Most of us lose hair every day; you only have to look at your hair brush or comb to see this is true. In fact, this may surprise you but every two to three months we may find we lose up to 10 percent of our hair. It is a natural growth cycle that hair undergoes.
New hair grows, and old hair falls out because they have reached the end of their life cycle which varies from between two and six years. What alerts someone to his hair loss is when he begins to suspect that more hair is lost than “normal” and that a balding scalp is beginning to form.
There are many reasons as to why someone might lose more than the normal amounts of hair.
- It could be hormonal – relating to the thyroid or the male or female hormones may be out of balance.
- Sometimes people may lose hair some months after they have experienced an illness or major surgery.
- Sometimes after giving birth some women may experience more hair loss than normal – this is due to the hormones returning back to their normal levels.
- Certain medications may also cause hair loss. These medicines include blood thinners (anticoagulants), those used to treat gout, chemotherapy, contraceptive pills and some antidepressants.
- Too much vitamin A can also lead to a loss of hair. Hair loss may also occur due to an underlying disease that may not have been diagnosed, such as Lupus or diabetes.
- How a person takes care of his or her hair has an impact on hair loss. Hair loss can be more severe if hair is often tied up (pig tails or cornrows), or in tight hair rollers on a regular basis. The constant pulling on the hair can cause a type of scarring and in the long term could lead to permanent hair loss.
- Prolonged use of hot oil hair treatments or chemicals used in perms may cause swelling of the hair follicle, which can result in scarring and lead to hair loss.
- Genetic factors. This usually starts off with a receding hair line and baldness eventually appearing on top of the head.
While hair loss is more common in men, women are not spared totally either. Women may also suffer from the female version of this type of alopecia whereby the hair becomes thin over their entire scalp.
