There Are Different Types Of Hair Loss Genetic And Reactive
Genetic:
There’s a chance you’re genetically predisposed to hair thinning, which means you may see a progressive, gradual reduction in hair volume. “In these instances, certain hair follicles are sensitive to male hormones and this sensitivity causes follicles to gradually shrink and produce slightly finer and shorter hairs with each passing hair growth cycle.” Explains Anabel Kingsley.
Reactive:
This means your hair loss is the result of a trigger. “Excessive daily hair shedding is not reliant on having a genetic predisposition, it occurs as the result of an internal imbalance or upset, such as a nutritional deficiency, severe stress, crash dieting or an illness” says Anabel Kingsley.
Stress & Hair Loss In Women
Are hair loss and stress-related? The clear answer is yes. Three kinds of hair loss are linked to increased stress levels which are as follows:
- Alopecia areata: There are a lot of factors that are responsible for causing alopecia areata and high stress is one of them. When alopecia areata occurs, the immune system of our body starts attacking the follicles of hair resulting in hair loss.
- Telogen effluvium: In this kind of hair loss, hair follicles go into a stable, i.e. resting phase due to high level of stress. All the affected hair starts falling out suddenly within a few months even if someone simply combs or washes his/ her hair.
- Trichotillomania: This type of hair loss is tempting desire to pull out hair from any part of the body like eyebrows, scalp, etc. There are different kinds of uncomfortable or negative feelings that make a person pull the hair. It could be tension, frustration, stress, boredom, or loneliness.
Both hair loss and stress could be temporary things in your life, if you can reduce your stress, hair loss can reduce/ hair growth can start. During hair combing or washing, if one sees sudden hair loss or higher hair loss than usual, consult a doctor. Unexpected hair loss can be a sign of a medical condition that might ask for treatment. Once doctor consultation is done, your doctor might advise hair loss treatment or at least options to treat it.
What Are The Common Causes Of Hair Loss In Women
What causes hair loss?
- Hair style: Your style of hair can cause hair loss when your hair is arranged in ways that pull on your roots, like tight ponytails, braids, or corn rows. This type of hair loss is called traction alopecia. If hair follicles are damaged, the loss can be permanent.
- Vitamin deficiency.
- Over processed scalp hair .
What causes anagen effluvium hair loss?
- Toxic substances, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and some medications. These cause sudden hair loss that can occur anywhere on your body. It happens to hair in the growth stage. Sometimes, this type of hair loss can be permanent if your hair follicles are damaged.
What causes telogen effluvium hair loss?
- Extreme physical stress or shock to your body: This causes temporary hair loss. This category includes events like losing a lot of weight, surgery, anemia, illness and having a baby.
- Extreme emotional stress: mental illness, the death of a loved one, etc.
- An abnormal thyroid.
- Medications and supplements: blood pressure medicines, gout medicines and high doses of Vitamin A.
- Hormone changes caused by pregnancy, menopause or birth control pills.
What causes FPHL ?
- Genes: Your familys genes can cause thinning of hair along the top of your head.
- Aging: Hormone changes as you age can cause balding.
- Menopause: This type of hair loss often gets worse when estrogen is lost during menopause.
There are also some conditions that affect hair loss:
Don’t Miss: Does Everyone Get Postpartum Hair Loss
Causes Of Womens Hair Loss
1) Hereditary thinning, or androgenetic alopecia to give its medical name, is the most common cause of womens hair loss. The tendency to develop female pattern hair loss can be inherited from either side of the family.
Generally this leads to thinning of the hair in women rather than baldness and can start in the teens, twenties or thirties.
Unfortunately, there are no cures for hereditary female hair loss. However, there are treatments which may help some people such as minoxidil, which is a lotion applied twice daily to your scalp.
An alternative solution which women with thinning hair may consider is female hair transplantation. This procedure involves moving hair from areas of your head with normal hair growth to thinning areas.
As with all surgical procedures, you should only undertake this after taking advice from a specialist.
How Can Hair Loss In Women Be Prevented
Preventing hair loss is not possible when it is due to disease, aging, heredity or physical stressors like injuries. You can prevent hair loss caused by caustic chemicals or tight hairstyles by avoiding them. You might be able to prevent some hair loss by eating a healthy diet that provides necessary nutrients in terms of vitamins, minerals and protein. You can stop smoking.
