Hair Loss Medical Info, Helps & Remedies

Pattern baldness can occur in men or women. We are familiar with families that have men with certain baldness patterns.

In women, pattern baldness generally causes thinning on the crown, the sides and at the very front.

Hair replacement is generally the most successful treatment for pattern baldness, which works well in both men and women.

Localized hair loss can be caused by a large number of problems:

* alopecia areata, a condition in which hair is lost suddenly from a particular area, usually a small area of the scalp (the cause is unknown)

* ringworm, a fungus infection
* radiation therapy for cancer
* a hot comb or hair dryer
* hairstyles that pull on the hair, such as tight pigtails or cornrows
* nervous, repeated hair pulling
* permanent skin damage from burns or serious skin diseases.

A few of these hair loss issues can be addressed by changing how you manage your hair. For example, you can change haircuts so you aren't pulling tightly on your hair; you can let your hair dry naturally and not damage the roots with hot rollers or a hot dryer: you can stop using hair dyes and allergens that may affect the hair root system; nervousness that manifests itself in hair pulling, especially while sleeping, may require a doctor's assistance and perhaps medication.

Permanently damaged skin will probably not even get hair with hair replacement. This is something that should be discussed with your doctor. Also ask your doctor to check for ringworm if you suspect in any way that an infection may be the cause of your hair loss.

University of Michigan Health Center

General hair loss occurs when all of your hairs (may also include pubic hairs) enter a resting phase at the same time and then fall out.

This may be caused by:

* stressful situations or conditions, such as major surgery, high fever, or severe or chronic illness

* pregnancy.

Even overall chemical changes like menopause or use of hormones.

First, try to reduce the stress of your life! Begin letting go of too high standards, or reduce expenses if money is problem.

If you are faced with severe family crises, surgery, chronic illness or other personal situations that seem too much to bear, this can cause an overall stress level in the body that can affect your hair.

Please see your doctor and also seek counseling. There may be some genuinely great help available for these things.

The hair problems caused by infections, fungus infections and medical conditions, except as temporary side effects of necessary medicine such as chemo or radiation, can usually successfully be treated by a doctor.

* drug treatment for cancer
* some prescription drugs & high doses of vitamin A
* thyroid disease.

Alopecia universalis is a rare and severe form of baldness that results in permanent loss of all body hair, including eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair in the pubic area and armpits. The cause is unknown.

University of Michigan Health Center

Be sure to check with your doctor before taking large doses of vitamin A!

Bald Hall Of Fame

If you have noticeable hair loss or a change in skin condition, go and see your doctor! There is much that can be done if the baldness is a treatable one.

Reduce the stress in your life! Your hair loss could be the 'canary in the coal mine' and indicates a stress level that is entirely too high for your good health.

Eat good healthy meals. Don't take extreme amounts of vitamin A, as this has been shown to affect your hair.

Avoid irritating in any way the areas that have been affected by baldness. Don't use barrettes, elastic hair bands, rubber bands, blow dryers, hot combs, or hair dyes or other chemicals.

Do not use nonprescription hair-growth products other than minoxidil. Products such as those are not effective and often further damage skin and hair.

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Some baldness can be treated with medicine.

Your health care provider may recommend medicine to slow your hair loss and stimulate hair growth. Minoxidil (Rogaine) is a medicine you can put on bald spots daily.

Finasteride (Propecia) is a tablet men can take daily.

Although other medicines are being studied, these 2 medicines are the only FDA-approved medicines for treating hereditary baldness. They can improve hair growth or preserve hair in most people.

After several months of using minoxidil daily, you may have some hair regrowth, although the hair may not look exactly like the original hair. This treatment must be continued daily for the hair to remain.

After taking finasteride daily for at least 3 months, men may see some hair regrowth. Finsteride stops hair loss in over 80 percent of men, and starts new hair growth in about 50 percent. It may take up to a year to see results. The medicine must be taken daily for continued effect. If you stop the medicine, the effects will be entirely gone by 1 year. This medicine may cause some breast tenderness in a few men.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!

Only men should take finasteride.

Pregnant women should not even touch the tablets because the medicine can be absorbed through the skin. The medicine can cause ABNORMAL GROWTH IN THE GENITALS in baby boys before they are born.

If an illness is causing you to lose hair, your health care provider may prescribe medicine to treat the illness. For example, your provider may prescribe an antifungal medicine if a fungus, such as ringworm, is the cause of your hair loss. Hair generally grows back in the affected areas.

If you have alopecia areata (not alopecia universalis), the hair usually grows back naturally in 6 to 12 months. Your health care provider may try to speed up regrowth by injecting your scalp with steroids or by having you put minoxidil solution directly on the bald area. This problem can recur.

Hair transplant surgery involves moving sections of skin with hair from one part of the scalp to another. The results may last a few years or be permanent.

University of Michigan Health Center

Losing hair is definitely traumatic, especially if it is unexpected. It is a normal part of the human condition and appearance, and as such, we have power over how we approach this problem.

The challenge, which you can do, is to PUT FORTH WHAT IS EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT YOU! Your incredible 'insides' are exactly what the world should see FIRST, and often our outer beauty, like our hair, overshadows what is most critical to the world!