Why Is My Hair Suddenly Thinning
Suddenly thinning hair could be caused by a variety of reasons, such as a period of extreme stress, pregnancy, discontinuing birth control pill use, hormonal changes, a high fever, or pulling at your hair.
Sudden hair thinning thats persistent or hair falling out in clumps could be the sign of an underlying medical condition. Talk with your doctor if this occurs.
How Can I Stop Hair Loss
In the last couple of decades there have been several developments in the fight to stop hair loss. Perhaps most notable is the widespread success of Propecia. This is a tablet containing the active ingredient finasteride, which prevents and even reverses male hair loss.
Propecia is a tablet which is taken once a day. The finasteride it contains inhibits the conversion of testosterone into DHT, thereby slowing or even reversing the hair loss process.
You can order Propecia or its cheaper alternative, generic finasteride, through our LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor service, meaning that you dont have to book an appointment or go to a clinic.
Can Hair Loss Be Reversed
Yes and no. It depends on what type of hair loss youre experiencing.
Some types, like cicatricial alopecia, are permanent, while others that may be caused by stress or a medical condition are temporary. Once the cause has been identified and eliminated, your hair should start growing back.
Generally speaking, if the trigger goes away or whatever caused the injury to the hair follicle, then the hair will recover over a period of four to six months to a year, says Dr. Bergfeld.
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Why Dht Affects People Differently
Your proclivity to hair loss is genetic, meaning that its passed down in your family.
For example, if youre male and your father experiences male pattern balding, its likely that youll show a similar balding pattern as you age. If youre already inclined to male pattern baldness, the follicle-shrinking effect of DHT tends to be more pronounced.
The size and shape of your head may also contribute to how quickly DHT shrinks your follicles.
Improve Your Diet And Nutrient Intake
Eat More Protein
The hair is mainly composed of a structure known as keratin, a protein. Keratin plays a rather large role in the human body, as it is not only contained to the hair. It is also found in our skin and nails. And inadequate levels of protein can contribute to this structures breakdown .
By adding more protein to your diet, you provide a natural source that your body can use in keratin formation. You also increase iron levels, which is a nutrient that is also important for healthy hair.
There are plenty of natural protein sources to choose from, including:
- Eggs
- Peanut butter
Add Bone Broth to Your Weekly Routine
One great way to add protein and other nutrients to your diet is by adding bone broth to your weekly menu.
Bone broth is made when animal bones are boiled for a long period of time. The time varies, though six to 12 hours is common with poultry and 12 to 24 is common with beef and lamb.
This process enables the nutrients within the bones particularly within the marrow to infuse into the water.
One such nutrient is collagen. Collagen is a protein thats made up of long-chain amino acids. It plays a major role in cell maintenance and renewal and, as such, is found throughout the bodys various tissues and organs . In fact, collagen is essential to hairs elasticity which means a lack of collagen in your diet can lead to breakage and increased hair fall.
The easiest way to increase collagen intake is with a daily bone broth.
Monitor Your Nutrients
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Having Too Little Dht
High levels of DHT can increase your risk for certain conditions, but having too little DHT can also cause problems in your sexual development as you go through puberty.
Low DHT may cause delays in the onset of puberty for all sexes. Otherwise, low DHT doesnt appear to have much effect on women, but in men, low DHT may cause:
- late or incomplete development of sex organs, such as the penis or testes
- changes in body fat distribution, causing conditions such as gynecomastia
- increase in risk of developing aggressive prostate tumors
What Are The Symptoms Of Male Pattern Baldness
Male pattern baldness usually starts after puberty and develops gradually.
You may notice your hair gradually thinning at your temples and your hairline slowly receding. The hair on your crown may also get thinner and you may eventually develop a bald patch on the top of your head, which gets bigger over time. If hair loss continues, you may develop a horseshoe pattern of hair growth around the back and sides of your head.
Male pattern baldness doesnt usually cause your eyebrows, eyelashes or the hair at the sides and back of your hair to fall out. Hair loss in these areas is usually caused by other medical conditions. If you arent sure, or youre concerned about hair loss, see your doctor for information and advice.
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Dhts Connection To Balding
Hair everywhere on your body grows out of structures underneath your skin known as follicles, which are essentially tiny capsules that each contain a single strand of hair.