Also Check: How To Stop Seasonal Hair Loss
Is Hair Loss Normal
We all lose hair. Some hair loss is perfectly normal, as hair falls out after it completes the 2 to 6 year growth phase. You may notice loose hairs that have fallen out on your clothes or in your comb or hairbrush. The average person loses about 50 to 100 hairs per day. This is normal. What is not normal? Excessive hair loss in women may be apparent by the following: If your hair starts to fall out in clumps, especially when you brush or comb it or are in the shower, you should see your doctor. If you notice that you can see larger areas of your scalp or that your hair is thinning, see your dermatologist for diagnosis and treatment of your hair loss condition.
Returning To A Healthy Hair Cycle
The good news about stress and hair loss? The effects can be temporary and healthy hair growth can be restored.
However, you need to know that protecting hair from the ravages of stress has very little to do with what shampoo you use or expensive hair treatments. The secret to your hair looking thick and lustrous again starts with reducing stress and returning cortisol production to its natural balance.
These steps can help
Breathe
Deep breathing is a simple technique for stress reduction that can be used anywhere. Similar to other mindfulness-based practices, controlled breathing helps to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, known as the rest and digest system, which helps to lower cortisol levels.
Eat well and often
Since hunger naturally signals your adrenal glands to release more cortisol, dont skip meals or let yourself go too long without eating. Following an adrenal fatigue diet eating certain foods at specific times of the day can help your body recover its natural cortisol rhythm. Avoid the crash and burn that follows eating sugar, white flour, and caffeine. This spikes cortisol, only making problems worse.
Supplements for cortisol balance and adrenal function
Modify your exercise routine if you feel drained by it
Dont overlook your thyroid
Taking the time to reverse stress-related hair loss comes with another big bonus: not only will your hair look better, but you’ll feel better too.
Read Also: What Medications Cause Hair Loss In Women
A Dermatologists Diagnosis Is Best Before Treating Hair Loss
If you think you have FPHL, its important to see a dermatologist for a diagnosis. Women develop hair loss for many reasons. Other common causes of hair loss in women can look a lot like FPHL. Each of these causes requires different treatment. Without the right treatment, hair loss often continues.
You can find a dermatologist in your area by going to Find a Dermatologist.
> > > Breaking: Bald Guy Cuts Off Scalp Skin And Fixes Hair Loss
Besides medications, the treatment for hair loss can also include a hair transplant. In this procedure, small pieces of the scalp containing hair follicles are transferred to the bald areas. The surgery can be risky because it involves the usual risks of surgery, including shock and pain. Furthermore, it is expensive and is often not covered by insurance. But if you dont want to live with a bald area thats affecting your confidence and your appearance, hair transplant surgery may be the right option.
If the baldness is caused by a fungal infection, you can consider undergoing a hair transplant. In this procedure, tiny pieces of scalp are removed and moved to the bald spots. Despite the risks, this procedure is highly effective and is often covered by health insurance plans. A hair transplant can cost thousands of dollars, and you will most likely need to pay a large part of it out of pocket. The only downside to hair transplant surgery is the high cost.
Although alopecia is an embarrassing problem for many people, it can also be caused by trauma. People who undergo painful procedures on their hair may be at risk for traumatizing alopecia. This condition often results in thinning or falling hair. In some cases, the scalp becomes red and the scalp can even become inflamed. Antibiotics and antimalarial drugs may also be prescribed to help treat this disorder.
You May Like: What Is The Best Vitamin To Take For Hair Loss
Hair Loss In Black Women: Tips From An Expert
Almost half of black women experience some form of hair loss. However, few doctors are familiar with black hairstyling practices, leaving many women to sort through unhelpful or even harmful advice on their own.
Dermatologist Crystal Aguh, one of just a small group of dermatologists across the country specializing in hair loss, offers these tips to help women protect their hair and recognize common warning signs of hair loss.
Why Does It Happen
FPHL is very common and increases with age and varies across ethnic groups. Although it can happen at any age, the condition occurs most commonly following the menopause. This does not mean that hormones alone are to blame, although oestrogen may have a protective role, helping to keep hair in the growing phase. Age itself is a factor and whilst women can take care of their hair cosmetically, it is one aspect of the ageing process we cannot always control. Genetics are important too and you may notice a family link with both male and female hair loss. Occasionally times of acute stress on the body will influence hair growth, eg illness, emotional stresses and crash dieting. Some medications may have an influence too.
