What Causes Hair Loss In Men And Women
No matter if it is male/female-pattern baldness or total baldness, called alopecia, most people will have some type of hair loss at one point or another in their lives. The causes are varied and can depend on many factors. Here are some of the more common factors so you can identify what may be causing your hair loss.
Common Causes
Hair loss can occur from many common causes that most people don't even think of. The most common is stress. Stress from work, a crash diet, or illness can all play a role in what causes hair loss.
Also, taking a new medication, such as high blood pressure medications, birth control pills, antidepressants, and blood thinners, may make your hair fall out as well, so if it is three months after you started taking these pills (three month is how long it will take for you to notice a major change) and your hair is falling out you may want to call your doctor.
Other than stress and medication, hair loss can be caused by hormone changes such as low thyroid function. What you can do to combat this cause is to start taking hormone replacement therapy prescribed by your doctor.
Causes In Men
Men generally lose their hair due to genetics and heredity or the causes above. It starts with thinning in the hairline or the crown and progresses over time.
Female Causes
Two thirds of women will have some type of hair loss in their lives. Fifty percent of women get female-pattern baldness. Thinning usually appears around the ages of 25 to 30 or 40 to 50. It usually starts with the hair shaft becoming thinner and translucent. Then the hair will start to fall out of a rate that is higher than one hundred strands a day (fifty to one hundred is normal hair loss).
A common cause of hair loss for women is what happens to hair after the hormonal changes, such as the rise of testosterone, found during menopause. Another hormone that directly targets the hair during menopause is progesterone. Progesterone levels drop because of lack of ovulation in the female's body. It compensates by producing extra androstenedione, which hampers hair growth. Hair will usually go back to its original thickness after menopause, though. Many women find that childbirth is what caused their hair loss
Stressful hair styling can also thin a woman's hair. Forceful tugging with brushes, irons, and straighteners, as well as the chemicals in certain styling products, weakens hair shafts and roots.
Finding what has caused your hair loss will greatly increase your chances of finding the right treatments to help re-grow your hair.
