Hairloss and Baldness

What Causes Hair Loss in Women

It is quite common to lose between 40 and 150 strands of hair a day, this is mainly from mostly from brushing and washing.  It is a totally natural process and is 100% normal despite the fact that it may look like a large amount of hair is being lost.  The normal course of nature makes room for new hair growth and this process is regularly repeated all through our lives.  It is if  you ever notice hair shedding in clumps or if large thinning areas start to appear that there is usually a problem that needs to be investigated.

What Causes Hair Loss in Women

Diet -   Vitamin deficiency, possible caused through a lack of protein can be a reason, ensuring that you are eating a well balance diet will certainly help to keep your hair healthy. Check with your doctor to make sure that you are not anaemic (which is another possible cause of hair loss).

The Menopause -When we go through the hormonal changes in our bodies during this time, hair loss is sometimes a perticularly unwelcome part of it and occasionally for some women the hair loss can be permanent.

Colouring and Frequent Washing -

Regular hair washing is commonplace as is adding colour to our hair.  Shampoo and colouring products contain many ingredients including a lathering ingredient called surfactant.  This is known to irritate the scalp causing a drying effect which in turn can cause itching and irritate the scalp possible causing more hair loss.  Regular use of bleach when colouring will also have an adverse effect on your scalpputting your hair under attack once again.

Stress and Physiological Stress – Undergoing major surgery, pregnancy or a serious life changing event can cause hair loss as can bereavement or divorce.  Quite often in these cases the hair growth will return.  Hair loss can also be a genetic link either inherited from either or both sides of the family tree.

Hair Loss can also be down to the onset of certain medical conditions. these can include – Diabetes, Lupus and Thyroid problems.

Alopecia Areata is autoimmune condition easily recognised by the appearance of large circular patches of baldness.  When it occurs, the immune system for many reasons attacks the hair follicles and the stress from discovering these patches causes even more hair loss. This makes fora distressing and sometime difficult to break cycle for the sufferer.   Naturally, your first course of action should be to visit your doctor.  Sometimes a course of Cortisone injections is one of the treatments that your Doctor may offer you.  The key to remember is that modern research is moving forward to try and stop the causes of hair loss in women.

A good head of hair is rightly considered to be a woman’s crowning glory and with this in mind there are some effective treaments and products available which have been proven to be highly effective.

Which Hair Loss Myths Are True or False

There are many rumours and tales about hair loss and why it happens, quite a few are simply myths, here are some of the more common ones:

‘Its your mothers side of the family that determines wether you are going to lose your hair - Its genetic’

Hereditary hair loss can actually be passed on by either parent, it is totally true that the maternal side has the strongest influence but not in all cases. It is quite probable that if hair loss tends to be present throughout the family that you will  be effected by it as well.

‘Frequent washing of your hair will make you go bald’

This is totally False , frequent shampooing has no effect, either positive or negative, on hereditary hair loss.

‘‘Taking natural supplements can stop hair loss’

For the majority of people, losing hair is a genetic problem caused by the way your hair follicles respond to certain hormones. Severe malnutrition can also cause hair loss, but this is not linked to hereditary hair loss. Taking the correct supplements can help

‘If I colour my hair it will fall out faster.’

Using hair colouring products can be hard on your hair and scalp,  bleaching and colouring chemicals especially strong ones may cause hair to break off, but again they are not responsible for hereditary hair loss

‘An average loss of between 40-100 hairs a day is quite normal – they usually just grow back again.’

This is true for most people,as they grow, new hairs push the older ones out, but those who suffer from HHL lose hairs from weak follicles that have deteriorated or are shrinking, these will increasingly produce hairs that are thinner and weaker and will eventually stop producing hairs at all.

‘Can I grow more hair follicles by using drugs’

No, the amount of hair follicles on your scalp is predetermined by genetics, nothing that you can do will change this.

‘Cutting  hair makes it grows back thicker and quicker’

False!.. hair usually grows around half inch per month, each hair is actually thicker at the bottom than at the tip, this is why our hair appears thicker just after a hair cut. The fact is that cutting our hair will not actually make it thicker or grow back any quicker.

‘Using a hair drier or heated tongs and straighteners can make my hair fall out’

Not totally true, but extremely high heat from driers and straightening tongs could well damage hairs and make them fall out. If you are suffering from Hereditary Hair Loss, as they grow back, the new hairs could well be thinner.

‘Men who are bald are sexier.’

Would be nice to believe this, but there is actually no shred of any clinical evidence to show or prove that bald men have higher levels of testosterone or any related hormones that could increase their sex appeal or virility

How Your Hair Grows

Normal hair growth occurs in three cycles, these are called Anagen, Catagen and Telogen. Every hair that we grow passes through these three stages.

Every one is a totally different stage of activity

First Phase -Anagen

The growing stage, the Anagen phase should usually last for about 1000 days,this can vary though and there have been cases of it lasting for 6 years. It is during this stage that the hair cells quickly multiply, during this process the hair grows in both length and diameter to its maximum length

Second Phase -Catagen

The Second Growing Phase or ‘Catagen’ is also called the transitional phase, usually lasting one to two weeks, this is the period when the hair actually stops growing before entering the final stage.

Third Phase -Telogen

The Telogen stage is the last or the ‘off stage’, lasting up to 6 weeks,this is when the hair literally remains static or stays dormant. After about 6 weeks this phase comes to its end and new hair starts growing again in the Anagen phase which forces the old hair out

At any given time, at least 85 – 90% of all the hair on your head is in the Anegan or growing stage with the rest usually split between the transitional and resting stage.

Baldness

In the cases of Common baldness, Male pattern baldness or Hereditary hair loss , the body’s genes and hormones effect the follicles and cause them to shrink. This shortens the growing stage and lengthens the final resting or Telogen phase. because of this the hairs become become short and thinner. They will gradually deteriorate until they are no longer visible to the naked eye and the hair follicles eventually close and shut down totally!