Hello friends . In my last blog, I discussed about the natural hair cycle. Moreover, I tried to clear doubts about the hair fall or the hair loss in Telogen phase of hair cycle. Telogen : shedding phase of hair where club hairs rest in the roots while new hair begins to grow beneath it. I am sure some of you might not get the hair regrowth after a long hair fall period or had hair loss due to other causes. I will discuss those other causes responsible for hair loss in this blog.

Its normal to lose 50 to 100 hairs a day. Its impossible to count amount of hair loss in a day. You may be loosing more hair than is normal if you notice a large amount of hair fall while washing or brushing your hair. There can be other possibility of large hair loss or hair thinning after a long ailment. It usually takes 6 to 9 months for hair regrowth in that case. If you notice that you are loosing more hair than usual for more than 6 months, then there is a need to figure the underlying cause and undergo appropriate medical treatments.

Causes of hair fall and hair loss:

1. Hereditary factors: the most common cause of hair loss is hereditary which happens with ageing. This condition of hair loss is Androgenic Allopecia, for males it is termed as male pattern baldness whereas in females its called female pattern baldness. This process is a slow gradual process which starts with hair line receding and later hair loss patterns in case of males whereas hair thinning in case of females.
2. Medications: Hair loss can be a side effect of certain drugs and medications such as those given in cancer, arthritis, heart problems and high blood pressure.
3. Hormonal changes: hormonal changes like pregnancy, child birth, menopause, thyroid can cause temporary or permanent hair loss.
4. Auto immune disorders: Sometimes auto immune disorders like Allopecia areata causes hair loss. In this case hair loss occurs in patches all over the scalp.
5. Very stressful event or loss of a loved one: these unmanageable events causes temporary hair thinning and sometimes even hair loss.

Friends, hair fall and hair loss are two different terms. The layman’s term for hair loss is baldness or Allopecia . In men , Allopecia starts with thinning and receding of hairline, hair loss patterns are created and ends with complete baldness of crown region. On the other hand , Allopecia in females happens with thinning of hair. Depending on the extent and pattern of hair loss, Allopecia is categorized in grades ( Grade 1 to grade 6). I will write about the Allopecia grades in separate blog. Hair loss or Allopecia can be treated upto a certain stage.

Treatments:

• Minoxidil: Minoxidil 5% and 10% is the first line of treatment for Allopecia. It has to be applied over the scalp everyday. Minoxidil was developed in the late 1950s to treat ulcers. The compound did not cure ulcers but found to be a powerful vasodilator. Minoxidil , a vasodilator medication is known for its ability to slow or stop hair loss and promote hair regrowth.
• Acupuncture: Acupuncture therapy increases blood circulation in hair follicles which makes them strong and healthy .
• Microneedling and Microderma roller therapy: It is an instrument which has got fine needles. The purpose of rolling it over the scalp is to create fine injuries on scalp for improving blood circulation and also to increase the absorption of minoxidil.
• Platelet Rich Plasma therapy( PRP): It is the most efficient therapy for Allopecia in which blood sample is taken from patients own body . It under go centrifugation process in which platelet rich plasma part is extracted which contains growth factors. These growth factors are then injected to the scalp which stops further hair loss and promotes hair growth.

All the above medical therapies are clinical therapies which are given under supervision.

Please feel free to contact me(Aarti Kaushik Jaitly) @jaitly.aarti@gmail or call 0149 232 732  for further queries.

Thank you.