Causes and treatment of hair loss
▌On average, people lose about 10% of their hair during a resting phase. Then, after about three months, the resting hair falls out and new hair begins to grow.
▌ The growth phase of new hair usually lasts two to six years and hair grows half an inch to one inch per month. What’s interesting is that up to 90% of the hair on your head is growing at any one time.
Hair loss is a normal process. In fact, on a normal day, you lose a hundred hairs, or even more if you experience severe hair loss. Hair loss is usually associated with men, but women can also suffer from it. The cause of excessive hair loss can be a number of things.
First of all, if you have had major surgery or are ill, you may lose more hair in the next three months than you normally do, due to stress.
Another common cause of excessive hair loss is due to hormonal changes in the body. This can be due to several factors, such as the birth of a child, an overactive or underactive thyroid, an imbalance of estrogens or androgens, etc. Then, certain types of medications can also cause hair loss.
In this case, once the drug is stopped, the excessive hair loss usually stops too. The most common culprits are blood thinners, chemotherapy, excess vitamin A, antidepressants, gout medications, and birth control pills.
Then, if you suffer from a fungal infection of the scalp, your hair may fall out more than usual. Finally, an underlying disease can also be a challenge. For example, if you have a medical condition such as diabetes, lupus, or another autoimmune disease, excessive hair loss is common. Remember that by taking the right medication to treat the problem, hair growth usually returns to normal.
Although some types of hair loss are genetic, there are also steps you can take to slow or stop the process. For starters, avoid wearing your hair in pigtails, ponytails, or hot rollers, which tend to pull and stretch the hair to the point of breaking it.
Also, if the hair follicles become inflamed, excessive hair loss can occur. In this case, perms, coloring or hot oil treatments can be damaging. The main thing here is to only hire a professional to treat your hair, using professional and safe products.
If the hair loss is extreme and you have tried everything from healthy eating to using good hair care products but nothing is working, you can see your doctor. First, he’ll look at what’s going on in your body to see if medications, infection, or disease may be causing the problem. If not, he may perform blood tests to look for a possible cause.
In some cases, your doctor may prescribe certain medications such as hormones for an imbalance or antibiotics for an infection. Other than that, you will find a number of great products on the market that can help you maintain the current condition of your hair.
