Types of Hair Loss

Bold Beanies were designed with hair loss in mind. To provide a light, comfy, breathable and good looking solution to keeping bald heads warm. My hair loss was when I underwent chemotherapy treatment for Breast Cancer, but what other types of hair loss is there? 

Telogen Effluvium

If you have been experiencing loss of hair from all over your scalp and body, it is likely that you have Telogen Effluvium.

Telogen Effluvium occurs when more than 20% of your follicles suddenly go into the telogen phase, decreasing the number of follicles that are actively growing hair. This results in the loss of volume and, eventually, balding.

Androgenic Alopecia

This condition is more commonly known as female pattern baldness and is hormonal. Hair starts to fall off when the male sex hormone testosterone is converted into dihydrotestosterone and starts to attack the hair follicles, rendering them useless and curbing hair growth.

Female pattern baldness is strikingly different from the male pattern baldness. The primary symptoms of female pattern baldness include the following:

• Hair thinning in female pattern baldness is observed mainly on the top and the crown area. Balding starts with the widening of the center hair part.
• The front hairline remains unaffected in most patients.
• The hair loss may be acute, but it does not lead to complete or near total baldness, as it does in men
• More hair loss observed during showers and while brushing your hair.

What Causes Hair Fall?

Causes of hair fall vary from person to person. While in some cases external factors might be responsible, issues such as some serious medical conditions, lack of nutrition and heredity are also leading causes of baldness in most patients. Check out some of the top factors that might cause premature hair loss in women.

1.Hereditary Factors

Baldness is often passed down through genes. If your parents have a hair loss problem, it is likely that you will as well. While this is more evident in men, women too suffer from genetically inherited alopecia.

2. Hormonal Changes

Hormonal changes in the body increase the sensitivity of hair follicles, weaken hair roots, and cause excess hair fall. Menopause, ovarian cyst, hypothyroid, hyperthyroid, etc., bring about changes in your body’s hormonal balance, which eventually leads to hair loss.

3. Pregnancy

Most women, during, and post pregnancy, experience frequent dehydration, fatigue, and hormonal imbalance. This causes increased sensitivity in the hair follicles. It also creates unfavorable scalp conditions. All of these factors together lead to chronic hair fall.

4. Physical And Mental Stress

Persistent illness, drastic and excessive weight loss, and extreme physical labor can cause the body to get dehydrated and exhausted. This can make the hair follicles undernourished and weak, and cause rapid hair loss.

5. Scalp Infection

Fungal, bacterial, and viral infections like seborrhea dermatitis and psoriasis in the scalp can weaken the roots and damage hair follicles, thereby causing thinning, breakage, and hair fall.

6. Alopecia Areata

This is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system mistakes hair for a foreign contaminant and starts attacking the hair follicles, causing hair loss. There is no cure for this condition and 10% of the people who have it suffer from permanent hair loss.

7.  Medication And Treatments

Certain medical conditions call for treatments and surgeries that help to cure the ailment. While these treat your condition, the side effects of the treatments can often damage the hair follicles and cause rapid hair fall. Treatments like chemotherapy to treat cancer, steroids, and medication for typhoid, heart diseases, depression, etc. are known to be responsible for extreme hair fall to the extent of causing baldness. Here’s a list of drugs that list hair loss as a possible side effect:

1. Anticoagulants
2. Diet pills
3. Birth control pills
4. Thyroid medicines
5.  Aspirin and other types of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
6. Aleve or ibuprofen
7. Gemfibrozil, clofibrate, and other cholesterol medicines
8. Ulcer medications such as ranitidine, famotidine, etc.

8. Thyroid Disorders

Thyroid disorders and anti-thyroid medication almost always lead to hair loss. The hair looks sparse and the hair loss is evenly distributed all over the scalp. Successful treatment often leads to the hair growing back, but in some cases the hair loss is permanent.

9. Overprocessing And Styling

While everyone wants their hair to look on point all the time, going overboard with chemical hair treatments and hot styling tools can lead to hair fall.

10. Iron Deficiency, Anemia, And Blood Loss

Deficiency of red blood cells in the body, sudden loss of blood, and insufficient iron levels in the body cause not only fatigue, weakness, and headaches, but also hair loss.

11. Crash Diets And Malnutrition

Insufficient intake of nutrients and following an unhealthy and unbalanced diet can cause malnourishment in the body. This leads to dehydration of the scalp and hair and can trigger excessive hair fall.