Hair loss is a common concern for many people across the globe. It can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent. It can be the result of heredity, hormonal changes, medical conditions, or a normal part of aging. Let’s explore 10 commonly known reasons for hair loss and their possible treatments.
1. Hair Loss because of: Nutritional Deficiencies
Cause: Lack of proper nutrition, including deficiencies in iron, and other minerals or vitamins, can lead to hair loss. A common cause of hair loss, especially in women, is iron deficiency anemia, which occurs when the body doesn’t have enough iron to produce hemoglobin in your blood.
Treatment: Iron deficiency can lead to symptoms like fatigue, weakness, and hair loss, as hair follicles don’t receive enough oxygen. A balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals can help along with supplements, if necessary, after consulting with a healthcare provider.
2. Hormonal Changes
Cause: Hormonal changes due to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, and thyroid problems can cause temporary or permanent hair loss.
Treatment: Hormone therapy can be effective for some women. Minoxidil can also help in hormone-related hair loss.
3. Medical Conditions
Cause: Conditions like alopecia areata, scalp infections like ringworm, and trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) can lead to hair loss. Also Diabetes (type 1 or 2) can be a reason for hair loss.
Treatment: Treatments include medications to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system, such as corticosteroids, and therapy for trichotillomania.
4. Medications and Supplements
Cause: Hair loss can be a side effect of certain drugs, such as those used for cancer, arthritis, depression, heart problems, and high blood pressure.
Treatment: Consulting with a healthcare provider to change the medication or adjust the dosage can be helpful.
5. Psychological Stress
Cause: While physical stress is a well-known cause of hair loss, severe psychological stress like a divorce, the death of a loved one, or severe anxiety can trigger temporary hair loss.
Treatment: This type of hair loss is temporary. Managing stress through lifestyle changes, therapy, and relaxation techniques can be beneficial.
6. Hairstyles and Treatments
Cause: Excessive hairstyling or hairstyles that pull your hair tight, such as pigtails or cornrows, can cause a type of hair loss called traction alopecia. Also an overuse of hair straighteners, curling irons, and hair dyes can weaken hair strands and cause them to break or fall out.
Treatment: Avoiding tight hairstyles and using gentle styling techniques can help. If scarring has occurred, hair transplantation might be the only option.
7. Hyperacidity
Cause: Things like drinking a lot of coffee or eating a lot of animal products can lead to a hyperacidity in the body.
Treatment: Drinking water with lemon juice, teas with curcuma or eating in general more alkaline foods like vegetables and fruits can help to move your body from an acidic state to an alkaline state. You can measure the acidity of your body by using pH Test Strips for Testing Alkaline and Acid Levels in The Body.
8. Environmental Factors
Cause: Pollution, chlorine in water, and UV exposure can weaken hair and cause it to fall out.
Treatment: Protecting your hair from environmental damage with hats, using filtered water for washing hair, and using UV protectant hair products can be beneficial. Having a good water filter at home will not just protect your hair, but your overall health.
9. Excessive Smoking
Cause: Smoking can damage the DNA of the hair follicles and cause inflammation.
Treatment: Quitting smoking can improve hair health along with overall health.
10. Aging
Cause: Due to a change in hormones, a long-term “acidic” lifestyle or nutrition and other age-related changes in the body, thinning hair is often a natural part of aging. But this doesn’t mean that you have to accept it.
Treatment: Checking hormone levels, taking care of a good nutrition (if necessary with supplements) and adjusting your hair care and lifestyle can give you full and shiny hair, even at a higher age. There are also medical treatments like minoxidil and finasteride that can maybe help.
Conclusion
Hair loss can be distressing, but there are many treatments available. It’s important to understand the cause of your hair loss to determine the best course of action. Consult a healthcare professional or a dermatologist for proper diagnosis and treatment plans tailored to your specific condition. Remember, each case of hair loss is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another.