What is Hair Loss?
Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to the loss of hair from the scalp or the entire body.
It occurs due to disruption in the hair growth cycle. It can be hereditary or may occur secondary to medical illness, hormonal changes or drugs. It may affect men, women and children.
A normal individual sheds 50 to 100 hairs per day, but it is not noticeable as new hair growth occurs simultaneously.
Hair loss that occurs with ageing is usually hereditary and is the commonest reason for baldness.
In women, hair is considered to be an essential part of their identity, while in men, healthy hair is considered to be a sign of youth and vigor.
Hair loss affects the appearance of an individual and hence cause psychological distress and inferiority complex. It can impair the quality of life of an individual.
What are the symptoms of Hair Loss?
Signs and symptoms of hair loss differ in men and women. But increased hair loss on combing or on washing hair is usually the presenting complaint of most of the individuals.
THE signs and symptoms of hair loss in men may include the following:
- A receding anterior hairline
- Hair thinning at the crown area
- Visibility of bald scalp
THE signs and symptoms of hair loss in WOMEN may include the following:
- Diffuse hair thinning over the entire scalp
- Widening of central partition of hair
- Thinning of the pony tail
- Positive hair-pull test
What are the causes of Hair Loss?
Signs and symptoms of hair loss are different in men and women.
But the increase in hair loss when combing or washing hair is usually the complaint of most people.
The commonest cause of hair loss is hereditary.
It usually progresses slowly and presents as receding hairline in men and thinning hair in women.
Patterned baldness or androgenetic alopecia begins as early as in puberty and is most common in men.
It involves thinning and miniaturization of the hair.
Hormonal changes can cause hair loss temporarily.
This occurs in pregnancy, after delivery (post-partum) or at the onset of menopause.
Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism can also cause increased hair loss.
Alopecia Areata:
It occurs when the immune system of body attacks hair follicles resulting in sudden hair loss.
This presents as smooth bald patches of hair loss over the scalp, beard or other hair-bearing areas of the body.
Scalp Infections:
Fungal infections of the hair can cause scaly patches and hair loss.
In this condition hair usually grows back after the infection is treated.
Other Skin Diseases:
Diseases as lupus, lichen planus cause scarring alopecia.
Hair-Pulling Disorder:
Trichotillomania is the condition that urges an individual to pull out their hair from the scalp, the eyebrows or other areas.
Hair loss can occur due to the use of certain medicines for the treatment of medical conditions as cancer, depression, arthritis, heart problems and high blood pressure.
Consumption of vitamin A in excess also causes hair loss.
Androgenetic alopecia is also known as patterned hair loss.
It is the most common type of hair loss that occurs in both males and females.
Hair may or may not grow back after radiation therapy.
Physical or emotional shock can result in thinning of hair after several months.
This hair loss is temporary.
Examples of trigger events may include excessive weight loss, surgery, high fever or a death in the family.
Excessive hairstyling, like tying a tight pony tail may cause traction alopecia.
Moreover, hot oil hair treatments can cause inflammation of hair follicles which results in hair loss.
Scarring can lead to permanent hair loss.
MALE PATTERN HAIR LOSS
What is Male Pattern Baldness?
Male Pattern Baldness is the most common form of hair loss in case of men.
In this condition, the hair loss usually begins with a receding frontal hairline at both the corners in a U-shaped or M-shaped pattern.
It can also begin from the vertex of the scalp.
This condition is also called Androgenetic Alopecia.
Male pattern hair loss is commonly observed in adult men.
But, it can begin in the teenage years as well; becoming more significant with the increasing age.
It is categorized into 7 stages.
- In the first stage
the hair loss is somewhat unnoticeable, while the frontal hairline begins to decline. - In the second stage along with hair loss from the central portion of the scalp.
- During the third stage
the hairline decreases significantly along with thinning of hair at the vertex or crown. - Fourth stage
The hair thinning and baldness is visible in the particularly at the back of the head. A bridge of fairly dense hair that differentiate the hair loss in the frontal area and the crown region is quite noticeable. - In the fifth stage
the bridge becomes even thinner. - In the sixth stage
this bridge seems to be missing and the hair loss extends to the sides of the head. - Seventh stage
is the most advanced stage of this pattern hair loss, when the top of the scalp is completely bald. We at HAIR
Stages of Hair Loss In Men—Norwood’s Classification:
The Hamilton-Norwood Scale is a simple visual representation to help you identify hair loss stages as well as different types of receding hairlines.
The Norwood 1 hairline and 2 are the earliest stages where hair loss is still minimal.
It’s at the Norwood 3 stage that you might want to start considering Hair Transplant.
Your family hair loss history plays an essential role in this hair loss type.
