Overview

Hair loss (alopecia) can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it are often temporary or permanent. It will be the results of heredity, hormonal changes, medical conditions or a traditional a part of aging. Anyone can lose hair on their head, but it’s more common in men.

Baldness typically refers to excessive hair loss from your scalp. Hereditary hair loss with age is that the commonest cause of baldness. Some people like better to let their hair loss run its course untreated and unhidden. Others may cover it up with hairstyles, makeup, hats or scarves. And still others choose one among the treatments available to stop further hair loss or restore growth.

Before pursuing hair loss treatment, talk together with your doctor about the explanation for your hair loss and treatment options.

Symptoms

Hair loss can appear in many various ways, counting on what’s causing it. It can come on suddenly or gradually and affect just your scalp or your whole body.

Signs and symptoms of hair loss may include:

Gradual thinning on top of head:  this is often the foremost common sort of hair loss, affecting people as they age. In men, hair often begins to recede at the hairline on the forehead. Women typically have a broadening of the part in their hair. An increasingly common hair loss pattern in older women may be a receding hairline (frontal fibrosing alopecia).

Circular or patchy bald spots: Some people lose hair in circular or patchy bald spots on the scalp, beard or eyebrows. Your skin may become itchy or painful before the hair falls out.

Sudden loosening of hair: A physical or emotional shock can cause hair to loosen. Handfuls of hair may begin when combing or washing your hair or maybe after gentle tugging. this sort of hair loss usually causes overall hair thinning but is temporary.

Full-body hair loss: Some conditions and medical treatments, like chemotherapy for cancer, may result within the loss of hair everywhere your body. The hair usually grows back.

Patches of scaling that cover the scalp: This is often a symbol of ringworm. it’s going to be amid broken hair, redness, swelling and, at times, oozing.

When to consult a doctor

See your doctor if you’re distressed by persistent hair loss in you or your child and need to pursue treatment. for ladies who are experiencing a receding hairline (frontal fibrosing alopecia), talk together with your doctor about early treatment to avoid significant permanent baldness.

Also ask your doctor if you notice sudden or patchy hair loss or quite usual hair loss when combing or washing your or your child’s hair. Sudden hair loss can signal an underlying medical condition that needs treatment.

Causes

People typically lose 50 to 100 hairs each day . This usually isn’t noticeable because new hair is growing in at an equivalent time. Hair loss occurs when new hair doesn’t replace the hair that has fallen out.

Hair loss is usually associated with one or more of the subsequent factors:

Family history (heredity): The foremost common explanation for hair loss may be a genetic disease that happens with aging. This condition is named androgenic alopecia, male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness. it always occurs gradually and in predictable patterns — a receding hairline and bald spots in men and thinning hair along the crown of the scalp in women.

Hormonal changes and medical conditions: A spread of conditions can cause permanent or temporary hair loss, including hormonal changes thanks to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and thyroid problems. Medical conditions include alopecia (al-o-PEE-she-uh ar-e-A-tuh), which is system related and causes patchy hair loss, scalp infections like ringworm, and a hair-pulling disorder called trichotillomania (trik-o-til-o-MAY-nee-uh).

Medications and supplements: Hair loss are often a side effect of certain drugs, like those used for cancer, arthritis, depression, heart problems, gout and high vital sign .

Radiation therapy to the top: The hair might not grow back an equivalent because it was before.

A very stressful event: Many of us experience a general thinning of hair several months after a physical or emotional shock. this sort of hair loss is temporary.

Hairstyles and coverings: Excessive hairstyling or hairstyles that pull your hair tight, like pigtails or cornrows, can cause a kind of hair loss called traction alopecia. Hot-oil hair treatments and permanents can also cause hair to fall out. If scarring occurs, hair loss might be permanent.

Risk factors

A number of things can increase your risk of hair loss, including:

• A case history of balding on your mother’s or father’s side
• Age
• Significant weight loss
• Certain medical conditions, like diabetes and lupus
• Stress
• Poor nutrition

Prevention

Most baldness is caused by genetics (male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness). this sort of hair loss isn’t preventable.

These tips may assist you avoid preventable sorts of hair loss:

• Be gentle together with your hair. Use a detangle and avoid tugging when brushing and brushing, especially when your hair is wet. A wide-toothed comb might help prevent coitus interrupt hair. Avoid harsh treatments like hot rollers, curling irons, hot-oil treatments and permanents. Limit the strain on hair from styles that use rubber bands, barrettes and braids.
• Ask your doctor about medications and supplements you’re taking which may cause hair loss.
• Protect your hair from sunlight and other sources of ultraviolet.
• Stop smoking. Some studies show an association between smoking and baldness in men.
• If you’re being treated with chemotherapy, ask your doctor a few cooling cap. this cover can reduce your risk of losing hair during chemotherapy.