Hair Loss: Causes, Treatments and Prevention Options

Table Of Content

• When should I call the doctor?
• Risk factors
• How else does smoking affect health?
• What’s The Most Common Cause Of Female Hair Loss?
• Check your symptoms
• Men's Health

If your blood test reveals that you’re not getting enough biotin, iron, or zinc, your dermatologist may recommend taking a supplement. If you’re not getting enough protein, your dermatologist can tell you how to boost your intake. Both the CDC and the FDA warn against treating this common childhood condition on your own with non-prescription treatments. You're likely to first bring your concerns to the attention of your family doctor.

When should I call the doctor?

This works well for people with inherited baldness since they typically lose hair on the top of the head. Because some hair loss can be progressive, you may need multiple procedures over time. In addition to losing hair on the scalp, some people with alopecia areata lose hair from their eyebrows, eyelashes, or other parts of the body. If you notice hair loss, talk to your doctor as soon as you can. Traction alopecia is a type of hair loss that's brought on by the way you style your hair.

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Risk factors

Female hair loss happens when a woman, or anyone who was identified as female at birth, loses more hair than normal. About half of all women will have hair loss at some point in life. Most start to notice it in their 50s or 60s, but it can happen at any age and for a variety of reasons.

How else does smoking affect health?

And many people find ways to thrive and feel great, no matter how much — or how little — hair they have. Baldness typically refers to excessive hair loss from your scalp. Hereditary hair loss with age is the most common cause of baldness. Some people prefer to let their hair loss run its course untreated and unhidden. Others may cover it up with hairstyles, makeup, hats or scarves. And still others choose one of the treatments available to prevent further hair loss or restore growth.

What’s The Most Common Cause Of Female Hair Loss?

With this type of hair loss, your follicles gradually shrink and the growth cycle is shortened. Things that interfere with the growth cycle -- like medications, illnesses, infections, or chemicals -- have the potential to stop hair from being formed the right way. Beyond that, age, hormones, stress, and even the way you style your hair can lead to hair loss.

You should only take biotin, iron, or zinc when your blood test shows that you have a deficiency. If your levels are normal, taking a supplement can be harmful. For example, if you take too much iron, you can develop iron poisoning. While you can buy a microneedling device without a prescription, it’s best to check with your dermatologist first. More studies are needed to find out who is most likely to benefit from this treatment and whether these devices cause long-term side effects. It’s important to understand that not everyone who used a laser saw regrowth.

This process is essential to the life cycle of hair, and you may experience hair loss if you have a biotin deficiency. Vitamin A is partly made up of retinoids, which support healthy hair growth and influence the hair cycle. But it’s dose-dependent, meaning that consuming too much — or too little — can damage your hair.

Check your symptoms

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Avoid harsh hair treatments like heating tools, hair dye and bleaching. Hairstyles like tight ponytails or braids can affect your hair as well. Keep your scalp healthy by washing your hair and scalp regularly.

Men's Health

Some hairstyles and hair care habits can damage hair, leading to hair loss. If your dermatologist finds that this may be causing your hair loss, your dermatologist can recommend changes that will help you stop damaging your hair. Losing your hair — whether the hair loss is temporary or permanent — can be emotionally difficult for many people. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a low-level laser device as a treatment for hereditary hair loss in men and women.

This type of hair loss occurs slowly, over the course of several months or years. The FDA has approved a few laser treatment devices to treat hair loss at home. But we need more studies into their safety and effectiveness for long-term use. These hair changes can make it hard to maintain how you want to look, especially if you're transgender or nonbinary (which means you don't identify as fully male or female).

In one small 2016 study involving 9 people, participants saw results after receiving as little as 4 minutes of massage a day for 24 weeks. Also known as Rogaine, this over-the-counter drug is known to help with hair loss. Treatment for this condition depends on the cause but may include a topical solution of minoxidil (Rogaine). To use minoxidil, you apply it to the scalp as directed, usually once or twice a day.

Hair Loss in Women: Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Table Of Content

• Symptoms of hair loss in women
• The role of vitamins and minerals in hair health: Essential nutrients for strong and healthy hair
• Other treatments
• Very low protein diets
• Topical minoxidil (Rogaine and generic)
• Hair loss risk factors

A healthcare provider can identify the cause of your hair loss and help you come up with a plan to get your hair growing again. Besides potentially causing hair loss, iron deficiency anemia can lead to impaired brain function, infertility, heart conditions, depression, and altered immune system function (16). Just like crash diets, restrictive diets that cut out entire food groups can cause hair loss as a result of nutrient deficiency or stress. This April marks Stress Awareness month in the US, a calendar moment designed to raise awareness of the pervasive and damaging nature of stress. One common type of scarring alopecia affects your eyebrows and your front hairline first and then works its way toward the back of your head.

