Truly, our hair is our crowning glory. There is no doubt about that. Nonetheless, it loses its glory when hair loss gets into your way. This condition, common for both men and women, can be daunting. Sometimes, it puts one to social stigma.
The reasons for hair loss are varying from the simple to complex. Treating this condition depends on the real cause.
We enumerate the common reasons why you are shedding your tresses and what to do to prevent them.
- Physical stress
Any kind of physical stress such as surgery, a car accident or a severe illness or simple flu can affect temporary hair loss known as telogen effluvium. Our hair goes through stages: the growth stage, rest stage and shedding stage. If you happen to suffer from stressful event or the aforementioned situations, this can cause shock to your hair cycle, making more hair into shedding stage. You will notice your hair falling and thinning three to six months after the trauma.
The remedy: When your body recovers from illness, your hair grows back.
- Pregnancy
Another type of physical stress that can cause hair loss is pregnancy. Hair loss happens after you give birth.
The remedy: If you experience hair loss after you gave birth, the hair will grow back in a couple of months. This is normal and temporary, so, there is no need to worry.
- Heredity
Genes causes hair loss. Female pattern hair loss known as androgenic or androgenetic alopecia is the female version of male pattern baldness. If any of your family has suffered from this condition, you might be prone to get it. Hair loss in women is manifested when they have noticeable thinning of hair.
The remedy: Like men, women’s hair loss can be resolved with Minoxidil to restore hair.
- Female hormones
Hormone changes can affect the health of your hair. This can cause telogen effluvium. The change in hormones occurs at menopause may also have the same outcome. This happens when the androgen receptors on the scalp activates. The hair follicles will miniaturize, and then it will begin to shed more hair.
The remedy: See your doctor and discuss your condition.
- Lupus
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can cause hair loss. For this condition, hair won’t grow back.
The remedy: If the hair loss is mild, try donning a new hairstyle that will camouflage the damage. You may opt to have short hair since it is stronger than long hair and may hide bald patches better.
- Chemotherapy
Most cancer patients lose their hair due to chemotherapy. Some of the drugs that is used to beat back cancer causes hair to shed. Skin experts compared this therapy to a nuclear bomb since it destroys rapidly dividing cells like hair.
The remedy: If you are done with your chemotherapy session, your hair will grow back although it will come back with a different texture or different color.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
This condition is caused by hormonal imbalance. An excess of androgens can lead to ovarian cysts, weight gain, higher risk of diabetes, changes in menstrual period, infertility as well as hair thinning.
The remedy: In treating PCOS, you have to correct the hormone imbalance to help reverse some of these changes.
- Taking antidepressants, blood thinners and other kinds of medication
Certain kinds of medication may also lead to hair loss. The most common are blood thinners and blood pressure drugs called beta-blockers. Other medicines may also trigger hair loss such as methotrexate, a treatment used for rheumatic conditions and some skin conditions, lithium for bipolar disorder, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antidepressants.
The remedy: If your physician identifies that one or more of your medicine is causing hair loss, discuss with your doctor about lowering the dose or switching to another medicine.
- Overstyling
Be cautious in doing different hairstyles or putting on hair treatments as it can cause your hair to fall out. They can also affect the hair root, resulting to hair loss. The popular hairstyles and treatments that can lead to hair loss are tight braids, weaves, or corn rows as well as chemical relaxers, hot oil treatment of any kind of harsh chemical or high heat.
The remedy: Avoid these styles and treatments. In addition, use conditioner after every shampoo, allow your hair to air dry and limit the time spent in using curling iron or other heat styling tools no more than once a week.
- Aging
When women reaches 50 and above, hair thinning is the most common problem they encounter. Experts could not determine the exact reason why this condition happens.
The remedy: Experts do not suggest treatment for this case. Women at this stage may depend on cosmetic approaches such as wigs, scarves to cover up thin spots.