If anyone from either side of your family is suffering from male pattern baldness, you are likely to suffer from pattern hair loss.
A male hormones called Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is also found to be among the prime reasons behind this type of hair loss in men.
DHT is a chemical derivative of testosterone, which limits the ability of follicles to produce hair growth by preventing the nutrient supply to the hair follicles.
This causes shrinking of hair and even slow down the growth rate of hair. Usually people are quite unaffected by DHT in the scalp.
But in case of people having a genetic tendency to hair loss, the hair follicles are specifically sensitive to the effects of DHT.
With Ageing, a number of hormonal changes occur in the body, such as decrease in testosterone, androgen receptors, 5-alpha reductase and serum DHT, which affects the hair growth cycle and thus, causes hair loss.
Apart from these factors, stress, malnutrition and poor grooming also cause thinning of hair.
Treatment for Male Pattern Baldness
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FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS
Is the most common cause of hair loss in women.
Nearly every woman suffers some degree of female pattern baldness, which can begin at any time with the onset of puberty.
But, women tend to pay attention at menopause, when hair loss usually increases.
What is Female Pattern Baldness?
Female Pattern Baldness is the most common cause of hair loss in females.
Almost every woman suffer from some degree of female pattern baldness, which can begin anytime with the arrival of puberty.
But, women tend to notice it around menopause, when the hair loss typically increases.
In Female pattern baldness, women experience diffuse thinning of hair primarily on the top and crown of the scalp, along with a widening through the center hair part.
However, the front hairline remains unaffected, apart from the normal recession, which happens to everyone with the passage of time.
The thinning of hair, if not treated at the right time, spreads to the side areas of the scalp in the temples and above the ears.
The hair loss rarely develops to partial or complete baldness in women.
This condition is also termed as Androgenetic Alopecia.
Female pattern hair loss is different from male pattern hair loss.
It has only 3 stages.
The first stage involves uniform thinning of hair, which is somewhat unnoticeable.
During the second stage, nearly 50-70% of your hair would have undergone thinning and the scalp is easily visible.
The hair loss is severe and the baldness is more noticeable in the third stage.
Stages of Hair Loss In Females—Ludwig’s Classification
The Ludwig scale is a method of classifying female pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia), and ranges from stages I to III.
Stage I begins with thinning on the top of the head. In stage II the scalp starts to show. All of the hair at the crown of the head may be lost when the hair loss progresses to stage III.
However, the scale is used merely for general categorization.
Causes of Female Pattern Hair Loss
A history of the hair condition of your family plays an essential role in pattern hair loss.
If anyone on either side of your family is suffering from female pattern hair loss, your risk of developing this pattern hair loss increases.
In this case, sudden body change (like major surgery, accident or extreme stress) cause increase in shedding of hair
In this disorder, people feel urge to pull their hair from the scalp or other parts of the body.
This cause patchy hair loss and even baldness in some women.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is also one of the reasons behind hair loss in females, which arises basically due to imbalance in male and female sex hormones.
It is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system attacks the hair follicles, and thus cause loss of hair.
This condition is usually seen in women during childbearing years.
Hypothyroidism is also responsible for thinning of hair in women.
Women suffer from sudden hair loss during or after pregnancy.
This loss of hair is temporary.
In this condition, women find clumps of hair falling, and even baldness in some scalp areas.
This condition is caused due to decrease in level of oestrogen (increase in level of testosterone).
Anemia, which is caused due to iron deficiency, is also a prime reason for hair loss in women.
Chemotherapy causes your hair to fall out, though it is temporary and the loss will recover soon.
Various medications like Birth control pills, antidepressants & blood thinners also cause excessive hair fall.
Stress can also cause extreme shedding of hair.
That means, thinning of hair.
Hair Loss in women can also be due to over-consumption of Vitamin A, lack of protein or due to deficiency of Vitamin B (Biotin) in your diet.
With ageing, the hair growth rate decreases.
This happens because the hair follicles do not allow the normal functioning of the hair cycle.
The hair follicles are more sensitive to the variation of male hormones.
That means, an increase in the level of male hormones or decrease in the level of female hormones causes hair loss.
For instance, if the testosterone increases in the body, it combines with 5-alpha reductase and produce dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is known for causing hair loss in both women and men.
Likewise, in the case of menopause, a woman’s level of oestrogen and progesterone decreases, which affects the normal hair growth cycle.
Similarly, during pregnancy, women suffer from extreme loss of hair.
This is because of the over-production of hormones (increase in oestrogen level), which increases the shedding and resting stage of the hair follicles.
Treatment for Female Pattern Baldness
In some cases, taking nutritional diet and treating the hormonal imbalance can help in preventing excessive hair fall.
While for other cases, here are some of the effective treatments for hair loss:
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