Hair Loss Causes
What causes hair loss? Surprisingly, there are a number of reasons hair loss may be experienced. Hair loss, in most cases, is temporary and due to external forces, but may also be permanent because of genetics or irreversible damage to the scalp.
Temporary Hair Loss Conditions
- Stress or Illness – A person who has experienced a major surgery or a prolonged illness or disease may experience some temporary hair loss. These, or other stresses, may have a tendency to cause a temporary stop in hair growth, but growth usually resumes when the body recovers.
- Poor diet – Sometimes a poor diet with a lack of protein and iron may cause hair loss. Inadequate nutrition could be due to poor eating habits or a fad diet. If diet is normalized, hair growth is usually restored as well.
- Hormonal – Oftentimes, hormonal changes in men and women may cause temporary hair loss. An overactive thyroid or an imbalance of male or female hormones can cause hair to stop growing and fall out after about 3 months. A correction in the hormonal balance can trigger normal hair growth to resume after about 3 months.
- Post-natal Hair Loss – Related to hormonal changes, some women experience hair loss about 3 months after delivering a baby. High levels of hormones during the pregnancy may prevent hair from falling out. Some women experience fuller, more luxurious hair during pregnancy due to increased hormone levels and lack of normal hair loss. When hormonal levels return to pre-pregnancy levels, hair follicles that normally would have been in a resting state during pregnancy may stop growing hair in large numbers. After about 3 months, temporary increased hair loss may be experienced, but returns to normal in most cases.
- Medication – Some medications can cause hair loss. Typically, those taking medications used for blood thinners, chemotherapy, depression, or birth control may experience greater hair loss than normal. Hair loss usually improves when these medications are stopped.
Permanent Causes of Hair Loss
- Improper hair care – Many adults treat their hair improperly with excessive styling or treatment. This can result in a permanent loss of hair due to scarring of the scalp and hair roots.
- Traction Alopecia – Many women and some men may experience hair loss due to the excessive pulling of hair. Pulling hair too tightly into pigtail, cornrows, or hair rollers may cause damage to hair roots. Traction alopecia pulling may also be due to excessive brushing if it causes damage to the hair shaft. The good news with traction alopecia is that it can be reversed and normal hair growth may resume if the excessive pulling is stopped before permanent scalp damage is caused.
- Hair Treatment – Chemicals used for hair coloring, permanents, tinting or dying may cause hair to become damaged through inflammation or swelling of the hair follicles. Excessive treatment with chemicals may cause permanent scarring of the scalp
- Genetic Pattern Hair Loss – Also known as male pattern baldness, genetic pattern hair loss is most common in men. Common baldness and hair loss in men is inherited genetically and not due to external causes. Pattern baldness is different in each person, but usually begins with receding hairline and baldness on top of the head.
