Hair Loss – How To Stop Thinning Hair
It really doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman with thinning hair. The day you realize there’s more hair in the sink then there should be.
Is the day you panic!
Hair loss is never a good thing. We depend on our hair to make ourselves look good. When you look good you feel good about yourself. So when a man realizes he’s going bald, he’ll come up with some very creative ways of combing his hair. In an attempt to hide his obvious bald spot. A woman who realizes her hair thinning on various parts of her head, will typically start wearing wigs.
It’s a vicious cycle that unfortunately effects more than 50 million men and women in the U.S. alone.
The Anatomy Of Hair
We are all born with about 1 million hair follicles on our head and about 100,000 on our scalp. That’s it. Your hair is basically made up two parts. The hair shaft and the follicle in the skin.
It’s interesting that we put so much emphasis on the hair we can see. That’s called the hair shaft. It’s made up of keratin which is a dead protein. Sorry, that beautiful head of hair is actually dead. Your hair shaft is made of the cuticle, medulla and the cortex. The natural color of your hair is due to pigment cells. These cells spread your hair coloring to the cortex and medulla.
The follicle, is skin that produces hair. It is quite normal for your hair to go through different cycles of growth, shedding and rest. Everyone loses a certain amount of hair every day. Under normal conditions your hair remains full and continues to grow. But when your follicles become damaged, that’s when you begin to notice your hair thinning.
What Causes Hair Loss?
There are many different reasons why one could end up losing their hair.
Stress
If you are under a lot of stress for whatever reason, hair loss and thinning hair can be one of the side effects.
Poor Diet
Poor eating habits lacking in important vitamins and minerals can cause you to lose your hair.
Medications
Certain medications and treatments like radiation and chemotherapy can all contribute to hair falling out.
The Most Common Reasons For Going Bald
Memories of seeing the great tennis player Andre Agassi with his long flowing hair as he won championship after championship were awesome! Then there was the occasional camera shot of his father and brother. Both almost completely bald! Was there a genetic component at work? Yes there was. It’s called, Male Pattern Baldness. It is the single most common reason why men go bald. Years later Andre would admit he was in fact bald but wore wigs to hide his lack of hair.
This brings us to the role genetics obviously play. If your Mom or Dad or other relatives lost or are losing their hair. Chances are so will you.
Scientists Call Going Bald…Alopecia.
The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. Androgenetic, or ”pattern baldness” is the most common. It can develop in both men and women. It is believed to be genetic. The primary culprit is a hormone called Dihydrotestosterone or DHT. In men, it is the hormone that ”makes a man a man”. In other words, things like facial and body hair, the deepness of the voice, acne and masculinity.
Your hair follicle , prostate and adrenal glands are responsible for converting your testosterone into DHT. The problemoccurs when the DHT reaches your scalp. It essentially blocks the normal growth of your hair follicle. Additionally DHT also cuts off vital nutrients from reaching your hair follicle. Without the nutrients it needs to survive, the follicle begins to thin. Your hair becomes finer. Eventually it gets to a point where you really begin to notice your thinning hair.
At one time, researchers thought that having too much testosterone was the main problem. Things quickly changed when they realized that DHT was also a factor in Female Pattern Baldness. The level of testosterone in women is extremely minimal. Yet when it converts to DHT, it literally sees the hair follicle as the enemy, and shrinks the follicle to the point where it can no longer grow.
The result is the same as it is for men. Women end up losing their hair.
Science knows what happens in the process. But they have yet to figure out the why the process happens in some and not others. Research continues to try and find the ”trigger” that causes DHT to literally attack healthy follicles. Until then, there are options that have been successful for those trying to cope with hair thinning.
Solutions
There are several remedies available to save your thinning hair. There is no known cure for baldness. But there are ways to stop your hair loss from progressing.
Minoxidil (Topical lotion)
Minoxidil sold under the brand name Rogaine, is FDA approved for the treatment of alopecia. It is applied directly to the hair and scalp. Although it works well, once you stop using Minoxidil your hair will start falling out all over again.
Finasteride (Oral Medication)
Finasteride which is sold under the brand names Propecia or Proscar is for men only. It has also proved to be successful in the regrowth of hair. However, it should also be noted that the FDA has issued a warning of an increased risk of prostate cancer for those taking the drug.
Hair Transplants
The most common method used is called Follicular Unit Grafting. It is a microsurgery procedure that requires a lot of experience in order for the best results.
Basically this is a medical procedure that takes hair follicles from an area of the head that has not been affected by DHT. Typically it is always taken from the back of the head.
This is done by actually removing a strip of the scalp. This piece of scalp is then cut up into several tiny pieces called follicular units. Each unit will have 1 – 4 hair follicles. Then they are transplanted into areas of the scalp where there is hair thinning. Recovery generally takes 2 weeks. Hair growth in about 3 months.
The battle to find a cure for thinning hair continues. In the meantime, there are several methods that can at the very least stop or slow down the progression of hair thinning and complete baldness. If you think your hair loss may be health related consult with your doctor immediately.