>Hair Loss

Types: 

1. Alopecia areata.
2. Androgenic Alopecia.
3. Telogen Effluvium

 

                             Alopecia areata

Definition: Alopecia areata is the name for a condition in which round patches of hair loss appear suddenly. The hair-growing tissue is attacked by the patient's own immune cells for unknown reasons. There are three stages: first, there is sudden hair loss, then the patches of hair loss enlarge, and last, new hair grows back. This process takes months, sometimes more than a year, but rarely does the hair never grow back.

Causes:

• We do not know why the immune cells attack the hair-growing tissue.
• Alopecia areata is not contagious, not caused by foods, and is not the result of nervousness.
• Alopecia areata sometimes runs in families.

  Treatment:

• Many people have achieved success with treatments such as Provillus, an all-natural alopecia solution for men and women.
• Cortisone injections can also stimulate hair regrowth. Twenty to thirty injections per patch are required once a month. The injections are uncomfortable. Cortisone injections only work in the areas that have been injected; the injections do not prevent new areas of hair loss. It generally takes one to two months after the injection before hair growth is visible.
• Some patients do not respond to any treatment. We cannot predict which patients will respond to treatment.
• Cortisone creams are also sometimes beneficial in the treatment of alopecia areata.

                         Androgenic Alopecia

Definition:

Androgenic alopecia is the name for male and female pattern baldness. In androgenic alopecia the hair loss occurs slowly over years. It can start anytime after age twenty. There is usually a family history of hair loss. In women, the hair slowly becomes thin throughout the scalp and bald spots usually do not occur. Men first develop hair loss at the temples, followed by an enlarging bald spot on top of the head.

Causes:

• Androgenic alopecia is thought to be due to the hair growing tissue's sensitivity to hormones; this sensitivity is due to genetic factors.
• Not contagious, not caused by foods, not the result of nervousness.
• Androgenic alopecia often runs in families.

Treatment:

• Rogaine (minoxidil) is a medicine used to treat high blood pressure which when applied to the skin causes hair growth in some individuals. One out of ten people who use Rogaine will grow hair. Rogaine will slow the rate of hair loss in five out of ten patients who use it. The other four out of ten are wasting their money.
• Many people have achieved success with natural alternatives such as Provillus and other hair loss treatments.
• Hair transplants are another option for treating androgenic alopecia. Plugs of hair are removed surgically from areas with plenty of hair and implanted in the areas with little hair.
• Some people can benefit from scalp reduction. This is a surgical procedure in which the bald area is cut out.
• Propecia is a new medication taken by mouth which treats androgenic alopecia.

                                                    Telogen Effluvium

Definition:

Telogen effluvium is an abnormal loss of hair due to alteration of the normal hair cycle. Hair growth occurs in a cycle which is divided into three phases: a growth phase, a regression phase and a resting phase. Different hairs are in different stages of the cycle at any one time. Normally, most of the hairs are in the growth stage and only one hundred hairs per day fall from the scalp. When telogen effluvium occurs, a greater proportion of the hairs enter the resting phase of the cycle and hair shedding is greater than normal.

Causes:

• During pregnancy, more hair follicles are maintained in the growth phase. After pregnancy, a greater proportion of these hairs go into the resting phase, causing a temporary self-correcting increased shedding of the hair.
• The same phenomenon can be seen after stopping birth control pills.
• The flu or stress can also cause telogen effluvium.

Treatment:

• There is no treatment for telogen effluvium. The problem will correct itself. All the lost hair will eventually be replaced.