There are many factors that can cause hair loss. Hormonal changes, irritation and damage are considered to be cause of the important fact from the life of your hair: hair follicles have a shorter growth phase and produce thinner, shorter hair shafts because of these reasons.
Your hair as an alive creature has its own circle of “life” – time of growth and rest. As a rule this “life circle” of hair on the scalp can be divided into two parts, or phases. The first one is usually called anagen lasts about two or three years. During this time hair of the person grows (about one centimeter per month). The second stage is called telogen. This is the phase of rest. It usually lasts about three or four months. When it comes to its end the hair falls out, leaving a place for a new one. And everything begins from the very beginning. This fact may be one of the natural hair loss causes.
Causes of Hair Loss
Among causes of hair loss it is possible to list the next items:
- Poor nutrition
- Medications
- Disease
- Medical treatments
- Hormonal changes
- Hair treatment
- Scalp infection
- Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder)
Poor nutrition may stand even on the first place between hair loss causes. Every person’s organism needs some microelements and vitamins to work as well as it is possible. Be careful with choosing the diet. Pay attention to adequate quantity of protein and iron in products you eat. Lack of these elements is one of the most common causes of hair loss. Poor nutrition can be caused also by fad diets, crash diets and certain illnesses, such as eating disorders.
It is common knowledge that while curing one health problem we may cripple other parts of our organism. The same thing we can say about medications which take not the last stage among hair loss causes. Some medicines which are used for treatment gout, arthritis, depression, heart problems and high blood pressure may be the reason of hair loss. But it is not true for every person in the world. Not all people who suffer from these diseases and take proper treatments are affected by hair loss. The same we can say about birth control pills which women take. It is not obviously she will loose some hair; it depends on many facts (the main fact is her organism).
Among hair loss causes we can also name some diseases: diabetes and lupus.
Some medical treatments as chemotherapy and radiation therapy influence individual’s hair. During these procedures hair of the person can be affected. But usually after finishing these medical treatments hair renew itself. So you have all chances to have wonderful hair after such cures.
Hormonal changes are not very rare in our modern life and it is not wonder that they influence our hair. Do not be afraid of these horrible words: “hormonal changes”. It is rather common condition especially for women. These changes can be connected with pregnancy, childbirth, discontinuation of birth control pills, the onset of menopause, or an overactive or underactive thyroid gland. These changes can cause temporary hair loss.
If drying, tinting, bleaching, straightening or permanent waves are common act for you be very careful with them because they can cause hair loss. This may happen because of chemicals that are used for these processes.
What causes hair loss?
When you brush your hair every morning you usually notice some amount of hair on it. It is a normal process to lose about 50-100 hairs per day. But when this amount is much bigger the question “what causes hair loss?” may appear in your mind. The aim of this article is to help you with answering “what causes hair loss”.
Among hair loss causes we may distinguish such items as medication, radiation, chemotherapy, exposure to chemicals, hormonal and nutritional factors, thyroid disease, generalized or local skin disease, and stress. Let’s stop on the most common reasons of hair loss.
If you ask a doctor “what causes hair loss in most cases?” the answer will be rather short: “hormones”. In a greater part of hair loss cases where the reason of the problem is hormonal changes is connected with women though they can affect both genders. If you are interested in differences between places of hair loss in women and men here is the information exactly for you. The place of hair loss of male is concentrated in a specific pattern from the front through to the crown. Talking about women we may say that female does not have any specific pattern.
What causes hair loss in women
Among causes of hormonal hair loss in women it is possible to list two main points: childbirth and birth control pills. What causes hair loss in women? Childbirth! Almost every woman in the world who is of proper age was pregnant and gave a birth to her wonderful child. During this time several mommies may notice that they lose some hair. It is a common condition for women after pregnancy. This fact is connected with telogen (resting) phase of their hair when a lot of hair “decides” to have a rest at the same time just after the pregnancy. This period usually lasts about two or three months (but sometimes it can last during six months).
Before asking your doctor what causes hair loss in women you have to know the health history of your family. If you know about some cases of loosing hair by women in your family it is very important to tell your doctor about this. This is necessary to do in order to find out if you have a genetic predisposition. If your ancestors suffered from androgenic alopecia it means that you have to be very careful with taking birth control pills which may change your hormonal structure.
Causes of hair loss in women may be not only hormonal but also some diseases. In most cases the hair of the person returns to a normal state after getting rid of illness or disease. What causes hair loss? Answering this question within person’s diseases we may list the next points: high fever, severe infection, severe flu, thyroid disease, deficient diet, medications, cancer treatments (chemotherapy and radiation treatment), low serum iron, major surgery/chronic illness, alopecia areata, fungus infection (ringworm) of the scalp and stress.
One more chapter of hair loss causes is mechanical damage. We can distinguish three reasons among this chapter: trichotillomania or hair pulling, hair styling treatments and hair braids/weaves.
Let’s stop on the hair styling treatments because they are widely spread among women. Of course we cannot absolutely exclude from our life some deeds which we make to change appearance and hair style. Dyes and tints, bleaches and straighteners, relaxers and permanent waves are common for every woman but we only should be very careful while choosing products which are used in this or that procedure of hair styling. In this case the risk to damage your hair is minimal.