxidil is also referred to as Rogaine is quite effective in treating this condition. Rogaine also does not treat hairlessness; however, it does slow down hair loss within the scalp.
• In order to get desired results, it is essential that Rogaine must be taken on daily basis-two times a day, and this is also useful for women.
• Finasteride or Propecia is equally effective in treating hairlessness. This medication functions by slowing down the exploit of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme thus it is capable of reducing the method of miniaturization, also known as balding.
These are the procedures involving hair loss treatment. In case the problem is quite severe; you can opt for a surgical procedure to treat hair loss. However, prior to surgical treatment, you must consult a dermatologist, cosmetic surgeon or a plastic surgeon.