Hair Loss is one of the most common conditions affecting over 80% of the world’s population at some stage in their lives. One of the most common types of hair loss is androgenic alopecia, which affects both men and women but is worse in the former. If left untreated, hair fall can lead to baldness, which can wreck havoc with self esteem, affecting your self confidence, which can ultimately have serious implications on your social behavior.
Causes of baldness
Baldness is mostly associated with genetics and hormonal changes, which are without any doubt two most common causes of hair loss leading to baldness. However, there are numerous other factors as well that can cause severe hair loss. These include:
- Health issues: your hair fall can be cause of certain diseases, such as hypothyroidism, high grade fever – especially after typhoid – alopecia areata and anemia.
- Nutritional deficiencies: Nutritional deficiencies may also cause hair fall. These include iron deficiency, low vitamin levels, disturbed iodine levels.
- Sudden weight loss: sudden weight loss due to any factor – be it some disease or crash diet – can also cause severe hair loss.
- Medications and treatments: there several medications and treatments – like cancer treatment (chemotherapy) and immune suppression medications – that can cause the patient to lose hair.
- Physical and emotional stress: both physical and emotional stress result in hair loss. You may not see the impact immediately as hair loss generally starts several months after you have gone through a trauma.
- Not following proper hair care: if not taken proper care off, your hair may start falling. Taking proper care means good hair hygiene, conditioning and shampooing hair regularly, brushing, dyeing, drying and styling hair properly.
What is male pattern baldness?
Male pattern baldness or androgenic alopecia is often attributed to genes and hormones, though the exact cause is yet to be known. This kind of hair loss pattern generally runs in the family and mostly affects the male members of the family. Since the hormones responsible for this type of hair fall are also present in females, some women also experience this type of baldness but this is very rare. The onset of this type of baldness can be as early as late teens. More than 70% of the men suffering from male pattern baldness start exhibiting hair fall symptoms by their mid 20s.
Myths about baldness:
- You inherit baldness from your maternal family – this is nothing more than a myth. You can inherit male pattern baldness from either side of the family and sometimes both as well.
- Longer hairs put a strain on the roots, causing the hair to fall out – this statement, once again, has no reality in it. Weight of hair itself can never cause it to fall out.
- Wearing hats can trigger baldness in specific areas – hats have got nothing to do with your blood circulation neither do they pull out your hair.
- Shampooing can accelerate balding – while excessive shampooing can damage your hair shafts, it does not have any access to the roots, and thus cannot be a factor contributing to baldness
- Poor blood circulation in scalp does not cause hair fall – blood supply to the scalp as well as its circulation in the scalp plays vital role in determining the health and life of hair follicles. Poor blood supply weakens the roots, causing the hair follicles to fall out. This sort of hair fall can be effectively treated through massaging.
Treatments for baldness:
There are numerous scientifically proven and FDA-approved treatments for baldness. These include oral and topical medications as well as surgical and non-surgical procedures, and all of them are equally effective for both men and women.
- Minoxidil (Rogaine) – this is a topical medication that can be easily bought from any drug store without a prescription. This application can be used by both men and women and it works best for hair loss on the frontal lobes as well as crown. This medication comes in 2% and 4% solution. An extra strength 5% solution is also available but that is for people suffering from excessive hair loss. Minoxidil can significantly control hair loss, but it may or may not trigger hair regrowth. But the most irritating part is that you need to apply it once or twice daily for an unlimited period of time and this is what makes it a not so preferred choice of patients suffering from hair loss.
- Finasteride (Propecia) – this is also an FDA-approved medication that is used for treating androgenic alopecia and that too only in men and this prescription oral medication not only helps reduce hair loss but also blocks Dihydrotestosterone – a male sex hormone responsible for male pattern baldness and this oral medication has shown encouraging results in not only controlling hair loss but also in re-growing hairs. But the downside of Finasteride is that it has got some very serious side effects that can overrule its advantages.
- ACell/PRP Hair Loss Therapy – It is a non-invasive hair loss treatment that involves injecting a mixture of ACell (growth factor) and PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) into the patient’s scalp to make the miniaturized hair follicles under the skin surface healthier and stronger. This ultimately triggers hair regrowth.
- Hair Transplant Surgery – If you are seeking an instant and guaranteed treatment for baldness, Hair Transplant Surgery may be an option worth considering and it is a surgical hair restoration procedure in which hair follicles are taken from the baldness resistant areas of your own scalp – generally back or side of the head – and are transplanted into the bald patches or the areas with thinning hair. Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) are the two most commonly used donor graft extraction techniques.