Causes Of Hair Loss

Common Causes of Hair Loss

While there are many causes of hair loss, including genetic causes of hair loss, some are universal to both men and women. These universal causes include hair follicle damage. Hair follicle damage can occur due to many environmental and societal hair care choices. While there are surely some sources of hair follicle damage which a person is unable to change, others require a simple adjustment to hair care and styling techniques.

What Causes Hair Follicle Damage?

When men and women lose hair, it is sometimes caused by damage to the follicle. Hair follicle damage can occur as a result of the overuse of chemicals, heat damage, and follicular breakage. These causes of hair loss are ones that are societal and can be changed to prevent further hair loss.

Using chemicals on the hair, such as gels, mousses and hair sprays was once only a female practice. Today both men and women use hair chemicals on hair for daily styling. These chemicals become one of the causes of hair loss when used to an extent that hair follicle damage occurs. Hair follicles can be rendered unable to produce new hair or unable to produce hair at all, if the chemicals burn, damage or kill the hair follicle.

Medications, your beauty products and how you deal with your hair also play a part in losing your hair. To give you an idea of the breadth of this hair loss situation, read on for information about the various causes of hair loss.

Androgenetic Alopecia

Heredity is the underlying root of Androgenetic Alopecia and it occurs primarily in men, but some women have been known to get it too. Research your genetic history and you will likely find a few family members who have gone bald. Please note that the age at which you start to lose hair as well as how fast and even the pattern of loss is all linked to heredity.

Alopecia Areata

Graded as an autoimmune disease, Alopecia Areata does not have any particular underlying cause to attribute to your hair loss and most people that develop it are in good health. Among the causes of hair loss, Alopecia Areata is the most puzzling and doctors believe that genetics do play a part. Like with mononucleosis and other illnesses, perhaps all this disease needs is a trigger like a viral infection. This condition likely will occur on and off a number of times, which is very frustrating because there is seemingly no rhyme or reason.

There are many common causes of hair loss, which you are going to want to be aware of so that you can avoid them as much as possible. After all, regardless of whether you are a man or woman, you are most likely going to end up having to deal with hair loss at one point in your life or another, and so whatever you can do to avoid it for as long as possible, the better.

Causes of Hair Loss

When it comes to the most common causes of hair loss, one that is definitely up there is stress. Most people actually do not realize just how major a role stress plays in hair loss, and in fact the majority of hair loss problems are at least in some way related to stress in the person's life.

There are actually two different types of hair loss that can be triggered by stress, and the most common type of stress induced hair loss is known as telogen effluvium. This is when severe stress due to illness or surgery for example causes large numbers of hair to stop growing and instead go into a resting phase, meaning that they no longer grow and therefore you become balding in those areas.

Then there is also what is known as alopecia areata, a condition in which the white blood cells in the body end up attacking the hair follicle which results in a stoppage of the hair growth. With this condition the hair loss will usually always start as a small round patch but will then spread to the entire scalp over time.

Another of the most common causes of hair loss is pregnancy. Many women notice hair loss about three months after they have had a baby, and this is related to the hormones in the woman's body. More specifically, during pregnancy certain hormones in the woman's body increase and causes the body to keep hair that would normally fall out, which explains why most pregnant women notice more hair on their stomachs and legs while they are pregnant.

When the hormones return to normal after the baby has been born however, that hair falls out and the normal cycle of growth and loss starts again. This is good because you will lose the unwanted hair such as that on your stomach and legs, but at the same time you will notice that the hair on your head will appear thinner as well.

Once you are aware of the causes of hair loss, you can strive to avoid these as much as you can, but also know that if you do experience hair loss there are many great, effective hair loss products and treatments out there that you can rely on.

Among the other causes of hair loss, various diseases such as diabetes and thyroid conditions are likely culprits as are certain medications for high blood pressure, arthritis, heart conditions and even birth control pills. Hormonal changes play a big part in some causes of hair loss in women such as menopause and childbirth, two major changes in a woman's life.

A poor diet lacking in proteins and iron can be a problem and usually is the result of silly crash dieting or the latest fad diet. Anorexia and bulimia, two eating disorders can also be counted among the causes of hair loss, as can unexpected illnesses like the flu or even high fever. Surgery and medical treatments like chemotherapy play a part in hair loss but luckily some of that lost hair grows back eventually.

Two more causes of hair loss to give some thought to include the brand of hair care products and chemicals you use in your hair or a scalp condition like ringworm. These two particular causes of hair loss are totally treatable and often reversible. As you can see, there are a number of possibilities to wade through so get your trusty detective hat on and get busy solving your hair loss mystery.

Hair brushing can cause follicular breakage leading to hair loss. This breakage occurs when hair is pulled and ripped during the hair brushing act. The more damage that occurs during the hair brushing, the less new hair that may grow from the follicle. Hair follicle damage from brushing can occur with both dry and wet hair brushing. Hair knots and tangles are the normal cause of follicle breakage.

How Can I Prevent These Types of Hair Loss?

Many causes of hair loss are common only to men or women. Universal causes of hair loss are those that can affect both men and women. By keeping hair chemical usage to a minimum, drying hair on the lowest heat setting with your hair dryer and taking care when brushing both wet and dry hair, men and women can prevent these causes of hair loss. The key to hair loss prevention from societal sources is to alter the activity before the hair loss begins.

Heat can be another one of the causes of hair loss for both men and women. Using a hair dryer on the high heat setting can easily damage the hair follicle to the point where it no longer grows hair at a normal rate. Over time, the damaged follicle may die, leading the beginning or ongoing hair loss.