Read Also: Does Keeps For Hair Loss Work
What Is Androgenetic Alopecia
Almost every woman eventually develops some degree of female pattern hair loss. It can start any time after the onset of puberty, but women tend to first notice it around menopause, when hair loss typically increases. The risk rises with age, and it’s higher for women with a history of hair loss on either side of the family.
As the name suggests, androgenetic alopecia involves the action of the hormones called androgens, which are essential for normal male sexual development and have other important functions in both sexes, including sex drive and regulation of hair growth. The condition may be inherited and involve several different genes. It can also result from an underlying endocrine condition, such as overproduction of androgen or an androgen-secreting tumor on the ovary, pituitary, or adrenal gland. In either case, the alopecia is likely related to increased androgen activity. But unlike androgenetic alopecia in men, in women the precise role of androgens is harder to determine. On the chance that an androgen-secreting tumor is involved, it’s important to measure androgen levels in women with clear female pattern hair loss.
What Treatments Work Best For Post
While it can still be pretty freakin’ traumatic, the good news for those struggling with postpartum hair loss is that it’s usually a temporary phase and your hair should eventually go back to how it was pre-pregnancy.
The not-so-good news is that it can take a while for your hair to fully recover . Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix or treatment that can reverse or prevent the occurrence of postpartum hair loss. However, listening to your body and looking after yourself will help speed things up.
We know we mentioned it earlier, but hair requires a helluva lot of energy to grow, so if you’re not eating enough protein, iron, vitamins, and fatty acids, it’s going to take longer for your hair to get back to its normal self.
You’ll also need to make sure you’re clocking in enough sleep and minimising your levels of stress. In the meantime, pull a JLo and embrace that feathery halo of baby hairs! Suits you.
Also Check: Can You Really Regrow Thinning Hair
Female Hair Loss: Causes And Treatment
Far from being my crowning glory, my hair has been the bane of my life. But one question has always plagued me: is my problem on my head, or in my head? While I’ve suspected my hair has been thinning for decades, few people ever believed me and at times I even doubted it myself.
There were years when my hair seemed fuller, when I’d scrunch it into ringlets and delight at its apparent thickness. At other times, particularly in my 30s, I’d fret over the wispy strands at the front of my head or when I saw too much scalp in the mirror.
My friends always reassured me I had a good head of hair. Most of the GPs I saw reacted the same, despite my tears and protestations. I had no bald patches or visible gaps so they’d put it down to stress or would test my iron and thyroid levels, which appeared normal.
Some of my hair loss over the years is easily explained. I developed an eating disorder and recall gathering clumps of hair off my pink bedroom carpet when I was under-eating in my teens.
Weight loss, low iron levels, poor diet and stress, along with thyroid and hormonal imbalances, can all cause hair to fall, trichologists say. Hair needs a healthy diet and a well-functioning endocrine system to flourish.
“Genetic hair loss is the only hair loss in which the follicle gradually gets smaller and finer and producers smaller and finer hair until it stops altogether and then you get the thinning,” says Lyons.
How To Prevent Telogen Effluvium
There is no scientific or proven path to stop this telogen effluvium, and usually gets cured on its own, but there are some things that one can do to overall improve the health of hair. One of the methods is stress management, others could be taking a balanced diet, avoiding heat styling on hair, avoiding chemicals, meditation or stress buster techniques.
Don’t Miss: Do Stem Cells Work For Hair Loss
Scarring Forms Of Hair Loss
Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia
Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia tends to start on the top of the head with breakage and thinning, and often with some tenderness of the scalp, says Dr. Goh. It gradually spreads outward and can cause permanent hair loss. CCCA is especially common among Black women. Some recent studies have found that about 25% of people with this form of hair loss have a genetic mutation in one of the proteins thats responsible for the formation of the hair follicle, says Dr. Lenzy. On top of that, she notes that the same haircare practices that create tension and cause traction alopecia also contribute to CCCA.
Lichen planopilaris
Lupus
Lupus of the scalp is another form of scarring alopecia thats autoimmune, says Dr. Lenzy. Its common, especially in women of color. It shows up as red, scaly, thick lesions that dont usually hurt or itch.