Symptoms of hair loss in women

You can expect 10–80% of transplanted hair to grow back in 3–4 months. Talk with a dermatologist or a hair restoration specialist to find out whether a hair transplant is right for you. Hair transplants involve taking hair from one area of your scalp and transplanting it into an area with hair thinning or balding. Some causes of hair loss are temporary and can be reversed, while others are permanent.

The role of vitamins and minerals in hair health: Essential nutrients for strong and healthy hair

However, studies show that more than 50% of people assigned female at birth will experience noticeable hair loss. The most significant cause of hair loss in women is female-pattern hair loss (FPHL). Depending on what’s causing your hair loss, it may be temporary or permanent. Treatments can help people with certain types of hair loss.

Other treatments

Baldness (androgenic alopecia) is the most common type of hair loss. In the most common type of permanent hair loss, only the top of the head is affected. Hair transplant, or restoration surgery, can make the most of the hair you have left. Whatever the cause of your hair loss, seeking medical attention from your primary care doctor or a dermatologist can help you identify underlying causes. Treatments for hair loss are more likely to be successful if started early.

Very low protein diets

Smoking can negatively affect many aspects of health, including hair health. Research notes an association between smoking and hair loss. This is because the harmful chemicals in cigarettes can affect hair follicles. For example, a 2015 study in 180 women with diffuse hair loss found that the most common causes of hair loss were iron deficiency and psychological stress. This article explains why some people experience hair loss after weight loss and discusses ways to treat and prevent the issue. More commonly, because people are eating less while on weight loss drugs, they may not be getting enough of some vital nutrients, which can also contribute to hair loss.

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But you might find it helpful to know that there are several things you can do to help prevent hair loss or encourage hair growth. When you start to shed more strands — and fewer or none grow back — the condition is considered alopecia (hair loss). There are several types of hair loss, and it can affect adults of any gender and even children. You may lose hair just on your head or from your body as well.

A person may lose hair as a result of a health-related issue, such as alopecia areata, a nutrient deficiency, or medication use. Treatment for hair loss will depend on the cause, but avoiding heat on the hair and following other lifestyle tips may help. Minoxidil tends to be more effective when used along with another treatment for hair loss. Many people see some regrowth when using minoxidil, but it takes time to see results, usually about 6 to 12 months. In some cases, the cause of hair loss is obvious — for example, if you're losing hair while going through chemotherapy.

Also, because hair follicles shrink during this time, your hair might be thinner, fall out easier, and grow more slowly. Once the stress goes away, your hair may get back to normal in 6-9 months. You can have hair loss as a result of physical stress, like when you give birth or have surgery, or intense emotional stress, like a death in the family, divorce, or unemployment. Hair loss can happen a couple of weeks to 6 months after any stressful experience. Because hair is constantly falling out and growing, hair loss often goes unnoticed.

Hair loss risk factors

He or she may refer you to a doctor who specializes in the treatment of skin problems (dermatologist). A typical hair transplant involves removing patches of hair from your head and reinserting the hair follicle by follicle into the bald sections. Hair loss is a complicated topic and the role of nutrition in preventing or treating hair loss can be somewhat controversial. If you’re currently losing hair, use a gentle baby shampoo to wash your hair.

But you may start to notice it as early as your late teens -- and the earlier it starts, the more serious it tends to be. Hormone changes during menopause can also contribute to this type of baldness. In addition to nicotine, cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain more than 7,000 components. Health experts recognize smoking as a major preventable cause of premature death and disability in the United States. Evidence notes that when a person quits smoking, it is possible to undo some of the damage caused by the harmful effects of smoking.

For this reason, your dermatologist may include one of the following in your treatment plan. At-home treatments offer convenience, and you can buy many of them without a prescription. Because studies show that the following can help, your dermatologist may include one (or more) in your at-home treatment plan.

The most common products contain an ingredient called minoxidil. They may also order blood tests to check for any nutrient deficiencies or signs of an underlying condition. It’s also the most common cause of hair loss, affecting up to 50% of people. There are several types of hair loss, some are common and some are rarer, and each with different underlying causes. In hair transplant surgery, pieces of scalp tissue with the hair attached are typically taken from one area of the scalp and moved to areas of baldness.

Rarer side effects include irregular heartbeat and blurred vision. In the meantime, talk with your doctor before adding ginseng supplements to your diet. A doctor may recommend dietary changes and supplements to treat a nutritional deficiency.

To prevent hair loss, avoid crash and restrictive diets, fuel your body properly, and supplement before and after weight loss surgery. Work with a qualified healthcare provider to identify the cause of hair loss and to find a plan to facilitate hair regrowth. Effective treatments for some types of hair loss are available. You might be able to reverse hair loss, or at least slow it.