Alopecia is the abnormal loss of hair, that is when a person loses more than 100 daily hairs.
Causes:
There are different factors that influence hair loss:
- Inheritance: both men and women lose amount of hair due to age. Usually, this type of baldness is not caused by a disease and is related to aging.
- Stress: physical or emotional stress can cause hair loss. In a matter of days you can notice how most of the hair disappears, this happens on the days of greatest anxiety or on subsequent days.
- Unbalanced diet and a diet low in minerals and nutrients.
- Excessive use of shampoo and dryer.
- Taking medications such as anticoagulants, contraceptives or antidepressants can cause hair loss.
- Pregnancy and childbirth, it is very common in women who have just given birth who manifest a hair loss.
- Hair loss may be due to diseases such as lupus, syphilis, diabetes, hypothyroidism or anemia.
- Violent or strong hairstyle.
- Radiation therapy.
Symptom:
How do we know if we lose an abnormal amount of hair? There are different symptoms:
- Discomfort in the scalp manifested by redness or itching.
- Frequently find many hairs on the pillow when you wake up.
- If brushing and washing the hair falls in large quantities.
- Excess dandruff or fat.
- Acne or facial hair in the menstrual cycle.
- Baldness in beard or eyebrows.
- Weakness of the hair on the top of the head. This is the most common symptom of female baldness.
- In the case of men, the most common symptom is hair loss from the forehead, at the temples or in the upper region of the head.
- Losing hair at an early age, in adolescence or between 20-30 years.
Prevention:
Detecting the hair health problem in time is essential to find the most appropriate solutions.
To avoid hair loss it is essential not to wash your hair every day and use the shampoo that best suits our hair. In addition, taking care of food will help to have the necessary nutrients to maintain stronger and healthier hair.
Types:
- Non-scarring alopecia:
They are very common and can be cured through treatments. There is a lot of types:
Androgenic alopecia: it is the loss of hair due to genetic factors. It affects many men and rarely women.
- Alopecia areata: in most cases, the hair falls to strands leaving areas without hair. This type of alopecia can cause the loss of all hair.
- Traumatic alopecia: it is the consequence of external factors such as dryers, metal combs, dyes or permanent.
- Diffuse alopecia may appear due to diseases, hormonal changes or the side effects of some medications.
- Drug alopecia: Vitamin A in large doses can produce alopecia. In general, this type of alopecia usually disappears in the months following the suspension of the drug.
- Alopecia due to diseases.
- Alopecia due to hereditary syndromes.
Causes:
There are different factors that influence hair loss:
- Inheritance: both men and women lose amount of hair due to age. Usually, this type of baldness is not caused by a disease and is related to aging.
- Stress: physical or emotional stress can cause hair loss. In a matter of days you can notice how most of the hair disappears, this happens on the days of greatest anxiety or on subsequent days.
- Unbalanced diet and a diet low in minerals and nutrients.
- Excessive use of shampoo and dryer.
- Taking medications such as anticoagulants, contraceptives or antidepressants can cause hair loss.
- Pregnancy and childbirth, it is very common in women who have just given birth who manifest a hair loss.
- Hair loss may be due to diseases such as lupus, syphilis, diabetes, hypothyroidism or anemia.
- Violent or strong hairstyle.
- Radiation therapy.
Symptom:
How do we know if we lose an abnormal amount of hair? There are different symptoms:
- Discomfort in the scalp manifested by redness or itching.
- Frequently find many hairs on the pillow when you wake up.
- If brushing and washing the hair falls in large quantities.
- Excess dandruff or fat.
- Acne or facial hair in the menstrual cycle.
- Baldness in beard or eyebrows.
- Weakness of the hair on the top of the head. This is the most common symptom of female baldness.
- In the case of men, the most common symptom is hair loss from the forehead, at the temples or in the upper region of the head.
- Losing hair at an early age, in adolescence or between 20-30 years.
Prevention:
Detecting the hair health problem in time is essential to find the most appropriate solutions.
To avoid hair loss it is essential not to wash your hair every day and use the shampoo that best suits our hair. In addition, taking care of food will help to have the necessary nutrients to maintain stronger and healthier hair.
Types:
- Non-scarring alopecia:
They are very common and can be cured through treatments. There is a lot of types:
Androgenic alopecia: it is the loss of hair due to genetic factors. It affects many men and rarely women.
- Alopecia areata: in most cases, the hair falls to strands leaving areas without hair. This type of alopecia can cause the loss of all hair.
- Traumatic alopecia: it is the consequence of external factors such as dryers, metal combs, dyes or permanent.
- Diffuse alopecia may appear due to diseases, hormonal changes or the side effects of some medications.
- Drug alopecia: Vitamin A in large doses can produce alopecia. In general, this type of alopecia usually disappears in the months following the suspension of the drug.
- Alopecia due to diseases.
- Alopecia due to hereditary syndromes.
Scarring Alopecia:
It can be detected when baldness appears and there is a burning sensation or pain in the area that is losing hair. There are several types: primary scarring alopecia, acquired primary scarring alopecia and secondary scarring alopecia.
Other types:
- Infectious alopecia is about total or partial baldness caused by fungi, viruses or bacteria.
- Alopecia by physical chemical agents.
- Alopecias by antitumor treatment.
- Alopecia due to dermatosis.
- Alopecia due to inherited diseases.
Diagnosis:
According to the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, a thorough medical history will be performed to diagnose alopecia. Although, sometimes, an analysis is required to detect any alteration that justifies hair loss and in exceptional cases, a biopsy of the scalp is used.
It is essential that the patient undergo a diagnostic examination of hair loss to determine exactly the reason for hair loss.
Treatments:
If the hair loss is not serious, the hair grows back in a few months without the need for treatment.
For the most severe cases, common treatments are hair implant injection, topical medications applied to the skin and ultraviolet light therapy.
Other data:
The professionals of the Laser Medical Institute recommend following a series of recommendations and tips to improve the appearance of hair.
- Follow an adequate diet, since if any nutrient is missing in our body, the contribution is withdrawn from the hair.
- It is essential to keep hair clean with shampoos appropriate to the type of hair.
- Apply the masks on the ends and in the middle areas of the hair, never at the root.
- The hair should be dried with a towel first, then outdoors or with a medium temperature dryer.
- Protect hair with sunscreen and hats.
Labels
alopecia areata