Common Reasons for Hair Loss
Why are you losing your hair?
Knowing why you’re losing your hair has some bearing on your choice of a hair loss solution. It’s normal to lose about 100 hairs a day, but you usually don’t notice this because new hair grows to replace them. But once this cycle is interrupted, or if scar tissue takes the place of destroyed hair follicles, hair loss could set in.
Reasons for an interrupted hair growth cycle or hair follicle destruction include
- Genetics. If hair loss runs in your family, there’s a very good chance you could inherit it.
- Stress. Many people experience hair loss for months after a super stressful or shocking event (this kind of hair loss is temporary, though).
- Pigtails and similar hairstyles. Wearing your hair in a way that pulls on your hair frequently could cause hair loss.
- Perms and hot oil treatments. If these treatments inflame the hair follicles, they could not only cause hair loss, but may even cause the hair loss to become permanent if the hair follicles are replaced by scars.
- Radiation therapy. Exposing your head to radiation could cause hair loss, or at least a change in the way hair usually grows.
If you have a condition such as lupus diabetes, or are losing a lot of weight, this could also increase your chances of suffering hair loss.
Once hair loss does set in, however, there is no cure.
The most that can be done for hair loss that comes with age or bad genes is to try to either slow it down, or to encourage hair regrowth. This may be done with Finasteride and Minoxidil, but these medications are notorious for their side effects which include impotence and dermatitis. Corticosteroid injections are also used to reduce inflammation associated with hair loss.
Laser treatments in the form of hand-held devices may also be used to stimulate hair regrowth, but their effectiveness has yet to be definitively proven.
Two alternative and more proactive solutions to hair loss would be to get a hair replacement system or a hair transplant. Allow us to discuss each solution in detail to help you decide.
