According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), around 80 million American men and women are suffering from hereditary hair loss cause. This condition will affect the scalp area of your head or the entire body. Alopecia is very much prevalent among older adults whereas excessive hair shedding can also occur in children. It is very much normal to lose almost 50-100 strands in one day. If you have 100,000 hairs on your head, then probably losing this quantity will not be noticed. New growth will replace the old broken.
Hair loss will develop on a gradual basis with time and this can be either permanent or temporary. An ordinary person cannot easily count the total number of hairs that fall each day. But it is heartbreaking for them if the quantity is massive. Once it starts, you will notice thin patches on your scalp each day.
Let’s get into the discussion of the main causes
Main hair loss causes
To figure out the actual causes of the hair loss, your dermatologist or doctor will first examine your scalp condition. At a general level, the most common causes of baldness are hereditary male- or female-pattern baldness.
It is also common to experience if you are having any family history of baldness. There are certain sex hormones as well which can trigger the situation of hereditary alopecia. It may start as early as puberty.
In most conditions, it will occur at a simple halt over the hair growth cycle. Major traumatic events or illnesses or surgeries can also cause this problem. Nevertheless, your hairs will start growing back just without any treatment.
Sometimes hormonal changes can also cause temporary loss. Examples include:
- Childbirth
- Pregnancy
- Discontinue the use of birth control pills
- Menopause
Few basic medical conditions which can cause hair loss are:
- Thyroid disease
- Alopecia areata
- Scalp infections such as ringworm
Some diseases can cause scarring including lichen planus and few other types of lupus which can result in permanent baldness due to the scarring. Sometimes this can take place due to medications that are used to treat:
- Cancer
- Depression
- High blood pressure
- Heart problems
- Arthritis
Any emotional shock can often trigger the signs of noticeable thinning. Few examples are
- Death of close one
- Extreme weight loss
- High fever
People who are suffering from trichotillomania which is a hair-pulling disorder do face a need where they want to pull the hair out of their eyelashes, head, or eyebrows. Traction alopecia normally happens due to certain styles that pressurize the follicles by pulling hairs tightly.
A diet plan which is lacking in iron, protein, or nutrients can often lead to thinning.
Is hair fall a sign of major disease?
Medical conditions that are responsible for causing thinning are thyroid disease or alopecia areata as well as certain scalp infections like ringworm.
Is it normal to lose 20 hairs a day?
At an ordinary level, around 90% of the hairs are grown and the rest of the 15% are in a resting phase where it would not fall out or grow. After every 3 months, resting hairs will shed and new strands will grow at their place. So probably you will be losing between 150 and 200 from your scalp or head per day.
How do you know if you are losing too much hair?
It’s easy way is to perform a pull test at home. You can start with a smaller area of any clean or dry hair. Start running your fingers all through it and tugging gently once you simply get to the ends of your all strands. If 3 hairs are left in your hand after each tug, you are probably experiencing telogen or anagen effluvium.
How much hair loss is normal during a shower?
It is normal to look for the clumps of hairs in the shower drain. Women will naturally lose around 100 strands per day. This number can increase if you are using a rough shampoo or have longer hairs or if you wear elastic bands most frequently.
Conclusion
You do have an option where you can reverse or even stop the hair loss causes with aggressive treatment. This is much needed if it is happening due to an underlying medical condition. Hence hereditary baldness is a little difficult to treat. Nevertheless, certain procedures including hair transplants can help you a lot to improve the overall appearance of baldness.
Get in touch with your doctor to explore a few basic options to easily lessen the emerging effects of hair loss.