Cause of Hair Loss.

God, I love these two quotes:

“ Grey Hair is to be honored, a bald head deserves a bow.”

and

“God only  made so many perfect heads, the rest He covered in hair.”

Understandingly, we all wish for that thick growth of hair on our heads and look at the mirror every morning to see if that receding hairline has stopped progressing. We’re worried about the hair falling out and wish we could do something about it.

It is necessary that you first educate yourself on  the basic  reasons for hair fall and what you can possibly do to get that flock of hair. Learn the various causes of hair loss, so you can prevent hair loss  by ruling out each and every cause of hair loss that may apply to you.

Types of Hair Loss and Baldness.

• Alopecia Areata. This is also called Patchy baldness because it occurs in patches over the head. More common in children and young adults. The cause is not known and this baldness responds to  treatment  by steroids.
• Horse shaped baldness:- As the name suggests, in this baldness, the hair is present only on the two sides and back of the head, giving the baldness a horse shoe shape. This usually results in total baldness.
• Alopecia Totalis is complete loss of hair on the scalp, resulting in total baldness.
• Scarring Baldness is a result of scarring of the scalp due to burns, or injury or skin infection of the scalp.
• Toxic Alopecia results from certain sicknesses and thyroid malfunction and administration of medicines like chemotherapy in cancer and high doses of Vitamin A.
• Telogen effluvium: The onset of this type of hair loss is sudden and heavy loss of hair is seen during combing and washing of hair.
• Male  Pattern of Hair Loss is characterized by loss of hair on the top of the scalp and a receding hair line in the front. It is usually seen in men and occurs commonly as age progresses.
• Female Pattern Hair loss is  commonly seen in women and results in thinning of hair without causing baldness.
• Traction Alopecia: Hair loss is also seen due to pulling of hair ( commonly seen in children) and due to certain hairstyles, which put a tight traction on hair (like a tightly tied ponytail).

Picture of types of hair loss.

Causes of Hair Loss.

Understand this: You could be losing hair due to some   health problems, and on correction of those health problems, the hair loss is corrected. Read below to know those reasons for hair fall.

1. Major illness or surgery can be a cause for hair fall. The reason attributed to this is  stress related. This hair loss is temporary and later the hair does regrow.
2. Hormonal imbalance either of the male and female hormones, or an hyper or Hypo functioning   of the thyroid gland can also cause hair loss. On correction of the hormonal  imbalance, hair loss is controlled. Similarly, due to hormonal changes during pregnancy, hair loss is very less and you may have more hair on your scalp. It is during 3 to 4 months after pregnancy that that you lose the hair and the normal cycle of hair loss is remaintained.
3. Fungal infections of the scalp such as ringworm, cause hair fall. Once treated, hair loss is reversed.
4. Certain diseases like Diabetes and Lupus cause hair loss.
5. Certain medicinesor treatments cause being taken for the following health disorders can also cause hair to fall.
   • Arthritis
   • Gout
   • Depression
   • Birth control
   • Cardiac problems
   • Hypertension
   • Chemotherapy and Radiation for Cancer.

Once the medicines and treatments are completed, hair loss is curtailed,

6. Poor nutrition resulting in falling levels of iron and proteins in the body cause less  nutrition to the hair, contributing to hair loss. Proper nutrition regains hair growth as the cause for hair fall is removed.

7. Excessive brushing, dyeing and bleaching of the hair also cause  hair loss.

The hair loss due to the  reasons mentioned above is reversed once the reasons of hair loss are removed.

8.  Hereditary cause of hair loss: Hair loss and baldness as a result of hereditary trait in your family, where, in genetically predisposed people the hormone DTH, present in more than normal levels, causes erosion of the hair follicles. Hair falling out due to this cause is the most difficult to treat.

9.  As Age advances, losing hair is natural.

Wrong notion about Dandruff: Dandruff  is clumped dead skin cells of the scalp which are replaced by new cells.  By itself,  dandruff does not cause hair loss. But due to itching caused by it, one does tend to scratch the head vigorously, which leads to inflammation of the skin of the scalp and subsequently to loss of hair.

As mentioned above, the Genetic or hereditary reason is the major cause for hair loss around the globe, and it is this hair loss which is difficult to reverse.

Previous: Hair.                                              Next: Treatment of Hair Loss.

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