Hair Loss

Causes of Temporary Hair Loss

• Physical stress: surgery, illness, anemia, rapid weight change. The hair loss usually occurs 3 months after the event that caused it and may take 3 months after the event ends to resume.
• Emotional stress: mental illness, death of a family member. Again, the hair loss usually occurs 3 months after the event that caused it and may take 3 months after the event ends to resume.
• Thyroid abnormalities.
• Medications: High does of Vitamin A — Blood pressure medications — Gout medications.
• Hormonal causes: pregnancy or birth control pills. Hair loss frequently occurs when the body’s hormonal levels are noticeable altered. This can occur due to pregnancy, or going on or off birth control pills. This type of hair loss is usually temporary.
• Diet: Women appear to be more subject to hair loss due to dietary reasons than men. Low iron levels are the most common dietary reason women experience hair loss, although other vitamins and minerals may be involved. Also, the intake of a diet high in animal fat directly leads to the increased incidence of balding because the higher levels of animal fat cause the oil glands in the hair follicles to grow, leading to more DHT production and therefore more damage to the hair follicles.
• Hair shaft breakage is when part of a hair breaks off, but the growing end remains in the follicle and continues to grow. Hair shaft breakage results in thinner hair, and can be caused by excessive styling, chemicals, sun, and chlorine in swimming pools.
• If your hair loss is due to a short-term event such as stress, pregnancy, and the taking of certain medications in these situations, hair will grow back when the event has passed. Substances (including hormones), medications, and diseases can cause a change in the hair growth and shedding phases and in their durations. When this happens, synchronous growth and shedding occur. Once the cause is dealt with, hairs go back to their random pattern of growth and shedding, and your hair loss problem stops. 

TREATMENTS:
1. Treat hereditary hair loss at its earliest stages:
By waiting and waiting to take action and not treating hair loss in the early stages, more and more hair follicles die off and once that occurs, no treatment will enable hair to regrow. Once the hair follicle is dead, it will never produce hair again … so don’t wait until it’s too late!

2. Make an informed decision as to when to treat hair loss:
Only when you are fully equipped with a good understanding of your condition and the treatment options available, will you be able to take charge, make informed decisions, and make a difference in your hair to positively impact how you feel about yourself.
The internet is an excellent resource, but it is full of both good and sometimes misleading information.

3. Realize that there are effective treatments available that can stop and in many cases help your hair to regrow:

Presently, there are three products that have FDA approval/clearance for hair growth and have been proven effective. Minoxidil is an over the counter ingredient widely available in many preparations, the prescription drug containing finesteride, and the Hair Max Laser Comb, a home use laser photo therapy medical device that has been proven to re-grow hair and prevent further hair loss. Also, there are many other products that are useful when used in conjunction with these products to help potentiate their effect.

4. Visit your health care practitioner:
If you want some expert advice, then you should make an appointment with a health care practitioner for expert advice. Probably the best physician to see is a dermatologist who is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of hair loss.
Remember, hair loss IS treatable! The best chance you have to help control your hair loss is to do something about it when you first notice hair loss is occurring.