Hair loss

Hair loss is a very common ailment that disturbs everyone at some point in their life. Hair fall happens to everyone as we lose 50 to 100 per day. It is not noticeable because new hair keeps coming out. The problem only arises when lost hair is not replaced by new. People often associate it with aging, which is not a sensible approach. There could be multiple reasons, aging may or may not be one of them.  In the language of doctors, baldness is referred to as alopecia. It can affect your entire body or just scalp. It can be temporary or permanent, depending on reason. The factors that play an important role are genes, hormonal imbalance, medical conditions and aging.

Hair loss symptoms 

Excessive hair loss from the scalp is also referred to as baldness. Some people choose not to treat it while others may seek treatment for regrowth. Often people try to hide their baldness without treatment by covering it with hats, scarves or even make up. Any of the following symptoms is the indication of hair loss:

Bald spots: If any round, spherical or patchy bald spots start to appear on your head then it is the reason to worry. Bald spots can appear on the head, eyebrows or beard. People bearing this symptom often experience pain before hair fall outs.

Frontal fibrosing alopecia: Thinning of hairs from the front of head due to age is called frontal fibrosing alopecia. It is the most common type, both in men and women resulting in receding hairline and broad forehead.

Hair loss from the entire body: If hair starts falling out from your whole body then reason could be systemic or genetic.

Loosening of hair:  It is temporary and may ensue if a person has faced any emotional or physical shock. In this case, handfuls of hair could come out the minute you comb or wash your head.

The causes could be described as follows:

Hairstyling: Nowadays, straightening is very common every other day which can cause hair fall. Excessive use of straighter, curler or dryer could permanently destroy. Some hairstyles, if made frequently, like tight ponytails, pig tails or cornrows cause traction alopecia.

Medication: Diseases like high blood pressure, cancer, depression, arthritis and gout are treated with drugs that can cause hair fall. Some medical treatments such as chemotherapy may result in full body hair loss too, but these hairs usually come back. After radiation therapy the hair is unlikely to come back as before.

Family history: If your family has the history of baldness then there is a possibility that you might suffer from it too. The kind of heredity is called androgenic alopecia. This causes baldness on head in both men and women resulting in a receding hairline. It occurs gradually and in predictable forms like bald spots on different areas of the body or thinning especially around the crown of the scalp.

A traumatic event: Any stressful event such as death of near one could result in hair fall too. Like I remember that after losing my newborn I faced hair loss for a few months, but it was temporary.

The issue if diagnosed at time could easily be treated. Before the diagnosis your doctor may possibly run a few tests like blood test, scalp biopsy, light microscopy, and pull test.  In a blood test a sample of your blood is taken that can give information about the reason. Scalp biopsy is undertaken by taking a sample of skin or hair from the scalp. Your hair roots are checked under a microscope to determine the infection in the body, if any. In light microscopy, a special tool is used to observe hairs trimmed at their bases. Pull tests help to determine the stage of your shedding process. It is done by pulling hair from scalp to see how many roots come out.

It can be treated with medication, diet change, surgery, or laser therapy.

Medication: There are dozens of medicines that can cure hair fall by reversing or at least slowing it. Similarly, some medicines are also the reason for this problem. Your doctor will advise you to stop using it for some type as a treatment for hair loss.  There are different medicines for men and women. These medicines help in regrowth of hair and slow the process of hair fall. I can’t prescribe you one because I am not a doctor.

Diet/ lifestyle change: Diet plays an important role in the well being of any person. A healthy diet may slow down your process of hair fall. Carrot has lots of vitamin A which provides excellent nourishment to your scalp. Green peas, shrimps, eggs, low fat dairy products, and oats are always a healthy option.

Laser therapy: Hereditary alopecia can be treated with low level laser devices as per Food and Drug Administration. Studies said that it improves hair density too. Research is still going on this treatment.

Surgery: The top of head is mostly affected, in most common types of permanent hair loss. It can be treated with restoration surgery. The approach of this surgery is to make the most of your left hair. In this surgery the surgeon takes follicles from your scalp and plants those on bald spots. Each follicle has one or several hairs. Every so often, a bigger strip of skin is taken which contains multiple groupings. This procedure is painful so sedation might be given to the patient before surgery, but it does not require hospitalization. The risk of this surgery includes bleeding, or bruising. Multiple surgeries could be undertaken for best results.

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