The hair within a follicle typically goes through a growth cycle that lasts about two to six years. Even if you shave or cut your hair, the same hair will grow back out of the follicle from the root of the hair contained within the follicle.
At the end of this cycle, the hair enters whats known as a resting phase before finally falling out a few months later. Then, the follicle produces a new hair, and the cycle begins again.
High levels of androgens, including DHT, can shrink your hair follicles as well as shorten this cycle, causing hair to grow out looking thinner and more brittle, as well as fall out faster. DHT can also make it take longer for your follicles to grow new hairs once old hairs fall out.
Some people are more susceptible to these effects of DHT on scalp hair based on variations in their androgen receptor gene. Androgen receptors are proteins that allow hormones like testosterone and DHT to bind to them. This binding activity typically results in normal hormonal processes like body hair growth.
But variations in the AR gene can increase androgen receptivity in your scalp follicles, making you more likely to experience male pattern hair loss.
proven to work by specifically targeting DHT production and receptor binding. There are two main types:
What Causes Hair To Thin
Any number of lifestyle factors, genetics, recent life events , or medical conditions can cause your hair to thin.
Lifestyle factors could include using certain hair products, wearing your hair up too tightly, experiencing high stress levels, or not getting enough of certain vitamins and minerals in your diet.
People who have immune system deficiencies could also have thinning hair.
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How Long Does It Take To Go Bald
If youre going bald, dont expect to see major changes overnight. Balding can happen across a span of decades and will slowly make itself present by hairline thinning and and your scalp receding hair over time.
Depending on how much your body reacts to your DHT levels, the faster or slower your rate of hair loss will be. That being said, there is no definite amount of time it will take for you to go bald.
Removing Body Hair Permanently
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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.
Why Your Hair Is Falling Out
You might start seeing more hair loss than normal thanks to the following:
- Genetics.
- Hormonal changes like pregnancy or menopause.
- Certain hairstyles.
- Damaging haircare like perms or bleaching.
- Medications like chemotherapy.
- Medical conditions like fungal infections or thyroid disease.
Working with a dermatologist, you can begin identifying what might be causing your hair loss. Your doctor will ask about your health, your medications and your family history.
I tell the patients to keep track of events that are unusual for them, for instance, a heavy menstrual period, says Dr. Bergfeld. So when we go back to look for triggers, well have some hint at what it could be.
Your doctor will also look at other areas on your body like your eyebrows, lashes, underarms, pubic area, legs and arms to assess if theres hair loss.
Many times, hair loss is an indicator that something more serious is going on.
Hair loss, particularly shedding, is just a sign that something has happened to the body, says Dr. Bergfeld. The hair follicle is one of the three fastest turning over cell lines in your body. Anything that affects your body and throws it out of balance will affect those systems. So shedding hair is an indicator that somethings wrong.
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What Should I Tell My Healthcare Provider Before Taking Finasteride
Before taking finasteride, tell your healthcare provider if you:
- have any other medical conditions, including problems with your prostate or liver
- Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
Noticeable Thinning Of Your Hair
Not all people experience hairline hair loss. Some men experience whats called diffuse thinning a type of hair loss that either affects the entire scalp or specific areas like the top of the head resulting in baldness that starts from the back or top, rather than from the hairline.
Just like a receding hairline, the easiest way to spot diffuse thinning is to compare photos from different time periods.
If you notice that your hair looks thinner now than it does in photos taken several years ago, theres a chance that its the result of male pattern baldness.
Since you dont normally take photos from behind you, the easiest way to compare the level of thickness in your hair over time is to take photos every two to three months in your bathroom mirror.
If you notice crown hair loss, its worth taking action to prevent hair loss further.
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Can You Reverse Genetic Hair Loss
According to Harvard Medical School, hair loss due to hereditary factors cannot be regenerated significantly, if at all. If your hair loss began at an earlier age, the chances that it will increase over time are high.
But there are options to slow down the development of hair loss. Certain medications are available for certain types of hair loss but you will have to be extremely disciplined when using the medication daily.
What Can I Do
- The appearance of menopausal hair loss can sometimes be improved by cosmetic practices, e.g. reducing the use of straighteners, hair dryers and other heat damaging tools. This along with the use of thickening shampoos and conditioners may improve hair appearance.
