Hair Loss & Hair Thinning: Common Causes and Treatment
Hair is one of the first things everyone notices about us when we meet them. Hair conveys aspects of your style and personality. Everyone loses some hair every day. Losing up to 100 hairs a day is normal. Hair loss can’t be avoided. In most cases, it occurs due to aging and depends largely on genetics. Although hair loss is common to some extent, it can be a tough thing to live with, especially when it changes how you look.
In general, hair loss is an overall hair thinning without specific bald spots or patterns. While this type of hair loss may not be noticeable to others, often the individual will feel their hair is not as thick or full as it previously was.
Common causes of hair loss include:
- Family history, in most cases, hair loss is inherited, which means it’s passed down from one or both of your parents. This is called male-pattern or female-pattern hair loss.
- Stress, including physical stress from surgery, illness, or high fever.
- Chemotherapy, which is a powerful medicine that destroys cancer cells.
- Over Styling, damage to your hair from pulling it back too tightly, wearing tight braids or ponytails, or using curling irons or dyes.
- Ageing, you grow less hair as you get older. Hair also gets thinner and tends to break more easily as you age.
- Poor diet, especially not getting enough protein or iron.
- Hormonal imbalance, such as hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
How hair loss treated?
A mechanism that treats hair loss: hair follicle stem cells, essential for hair to regrow, can prolong their life by switching their metabolic state in response to the low oxygen concentration in the tissue.
How do you choose treatment of hair loss depends on the cause? It also depends on your feelings. You may decide that you need treatment, or you may not be worried about hair thinning or baldness. The choice is yours.
When you are deciding about treatment, considered the following aspects:
- Which treatment is most likely to work?
- How long will it take?
- Will it last?
- What are the side effects and other risks?
- How much will it cost?
We can reverse hair loss, or at least slow it. With some conditions, such as patchy hair loss (alopecia areata).
Treatments for hair loss include medications and surgery.
- HFSC (Human Follicle Stem Cell) complex plus growth factors is a unique cosmetic treatment for topical use available in the Re-Growth formulation only and in a Complete Treatment, combining Anti-Hair Loss & Re-Growth vials in a single therapy box, no reported side effects.
- Minoxidil: Over-the-counter (non-prescription) minoxidil comes in liquid, foam and shampoo forms. Possible side effects include scalp irritation and unwanted hair growth on the adjacent skin of the face and hands, tachycardia (rapid heart rate).
- Finasteride: This is a prescription drug. You can take it daily as a pill. Many people taking finasteride experience a slowing of hair loss, and some may show new hair growth. Side effects of finasteride include diminished sex drive and sexual function and an increased risk of prostate cancer. Women who are or may be pregnant need to avoid touching crushed or broken tablets.
- Hair transplant surgery: 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. There are also certain risks, including infections and scarring. You may also need to do multiple hair transplant treatments to get the desired outcome.
- Topical tretinoin: Retin-A, or topical tretinoin, is sometimes used as a combination therapy with minoxidil for androgenic alopecia. It’s important to use this type of medication under the guidance of your doctor. In some circumstances, tretinoin can actually cause hair loss. Some people who have used it at home report that topical retinol creams, serums, and lotions may make hair loss worse.
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy: This treatment is relatively new and, as a result, there isn’t much research to support its effectiveness. Some studies Trusted Source have shown it to be a simple, cost-effective treatment option. PRP therapy involves several sessions within a four to six-week period with maintenance every four to six months. Possible risks include: injury to blood vessels or nerves, infection and scar tissue, or calcification at injection points
