Does Your Child Need To See A Doctor About Hair Loss
Yes. You should take your child to see your GP if your child has:
- significant hair loss or thinning for no apparent reason
- an itchy or tender scalp
- a spongy lump under the area of hair loss
- hair loss and also has a fever, is drowsy, is in a lot of pain or is generally unwell.
If your child is losing hair from large areas and is feeling upset or stressed about it, it might be a good idea to ask your GP for a referral to a dermatologist.
What Is Hair Loss
Hair loss is the condition of losing hair from certain areas of the body and not having the lost amount grow back. It can affect men and women at any age and can be caused by a number of factors.
But the biggest majority of hair loss cases are related to androgenetic alopecia, which most men and women go through in their adult life.
Mind you, Ive said not having the lost amount grow back, because hair loss happens when you either:
Consistently lose more hair than you can grow in a certain period of time, or,
Are unable to regrow the hair youve lost.
I know both sounds the same, so let me explain:
When you get down to the causes of hair loss, youre either going to end up with a variable reducing your hair growth, or a variable that is increasing the rate youre losing hair. So, while a part of the methods weve included on this list will focus on decreasing your hair loss rate, the other part of them will focus on increasing your hair growth rate.
How Is Alopecia Areata Different From Female Pattern Baldness
Female pattern hair loss, or androgenetic alopecia, is the most common cause of hair loss in women seen by medical providers. It is an inherited sensitivity to normal male hormones, or androgens, that causes thinning of scalp hair, often on the top of the head and the temples. It does not cause bald patches.
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Is Hair Loss In Women Different Than Men
Female-pattern baldness
Women lose hair on an inherited basis, too, but female pattern hair loss tends to be more diffuse, with less likelihood of the crown and frontal hairline being lost. Although some women may notice hair thinning as early as their 20s, the pace of hair loss tends to be gradual, often taking years to become obvious to others. There seems to be a normal physiologic thinning that comes with age and occurs in many women in their early to mid-30s. More women have underlying causes of hair loss than men. These include treatable conditions like anemia and thyroid disease and polycystic ovary syndrome . These conditions are diagnosed by blood tests along with a historical and physical evidence. Although a few studies have suggested that baldness may be inherited through the mother’s family genes, these theories require further testing. Current studies are inconclusive. Although not indicated for female pattern balding, spironolactone has had some success in treating this condition.
While stories about hats choking off follicles or long hair pulling on the roots may be more folklore, repeat hair trauma like tightly woven hair pulled back and consistent friction can potentially worsen or cause localized hair loss in some individuals. Individuals who pull their hair tightly back in a rubber band can develop a localized hair loss at the front of the scalp.
Hair loss “myths” of special concern to women
Take Care Of Your Body
Some forms of hair loss can be minimized or even prevented with healthy habits.
Eating a balanced and healthy diet and filling in the gaps with a hair-friendly supplement can help you avoid hair loss due to nutritional deficiencies. Actively managing stress can help make your body more resilient to forms of stress-related hair loss like telogen effluvium. And taking care of your follicles by avoiding stress from tight hairstyling can help prevent traction alopecia.
The health of our follicles is, in large part, dependent upon our general health and well-being.
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Treatment Algorithm For The Management Of Alopecia Areata
Patients with alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis can be treated based on age and severity of the condition. This algorithm outlines an approach that can be used from mild to severe forms of the disorder. There are now choices that the patient can decide on what is best for them based on efficacy, cost and side effect profile.
Natural Remedies For Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is a disease where your immune system attacks your hair follicles and leads to severe hair loss. As a result, bald/thinning patches appear anywhere on the body, though more prominently on the scalp. While the hair might regrow, the thinning and balding will likely start in another area.
Since the hair loss can be temporary or permanent, it can be a little too risky to not go for treatment. One of the best options for you would be to go for natural treatments and home remedies. So here are 15 natural home remedies proven to help with hair growth and some more you can experiment with.
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Recommended Drinks For Alopecia Areata
Aside from water, which helps balance out immune response, consuming onion juice has been seen to improve hair regrowth and stop hair fall. Juices with aloe vera have also been seen as beneficial for scalp health. Aloe vera contains many nutrients that strengthen the hair.
Green tea is also helpful in moderate amounts. It contains enzymes called catechins, which help prevent the conversion of certain hormones into follicle-blocking by-products. Excessive green tea drinking however can pose harm, as the caffeine content may increase stress levels.
Alopecia Areata In Males
Alopecia areata occurs in both men and women, but the loss of hair is likely to be more significant in men. Men are also more likely to have a family history of the hair loss condition.
Men may experience hair loss in their facial hair, as well as their scalp, chest, and back hair. Compared to male-pattern baldness, which is a gradual thinning of hair all over, hair loss from this condition causes patchy hair loss.
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Alopecia Areata: 9 Natural Ways To Treat Hair Loss
Alopecia areata affects 2 percent of the worldwide population. And although it doesnt cause physical pain or make you feel sick, it can be a psychologically devastating disease. This autoimmune disease involves the loss of hair around the scalp, face and parts of the body. It can come on at any time, without warning. Its commonly misdiagnosed as other types of hair loss, like androgenetic alopecia . But with alopecia areata, your immune system is actually attacking your hair follicles. So treatment plans have to address the autoimmune response thats occurring.
There are conventional medications and creams doctors commonly prescribe to help hair regrow. But most of them come with side effects and only result in temporary hair growth. There are also natural hair loss remedies that will help to boost your immune system, reduce inflammation and correct nutrient deficiencies that may be making the condition worse.
