What You Need To Know About Mens Hair Loss

A person’s mane is considered his or her crowing glory. But once a person experience hair loss, this is no longer the case. Majority of the people who are going through this problem cannot help but feel shame once they pass through this certain stage.

Many of them try to conceal it using wigs or many undergo through medical treatments and process such as hair transplants in order to bring back their so-called “crowning glory.” Although it is quite inevitable to feel shame once one experiences hair loss, this should not prevent him or her to lose self-confidence totally.

Hair loss basics

People—regardless of their age, gender or status—can experience hair loss due to several factors. If you are one of those who are experiencing this problem, it is a must that you know the basics of hair loss to give you an idea what to do. Knowing the basics can help you determine the status of your condition, can give you an idea when to seek medical attention, can help you decide which hair loss treatments to use and can even help you prevent it if you are prone to the condition.

One of the misconceptions about hair loss is that age solely causes it. While it is true that age primarily causes it because of the cells that are already giving up, there are other factors that might cause it. These include heredity especially if your family has a long running history of baldness, taking in certain medications for a specific condition and an underlying medical condition that weakens the person overall system such as cancer and other terminal illnesses.

A person who is undernourished can also experience hair loss being he or she is not getting the right nutrients to keep the hair grow healthy. People, who are into switching hairstyles that puts too much pressure on the scalp, may also experience hair loss because the pulling on the hair such as those in braids or dreadlocks can weaken the roots of the hair.

Temporary hair loss can also be caused by too much stress since people don’t have enough time to take care of their mane. It can also be caused by pregnancy since women tend to lose nutrients for themselves for the growing baby inside. Because of these causes, it is inevitable that everyone can be prone to losing their hair.

Aside from the probable causes, the next thing that you should pay attention to is the symptoms. Many people experience the greater effect and burden of hair loss because they did not pay to much attention to it when it was just starting.

Experts say that it is common for people to lose at least 100 strands of their hair everyday. This is because these strands are meant to be replaced by new set of strands over time. People who are losing more than this estimated number of strands should worry that they have greater chances of losing their hair.

People who are losing more than a hundred strands per day should analyze what might cause it. Once the cause is determined, she or he can do some lifestyle changes to improve on it. If these modifications in lifestyle did not work, one should visit a doctor immediately to know what causes this abnormal amount of hair loss. Going to specialist is very important because aside from telling you what the cause of the condition is, the doctor will know what treatment will work for you.

Types of Hair Loss

It is only normal for people to lose at least a hundred strands of their hair on a regular basis. This is because in the normal cycle of a person’s hair growth—which is expected to last for at least two to six years—strands of hair fall out regularly and the scalp will grow new ones in about 12 weeks. However, some people lose more than the expected number of stands in a day. In fact, there is a growing number of people who experience the burden of hair loss nowadays.
Experts say that many of the people who are losing their hair are not even aware of it. If truth to be to be told, many of them are nonchalant about the condition of their hair and don’t notice that they are losing their crowning glory if not for the comments of people around them.

The type you are in

If you think you are one of those who are prone to hair loss, the first thing that you need to know is what the specific types of hair loss there is are. This will serve as a sign if you are really into losing your hair in the long run or not.

The first type is the “androgenetic alopecia” or commonly known as the pattern baldness. Males and females who are prone to this experience slow growth of hair as well as weaker stands of hair compared before. In this condition, the primary cause could be heredity because the history of pattern baldness may increase your risks of losing your hair. Because of heredity, age is also affected which in turn speeds up the rate of hair loss.

Another type is called, “cicatricial alopecia” or the scarring alopecia, which is a type of permanent hair loss, occurs caused by inflammation. In this condition, the inflammation was able to damage the hair’s follicle and later, became scars. Because of these scars, the new hair is prevented from coming out. Scarring alopecia can be caused by certain skin conditions like lupus erythematosus and lichen planus wherein experts are yet to discover what is it that causes the inflammation.

The “alopecia areata” is the type of hair loss, which is considered as an autoimmune disease. Although there is already a classification for this, the cause of the condition is not yet discovered. Experts say that those people who suffer from his condition are those who are generally healthy. Some say that the condition can be caused by autoimmune disorders like thyroid illness, genes, or certain virus in the environment where the person spends a long time in.
On the other hand, there is also a type that is caused by a change in the normal hair cycle, it’s called “telogen effluvium”. This condition might occur when something shocked system that leads to the premature resting of the hair’s growth. This shock can either be physical but mostly emotional such as when a person sulks into depression caused by factors like death and other distress events. It can also be caused by physiological stress that lead fever, changing weight conditions, deficiencies in nutrition as well as other disturbances in metabolism.

Lastly, the type of hair loss which is becoming popular today, the “traction alopecia”. This specific hair loss is usually caused by too much hairstyling that puts too much pressure on the scalp. The pulling causes the roots of the hair to be weak and disables it from growing healthy hair.

Symptoms Of Hair Loss

Hair loss or baldness is becoming one of the most common problems of people. This is because more and more factors contribute to it compared before. Called “alopecia” by experts, hair loss can be categorized into permanent and temporary baldness depending on the condition the person is in.

Experts say that that most common form of alopecia is called, pattern baldness or the “androgenetic alopecia. It is said that this type of hair loss condition affects almost one third of the men and women in the world. The sad thing about this is it is permanent, meaning there is no way to go about it but to cope with it.

Knowing the signs and symptoms

When a person loses at least a hundred stands of hair per day, it is considered normal. But when he or she loses more than that estimated amount along with glaring symptoms such as thinning of the hair, a hairline that is receding, and bald patches in some areas of the head, then you might be suffering from hair loss.

Studies show that androgenetic alopecia can affect both men and women but the manifestations differ in some ways. Among men, the thinning of the hair starts at the temples as well in the crown. In the long run, it is expected that they will be either completely bald or partially bald. In women, lesser hair loss is expected and though there is also receding hairlines along the forehead and temple, they will not completely go bald as men do.

The pattern baldness in males are known to begin at such an early age even before their teenage years. This condition may be characterized by a receding hairline—especially at the temples—and hair loss at the top of the person’s head. Eventually, the person can be completely or partially bald. The symptoms of hereditary pattern baldness in men include thinning or loss of hair stands starting in the front or forehead, at the crown, down to the sides of the person’s hairline.

Some women start losing hair at puberty but most of those who have pattern baldness do not. The estimated year is around mid-20s to early-30s. Unlike in men, the androgenetic alopecia in women starts with the thinning the front or forehead down to the crown. What differs the hereditary pattern baldness in both genders is that hair loss in women are only limited and they don’t experience total baldness.

Aside from pattern baldness, another permanent type of hair loss is the “cicatricial alopecia” or the scarring alopecia which is caused by the inflammation in the hair’s follicles. This result to scars which hinders the growth of the new set of hair.

When it comes to temporary hair loss, the most common is called “alopecia areata” wherein the baldness starts from a small and round patch and will grow in size; the “telogen effluvium” which occurs suddenly and characterized by thinning without patches; “traction alopecia” that is caused by changing hairstyles which out too much pressure on the scalp and creates bald spots especially between the rows of the hair, and “trichotillomania” which is caused by a mental problem wherein the person cannot help him or herself from pulling out the strands of hair from the scalp and in other parts of his or her body.