Little by little you observe these little patches of hair thinning and then shedding off, bringing you to an acute awareness that you are experiencing hair loss. If you are at an older age, this can be attributed as a sign of aging, but sometimes the condition can creep on you early on and under certain circumstances.

There are different kinds of hair loss conditions and they have their various causes and cures. To expound on it fully I have enumerated below the types of hair loss, their causes and treatment. This is to help you understand the condition in simple terms.

Alopecia Areata

It is a condition where a person suffers rapid hair loss within a small amount of time. It is often characterized by patchy hair loss which amounts to about 50%. There are two types of Alopecia Areata, which are Alopecia Totalis and Alopecia Universalis.

Causes includes hormonal imbalance, stress, medications, pregnancy or thyroid malfunctions. This condition causes an autoimmune (a phenomenon where body tissues are attacked by its own immune system) response which causes your body to produce antibodies against hair follicle structures thus destroying them.

Hair loss from alopecia can be reversed just by itself in some cases. But there are also medications such as topical creams and steroid injections that you can use to stimulate back hair growth in these patches.

Alopecia Totalis

This is a condition where a person experiences a rapid onset of hair loss on your scalp, within a specific span of time. The extent can also go as far as losing the hair on your eyebrows and lashes.

Alopecia Universalis

A type of alopecia where there is rapid loss of all hair in the scalp and body.

Chronic Telogen Effluvium

This is a type of hair loss which is common in women, characterized by conspicuous thinning of the hair and evident bald spots in a period of months. This is also the kind experienced by patients who undergoing chemotherapy. It usually has an acute onset but a chronic form also exists with a more insidious start.

In women, the gradual loss and thinning is caused by an iron deficiency in which they are prone to because they usually lose blood during their menstrual periods. Oral contraceptives, childbirth and miscarriage can also be common causes.

Severe infection, chemotherapy, crash diets, metabolic stress, psychological stress, and major surgery can also cause the hair loss.

This condition is reversible and can resolve spontaneously because it is mainly a reactive process. When the causes have been corrected, it can resolve the problem. Iron supplements for the ladies, proper nutrition, and treatment of the illness which causes it.

Trichotillomania

This is a psychological condition where a person has the strong urge to pluck, pull, or twist the hair until it is taken off. It is a compulsive behaviour which affects 4% of the population, usually affecting women. It usually occurs before age 17 and younger children would have a tendency to outgrow this behaviour.

The constant pulling and plucking of hair results to an uneven appearance on the scalp, which is characterized by patchy areas and diffused hair distribution.

Behavioral therapy along with medications can help relieve the problem.

Androgenic Hair Loss/ Androgenic Alopecia/Pattern Alopecia

This condition affects both males and females, but it is highly common among men, which is why it is often called as “male pattern baldness”. It affects 35 million men in the United States and it can start in as early as the teenage years, but highly likely in men above 50.

It starts above the temples and recedes even further forming a defined pattern, usually forming an “M” shape. In other instances baldness starts at the crown of the head then progresses to partial or complete baldness. However in women, total baldness rarely happens neither do their hairlines recede, but thinning of the hair all over the head is apparent.

It was understood that androgenic alopecia has genetic factors. It tends to be passed on in a family that is why if you have a parent or a close relative with the condition, your risk of having it increases. The hair loss can also be triggered by medical conditions like prostate enlargement or coronary heart disease.

Men, usually those who can afford, would opt for hair implantation. A method such as FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) is where a strip of hair follicles is taken out of the donor site of the head, usually at the back, and then implanted to the balding spot. It is a highly effective procedure usually rendering impressive results. However, this should only be the last option, because there are other medication treatments such as Minoxidil among all others that can also be prescribed by your doctor.

This information gives you an overview of the common hair loss problem suffered by most people. If you find any symptoms familiar to your own, get the help that you can immediately. I made this article with the hope that it may shed some knowledge about the common questions and concern surrounding the various types of hair loss.

Author Bio: The Advance Beauty Cosmetic Clinic headed by Dr. Andrew Kim delivers a state of the art and a high success rate in hair transplant along with his experienced and highly-skilled transplant technicians. . They operate in various parts of Australia which includes, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra.

Category: Medicines and Remedies
Keywords: hair loss,hair transplant,hair surgery,Hair Replacement,cosmetic surgery,non-surgical treatment