Definition
Hair loss or Balding (alopecia) can affect just on your scalp or your entire body. It may be the result of heredity, certain medicationsor an underlying medicals condition. Anyone men, women and children can experience hair loss.
Baldness typically refer to excessive hair loss from your scalp. Some people prefers to let their baldness run on its courses untreated and unhidden. Others can cover it up with hairstyle, makeup, hat or scarves. And still others choose one of the medication or surgical procedure that are available to treat a hair loss.
Before pursuing any treatments option, talk with your doctor about the causes of and best possible treatment for your particular type of a hair loss
Symtons
Gradual thinning on top of head.
This is the most widely type of hair loss, affecting on both men and women. In men, hair often begin to recede from the forehead in a line that resemble the letter M. Ladies typically retain a line of hair at the brow but experience a broadening of the parts in their hair.
Circular or patchy bald spots.
Some people experiences smooth bald spots, regulary about an inch (2.6 centimeters) across. This types of hair loss usually affect just the scalp, but it sometime also occurs in beard or eyebrows. In some case, your skin can become itchy or painful before a hair falls out.
Sudden loosening of hairs.
A physical or emotionals shock can causes hair to loosen. Handful of hair can come out when combing or washing your hairs or even after gentle tugging. This types of hair loss usually cause overall hair thinning and not bald patche
Full-body hair loss.
Some condition and medical treatment, such as chemotherapy for cancer, may result in the loss of hair all over your body. The hairs usually grow back after treatment ends.
Causes
Most people shed 50 to 100 hairs a day. But with about 100,000 hair in the scalp, this amount of hair loss shouldn't causes noticeable thinning of the scalp hairs. As people age, hair tend to gradually thin. Other cause of hair loss include hormonal factors, medicals condition and medications.
Hormonal factors
The most common cause of hair loss is a hereditary condition called male-pattern baldness or female-pattern baldness. In hereditaly susceptible people, certain sex hormone trigger a specific pattern of permanent hair loss. Most common in men, this types of hair thinning can start as early as puberty.
Hormonal change and imbalances can also causes temporary hair loss. This can be due to pregnancy, childbirth, discontinuation of birth controls pills or the onset of menopause.
Medical conditions
A variety of medicalnal conditions can cause a hair loss, including:
Thyroid problem.
The thyroid gland help regulate hormone level in your body. If the organ isn't working properly, hair loss may results.
Alopecia areata.
This disease occur when the body's immune system attack hair follicles causing smooth, roundish patche of hair loss.
Scalp infections.
Infection, such as ringworm, can invaded the hair and skin of your scalp, leading to hair loss. Once infection are treated, hair generally grow back.
Other skin disorder.
Diseases that can causes scarring, example lichen planus and some type of lupus, can result in permanent hair loss where a scars occur.
Medications
Hair loss can be cause by drug used to treat:
Cancer
Arthritis
Depression
Heart problems
High blood pressure
Other causes of hair loss
Hair loss can also result from:
A physical or emotionals shock.
Many people experiences a general thinning of hair several month after a physicals or emotional shock. Such as include sudden or an excessive weight loss, a high fevers, or death in the family.
Hair-pulling disorders.
This mental illness cause people to have irresistible urge to pull out their hair, whether it's from a scalp, their eyebrows or other area of the body. Hair pulling from the scalp often leave patchy bald spot on the head.
Certain hairstyle.
Traction hair loss can occurs if the hair is pulled too tightly into hairstyle such as pigtails or cornrows.
Risk Factors
Family historys.
Your risk of hair loss increase if relatives on either side on your family had experienced hair loss. Heredity also affect the age at which you start to lose hair and the developmental speed, pattern and degree of your baldness.
Hair treatments.
Abuse or improper use of hair-coloring product, hair straightener and permanent wave can leave your hair brittles and prone to breaking off to the scalp. Excessives hairstyling or hairstyle that pull your hair too tightly causes traction alopecia.
Poor nutrition.
Your hair can thin out if you skimps on good dietaries sources of iron and protein, example red meat, nonfat dairy product and iron-fortified cereal. Hair loss related to poor nutritions often accompanie eating disorders and crash dieting.