What Is Alopecia Areata Common Symptoms
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that involves the immune system attacking the cells in your hair follicles, leading to hair loss. The word alopecia means baldness in latin. Areata means in patches. So this perfectly explains this disease that results in small patches of baldness across the scalp and other parts of the face and body. The amount of hair loss experienced by people with alopecia areata varies. Some lose small, round patches of hair about the size of a quarter, which is most common. Others experience extensive or even total hair loss.
The most common symptoms of alopecia areata include:
The onset of alopecia areata usually begins when a person is between 20 and 40 years old. But symptoms of the disease can occur at any age. Studies show that in 8288 percent of cases, patients experience their first onset of alopecia areata by the age of 40. Forty percent of patients develop symptoms by 20 years old. If the symptoms develop earlier in life, there is an increased lifetime risk of a more extensive disease.
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Natural Products That Regrow Hair
People have struggled with hair loss since the beginning of time, and over the years they have found some of the best ways to regrow hair right in their kitchen cupboard. Home remedies get their reputation for one simple reason: they work! Here are some of our favorite easy and effective natural products for regrowing hair:
Once A Person Experiences Hair Loss From Alopecia Can They Ever Fully Recover
Once you have alopecia areata you always have it. This is part of the reason that the disease is so difficult to deal with. Some patients can have a single small patch of hair loss that regrows spontaneously. Others can have a few patches that come and go. Still others have multiple patches that require treatment to regrow. The most severe form of the disease is when all the hair is lost, either on the scalp or the entire body. While this can potentially regrow, in some patients this does not happen.
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Identifying The Cause Of Your Alopecia
There are many possible causes of hair loss. The symptoms and treatments of hair loss vary depending on the cause, so seeking a professional diagnosis is the best way to get a treatment plan that addresses your needs.
Everyone experiences hair shedding, but if youre losing more than 50-100 hairs per day, it could be due to an underlying condition. Traumatic or stressful events, illness, surgery, and pregnancy can all cause temporary hair loss.
But hair loss that continues and gets worse could indicate alopecia. The two most common forms of alopecia are alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia.
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition that triggers hair loss in patches across the body. It can affect people of all ages and genders, but the good news is that hair often grows back on its own with the help of immune-suppressing medication.
What Are The Causes And Symptoms Of Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease, where a person’s immune system attacks the body, in this case, the hair follicles. When this happens, the person’s hair begins to fall out, often in clumps the size and shape of a quarter. The extent of the hair loss varies in some cases, it is only in a few spots. In others, the hair loss can be greater. On rare occasions, the person loses all of the hair on his or her head or entire body .
It is believed that the person’s genetic makeup may trigger the autoimmune reaction of alopecia areata, along with a virus or a substance the person comes into contact with.
Alopecia areata is an unpredictable disease. In some people, hair grows back but falls out again later. In others, hair grows back and remains. Each case is unique. Even if someone loses all of his or her hair, there is a chance that it will grow back.
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Treat Alopecia Areata And Say Goodbye To Hair Loss
Usually, Alopecia Areata happens only in a small area in any hair growing part of The skin, sometimes though multiple spots can occur and in rare cases, Alopecia Areata Totalis, loss of all scalp hair can happen.
Even rarer is Alopecia Universalis, or total body hair loss may also happen to Stem from Alopecia Areata.
For a lot of people, treating Alopecia Areata is very important, especially for Cosmetic reasons. Hair loss can be a great source of embarrassment and loss of Self-esteem. Generally, to treat Alopecia Areata, one can make use of topical Medications or steroidal injections.
Getting treatment for Alopecia Areata should first be preceded by the proper Diagnosis from a qualified physician. Knowing what type of alopecia you have is Detrimental so that the proper treatment will be administered.
Numerous types of topical medication can be used. Choosing the right one will be Done by the physician after a diagnosis.
This way, you will be able to fix the problem at a faster rate. Also, sometimes, steroid Injections are not applicable to everyone. So be sure to get in touch with your doctor First before doing any treatment for Alopecia Areata.
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What Causes Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease establishes when the immune system mistakes healthy cells for foreign compounds. Typically, the immune system defends your body against foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria. If you have alopecia location, nevertheless, your immune system incorrectly attacks your hair follicles. Hair follicles are the structures from which hairs grow. The follicles become smaller and stop producing hair, causing loss of hair.
Researchers dont know what activates the body immune system to attack hair follicles, so the exact cause of this condition isnt really understood. Nevertheless, it frequently occurs in individuals who have a household history of other autoimmune illness, such as type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. This is why some researchers presume that genetics may contribute to the advancement of alopecia location. They likewise think that specific factors in the environment are needed to activate alopecia areata in people who are genetically inclined to the disease.
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Alopecia Areata In Children
Children can develop alopecia areata. In fact, most people with the condition will experience their first hair loss before the age of 30.
While there is some hereditary component to alopecia areata, parents with the condition dont always pass it on to a child. Likewise, children with this type of hair loss may not have a parent who has it.
In addition to the hair loss, children may experience nail defects, such as pitting or lesions. Adults may experience this additional symptom, too, but its more common in children.
According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, children younger than age 5 typically dont experience much of an emotional impact from alopecia. After age 5, however, hair loss can be traumatizing for young children as they start noticing how theyre different from others.
If your child appears stressed or depressed, ask a pediatrician to recommend a counselor experienced with children.
Several types of alopecia areata exist. Each type is characterized by the extent of hair loss and other symptoms you may be experiencing. Each type may also have a slightly different treatment and prognosis.