- A healthy, varied diet is a contributing factor to a healthy body, so a nutritional review may be helpful.
- Topical solutions to increase hair growth can be purchased. These take several months to take effect and must be used on an ongoing basis, or hair loss will return.
- Laser devices that emit low-energy laser light may stimulate hair growth to help fight thinning hair. Laser therapy is best carried out by a hairdresser or therapist with experience and training on these devices. The long-term safety and effectiveness are unknown.
- Some medications have side effects that could include hair loss. Make sure to talk to your doctor or pharmacist if youve noticed significant hair loss and you think that your medicine might be the cause.
- An important function of hair is to protect the scalp from sunlight it is therefore important to protect any bald areas of your scalp from the sun to prevent sunburn and to reduce the chances of developing long-term sun damage.
- Be reassured. Most menopause related hair loss does slow down with time.
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Regrow Thinning Hair With These 5 Effective Methods
At the first sign of hair lossor even before that, if youre proactiveyou should visit your board-certified dermatologist to discuss the latest and most effective retention and prevention tactics.
There are numerous options available to men now, and they each have extremely high success rates. We tapped our network of experts to get their opinions on the most common methods. Before we get into them, heres what some of those board-certified dermatologists have to say about the road ahead.
Benefits Of Prp Therapy
PRP is used for both alopecia areata and thinning eyebrows. The procedure can help strengthen your existing hair, slow thinning, and stimulate hair growth.
Benefits of PRP therapy include:
-
Safe
-
Relies on the bodys natural healing processes
-
Very few sides effects
-
Very little downtime
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Quick and easy procedure
If you suffer from balding or thinning hair, then PRP treatments might be ideal. The earlier you treat the hair loss, the better the results of the treatments.
PRP is highly favored for the treatment of androgenic alopecia, which is a genetic hair loss that usually occurs in women. It leads to a widening of the part and weak quality hair growth. PRP is also used for male pattern baldness.
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Cosmetic & Surgery Alternatives
If those drugs don’t help, you still have some alternatives. There are powders / concealers you can spread into your hair to give the appearance of thicker hair. There are downsides to that application as it can be messy.
There are toupees, which have really come a long way. Pretty much it’ll be integrated into getting your haircut Karl Pilkington did an entertaining segment on it for his show The Moaning of Life.
Another alternative could be to tattoo of “stubble” on your scalp to give the appearance of stubble. It’s called scalp micro-pigmentation and can work if you rock the bald look.
Most scalp micro-pigmentation treatments are typically split over three sessions, although the actual time may vary depending on the severity of your hair loss, the style youre trying to achieve, and additional factors. Micro needles used during the procedure layer pigment dots on your scalp in a process much like getting a tattoo, which is why scalp micro-pigmentation is sometimes called a scalp tattoo. The tiny dots create the illusion of a full head of shaved hair.
While it sounds kind of painful, most men usually experience only mild discomfort during the SMP procedure. Besides, most patients focus on the benefits of the treatment rather than any discomfort they may feel. Also, there are few, if any, side effects associated with scalp micro-pigmentation beyond some slight redness on the skin for a couple of days after the procedure.
How To Slow Down Hair Loss
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Whether youve recently started to notice a receding hairline or youve mastered ways to cover up your bald patch with the way you style your hair, male hair loss is a stressful situation.
Actually, on average, 50% of a mans hair is gone before they even begin to notice the hair loss.
Regardless of what stage youre at in the hair loss cycle or what the reasons are, baldness in men can cause a great amount of stress and result in insecurities about your appearance.
Once your hair looks a little lacklustre, youre bound to seek out hair loss solutions to avoid further damage.
Thankfully, there are solutions that help combat male hair loss, or at least give you a chance to rejuvenate the health of your hair.
While surgical hair transplants are a risky solution to the problem, weve highlighted 11 great treatments that will help you during the tough time of fighting hair loss for men.
The big question with natural remedies is do they work or are they just tricks that fool you into thinking that youre doing something about male hair loss?
While these remedies are not directly going to cure the issue, itll help your scalp get healthier, increase blood circulation and encourage hair growth.
Suffering from Hair Loss?
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