If you’ve experienced hair loss, you know the gut-wrenching feeling of running your fingers through your hair or looking in the mirror and suddenly realizing there’s much less hair there than there once was. You might even see your scalp peeping through the strands.
Suddenly, your mind jumps to hair restoration solutions, plastic surgery, or treatments you’ve seen on the late-night shopping channel. You might even start looking up a reputable plastic surgeon in your area to discuss hair restoration options.
Unfortunately, this is not a problem that only happens to men. While it’s twice as likely to happen to a man, a woman may notice thinning or even balding over time. What causes this loss of follicles? Is plastic surgery the best way to treat it?
The Stages of Hair Growth and Loss
Understanding how one’s hair grows can help you understand why it’s lost. As you well know, the human head is conditioned to lose hair. You’ll find hairs all over your house as they fall out.
A small amount of hair loss is completely normal and does not cause balding or thinning. The amount lost is different for everyone. It could be 100 strands per day for those with very thick hair or it could be 20. You’ll probably sense when you’re losing more hair than you should be.
Typically, hair growth and loss occur in three stages:
- Anagen: Hair strands are actively growing.
- Catagen: Hair strands stop growing and prepare to shed.
- Telogen: The follicle releases the strands and becomes dormant for about three months before hair starts to sprout again.
Those who experience more permanent hair loss typically see issues in stages two and three. While the follicle is supposed to go dormant, meaning it will again sprout hairs, the follicle might die. Or it might become dormant for longer than the normal three-month window.
Common Causes of Hair Loss
The causes of hair loss among the human race are varied and complex. At a glance, some of the most common causes of hair loss for men and/or women include:
Genetics: This is the most common cause of hair loss. There’s a myth stating that hair loss is inherited through the mother’s side of the family. In reality, it could be through the mother’s side, the father’s, or both.
Physical Stress: If you’ve been through physical trauma like a car accident, surgery, pregnancy, or menopause, it can disturb the hair cycle and trigger loss. Scars on the scalp might also prevent hair growth.
Emotional Stress: You might experience a traumatic death, receive very bad news, or have a stressful job. The increase in stress hormones can interrupt the hair cycle.
Chemical Treatments or Medications: Some drugs can contribute to hair loss. The most common chemical treatment to induce hair loss is chemotherapy, although it’s usually a temporary loss.
Severe Hairstyles or Treatments: Those who have had severe treatments to their hair such as bleaching it too often or with the wrong chemical mixture can lose their hair as a result. Ballerinas, for example, are also known to have hair loss thanks to the tight buns they wear in recitals that pull their hair strands out prematurely and damage the follicles.
Disease or Illness: Certain diseases can also cause hair loss. You might have been born with an autoimmune disease that could cause hair loss.
Many of these causes are temporary. For example, if you stop taking a medication or supplement that causes hair loss, your hair will likely grow back. Others are permanent, such as genetic factors.
Why Are Men More Likely to Lose Their Hair?
Many of the causes of hair loss are the same for both men and women. However, the patterns of hair loss and the likelihood are significantly different.
Hair loss experts believe that men are more likely to lose their hair because their follicles are made differently. The androgen receptor sites, enzymes, and hormones react differently in their follicles and are more prone to loss.
The higher presence of testosterone also contributes to hair loss. Men with a genetic disposition for hair loss will develop dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone made from testosterone. When the body makes this hormone, it essentially kills hair follicles and prevents future growth.
Hair Loss Can Be Treated!
Even though hair loss can stem from genetic factors that seem to kill follicles, there are still effective treatments available!
In some cases, hair can be regrown without the aid of plastic surgery. Sometimes, the body simply needs hormone treatments that can fix the hair growth cycle. Low-level laser treatments, supplements, and other products might do the trick.
In other cases, plastic surgery is an excellent option! A good plastic surgeon can discuss your options for hair restoration when you’re ready, whether it’s hair transplant surgery or follicle repair.
Everyone’s hair loss journey is different, so it’s important to choose a treatment that you’re comfortable with. Just know that you have options, and you can enjoy a full head of hair just like anyone else.
