Healthy people lose some hair every day, but this is entirely natural. However, hair loss can speed up for a variety of causes, and these might be temporary or chronic conditions. If you’re losing more hair than usual, you can get to the bottom of what’s causing it and stop it by using the treatment plan prescribed by professionals. This disorder leads to gradually thinning hair and eventual baldness if no preventative measures are taken against hair loss or if permanent loss-causing factors are present.
First, Let’s Define What Hair Loss Exactly Means
Hair thinning or loss is a natural process that can be noticed in people of any age and gender owing to many causes like stress and illness. The average loss of 100 hair strands per day can be considered normal. When put into perspective with the fact that a healthy adult has about 100,000 strands of hair on their head, losing 100 strands every day is not a major issue. However, this figure may be cause for concern if either temporary or permanent hair loss exceeds it.
Hair care routines like washing and combing are often to blame for losing 100 strands. The hair on a healthy scalp passes through three stages: growth, rest, and shedding. Hair can grow as fast as 1 centimeter every month during the active growth period. After the active development period ends, the scalp enters a resting period that might last for weeks. If the resting phase progresses in its normal flow, it is passed to the shedding phase. The shedding phase lasts for around 2 to 4 months and involves the gradual detachment of hair from its follicles.
According to these life-long phases, the increase in the daily average amount of shedding and the duration of it for more than 2 months may mean problems with hair health or other physiological factors. Do not put off seeing a specialist if you notice a change in the rate at which your hair is falling out; doing so will allow for identifying the underlying reason for your hair loss.
What Causes Hair Loss?
Hair loss can be temporary or permanent, depending on the underlying cause, and can be influenced by heredity, age, and medical conditions. Shedding can also occur for other causes, such as vitamin and mineral shortages, improper hair care products, stress, trichotillomania, an underactive thyroid, autoimmune illness, and even a lack of certain hormones. Let us make an effort to elaborate on the underlying reasons for hair loss:
l Hormonal disruptions can result from an underactive or hyperactive thyroid gland. This may also lead to thinning hair. Unbalanced thyroid function can be detrimental to hair health because it disrupts the release of hormones essential to control nearly every body system.
l Medicines used in chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as several anti-inflammatory drugs, blood thinners, antidepressants, vitamins, and supplements, have been linked to temporary hair loss in some patients.
l A weakened immune system may cause hair loss. Shedding is not limited to hair and may also be noticed in other body areas. The duration of this shedding depends on the underlying reason for the immune system’s weakness.
l Hair loss and thinning might temporarily be exacerbated by traumatic physical events including accidents, surgeries, and burns. Like physical traumas, psychological traumas can have a harmful impact on hair health, leading to temporary thinning or loss of hair.
l Deficiencies in essential minerals like iron and vitamin B12 can also contribute to thinning hair.
l The continuous use of hair dyes that harm hair, the persistent exposure of hair to intense
heat, and inappropriate hair care products can all contribute to hair loss.
What Kinds of Hair Loss Are There?
Hair loss can present itself in various ways depending on the underlying cause. Following is a list of the many different forms of hair loss:
Androgenetic Alopecia
Androgenetic alopecia is the most prevalent kind of hair loss and occurs because of genetic predisposition. Loss of hair in a predictable pattern, either in men or women. It’s common for males with androgenetic alopecia to lose hair starting at the temples and progressing over the crown of their heads until just the skin of their scalp is visible. While a receding hairline characterizes a male pattern, a female pattern is primarily characterized by gradually thinning hair and gradual hair loss.
Telogen Effluvium
Telogen effluvium type occurs because of a disruption in the hair phases of growth, resting, and shedding. This form of hair loss often manifests during the hair’s resting phase and is the consequence of a physiological condition or physical damage. Hair loss occurs because the growth phase of the hair’s life cycle is interrupted. Although baldness does not appear in the telogen effluvium type, the hair shedding daily is around 300 to 500.
Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is the sudden onset of hair loss because of autoimmune disorders. The shedding process is limited and results in tiny fragments. Apart from the hair, there may also be spills in the eyelashes and eyebrows. Both adults and children are susceptible to this illness. This type of shedding can have temporary or permanent effects.
Anagen Effluvium
Anagen Effluvium is a type of shedding that occurs because of the loss of all hair and the cessation of new hair production during a medical treatment. Still, when the treatment ends, hair growth starts spontaneously. A high rate of shedding without a corresponding reduction in hair thickness is the defining characteristic of this kind.
Tinea Capitis
Tinea capitis, the fungus that causes baldness, is more common in young children. Localized and isolated bits of spillage are the norm. When hair is spilled, it causes redness and a scaly look.
Cicatricial Alopecia
In cicatricial alopecia, a rare type of hair loss, hair follicles are severely damaged due to inflammation. When this happens, scar tissue develops where hair normally would. Because new hair cannot grow where scar tissue has developed, the growth phase of the hair cycle is permanently halted when scar tissue is established.
Involutional Alopecia
This form of hair loss happens naturally and is characterized by thinning hair and a slow, progressive hair loss as one ages.
Many men and women may feel uneasy about the prospect of eventually going bald due to hair loss. Nonetheless, hair transplantation may be the answer to your problems with baldness, localized hair loss, and thinning hair because of a variety of causes. If you’re experiencing daily hair loss that’s more severe than average and you’d like some guidance from an expert, check out Estefirst’s FAQ section and get in touch by utilizing the details provided on the site.