Anyone, man, woman or child, can experience the onset of excessive hair thinning. What may begin as a few extra hairs left inside the brush can escalate to handfuls of hair being left on the pillow overnight. While a lot of hair shedding is common, the sudden onset of accelerated thinning hair can be extremely distressing.
Men and women Pattern Baldness
The leading cause of balding in men is male pattern baldness (MPB) which is hereditary. The gene for MPB interacts with a hormone called DHT, which can be normally linked to desirable masculine traits like muscle growth and deep voice and causes it to over-stimulate hair follicles. The follicles eventually lose their ability to maintain new hair growth and the end result is balding from the crown plus a receding hairline.
Female pattern hair loss is also affected by hormones and genes. It is characterised by a thinning of the hair all over the scalp but unlike MPB the hairline and crown aren't main areas of loss and unlike men, women very rarely experience total baldness through female pattern hair loss.
Telogen Effluvium
It's well known that chemotherapy patients often lose their hair but other types of stress can cause a similar kind of diffuse shedding including pregnancy, surgery, poor diet or some over-the-counter and prescription drugs.
Human head hair is frequently in a predominantly growing phase called anagen, with only 10-15% of hairs being in resting phase or telogen. Telogen effluvium occurs when something triggers a greater percentage of head hair to go into telogen at the same time.
Telogen effluvium can be short term, long term or chronic depending on the cause.
Traction Alopecia
Tight ponytails, cornrows and excessive hairstyling can cause permanent damage to the hair roots and root. Although permanent damage is possible, refraining from constantly pulling hair back into tight styles and stressing the root will permit regrowth to return in many instances.
Auto-immune and Inflammatory Diseases
There are various autoimmune diseases that directly or indirectly trigger balding. One is Discoid Lupus Erythematosus, a chronic skin ailment that affects the neck, face and scalp. Lupus lesions on the scalp infect and damage hair follicles and can trigger permanent thinning hair.
Lichen planopilaris (also called follicular Lichen Planus) is a skin disorder that also affects the scalp leading to redness, itching and inflammation and scarring of deep tissues resulting in permanent hair thinning.
Alopecia Areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease that can affect the hair follicles all over the body. On the scalp it causes patchy hair loss. Individuals spanning various ages can develop AA even though it has a greater occurrence in the 15 to 30 age group.
Fungal and Bacterial Infection
There are a few fungal infections that target the scalp. One is ringworm, which is an infectious fungal infection, much like athlete's foot. It may appear anywhere on the body but if present on the scalp will trigger patchy hair loss.
Piedra is another fungus that can weaken the hair shaft and trigger patchy hair loss and Folliculitis is an inflammation of the follicles that may, when severe, cause permanent damage to the follicle. It can be due to a bacterial or fungal infection and results in patchy the loss of hair.
Men and women Pattern Baldness
The leading cause of balding in men is male pattern baldness (MPB) which is hereditary. The gene for MPB interacts with a hormone called DHT, which can be normally linked to desirable masculine traits like muscle growth and deep voice and causes it to over-stimulate hair follicles. The follicles eventually lose their ability to maintain new hair growth and the end result is balding from the crown plus a receding hairline.
Female pattern hair loss is also affected by hormones and genes. It is characterised by a thinning of the hair all over the scalp but unlike MPB the hairline and crown aren't main areas of loss and unlike men, women very rarely experience total baldness through female pattern hair loss.
Telogen Effluvium
It's well known that chemotherapy patients often lose their hair but other types of stress can cause a similar kind of diffuse shedding including pregnancy, surgery, poor diet or some over-the-counter and prescription drugs.
Human head hair is frequently in a predominantly growing phase called anagen, with only 10-15% of hairs being in resting phase or telogen. Telogen effluvium occurs when something triggers a greater percentage of head hair to go into telogen at the same time.
Telogen effluvium can be short term, long term or chronic depending on the cause.
Traction Alopecia
Tight ponytails, cornrows and excessive hairstyling can cause permanent damage to the hair roots and root. Although permanent damage is possible, refraining from constantly pulling hair back into tight styles and stressing the root will permit regrowth to return in many instances.
Auto-immune and Inflammatory Diseases
There are various autoimmune diseases that directly or indirectly trigger balding. One is Discoid Lupus Erythematosus, a chronic skin ailment that affects the neck, face and scalp. Lupus lesions on the scalp infect and damage hair follicles and can trigger permanent thinning hair.
Lichen planopilaris (also called follicular Lichen Planus) is a skin disorder that also affects the scalp leading to redness, itching and inflammation and scarring of deep tissues resulting in permanent hair thinning.
Alopecia Areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease that can affect the hair follicles all over the body. On the scalp it causes patchy hair loss. Individuals spanning various ages can develop AA even though it has a greater occurrence in the 15 to 30 age group.
Fungal and Bacterial Infection
There are a few fungal infections that target the scalp. One is ringworm, which is an infectious fungal infection, much like athlete's foot. It may appear anywhere on the body but if present on the scalp will trigger patchy hair loss.
Piedra is another fungus that can weaken the hair shaft and trigger patchy hair loss and Folliculitis is an inflammation of the follicles that may, when severe, cause permanent damage to the follicle. It can be due to a bacterial or fungal infection and results in patchy the loss of hair.
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