Hi everyone! Hairini is back. This time with more specific information about a haunting and distressing problem of today, faced impartially by both men and women… Hair loss.

Morning 7 AM, when the rush of the morning life mercilessly unfolds… You get up reluctantly from the cosy blanket … after the 5th snooze of the alarm, bathe and iron with a blink of an eye; the smell of morning coffee refreshes you with its soothing aroma and the voice of your manager yells at every sound of clock tick… You finally sneak some time to sit before your dressing table to make yourself presentable, take a roller comb and roll the entire length of your cascading hair… AND BOOM! There comes the shock.

The sight of the silky strands winding chaotically into the teeth of the comb, shattering every possible hope the dawn had brought and brutally ruining the entire day from then on. This is the story of every young and middle aged office goer, beyond genders and beyond identities.

But there is nothing to get depressed at the sight of it. All it takes is a better understanding of our hair and the causes for the loss. Let’s look at this hair loss aka Alopecia at depth now.

CAUSES:

All of us lose hair. Yes that is the truth. We all lose hair on a daily basis. But as long as the number of strands we lose is around 40, we don’t need to panic. This is very normal. But most often when a clutch of hair comes of in the comb, if we count them and see, we would be losing over a 100 strands in a day. There, we have an issue. While we all have over 1,00,000 follicles sprouting their respective hair strands, it does upset us a bit if we lose a 100 of them daily. What we need to understand is that hair loss is not caused by misfortune or karma. You cannot blame them if you are a victim of it. The love that holds the scalp and the hair together is a romantic story that has many powerful villains to break the bond between the two. Some of the strong villains are mentioned below.

MEDICATION

Medications for blood pressure, heart conditions, depression and Birth Control can cause a temporary hair loss.

AGE & GENETICS

Genes play an important role in hair loss. If a family member has baldness, then you stand at a greater chance of having it. Hair loss is common with ageing.

HORMONAL IMBALANCES

An over active or a lazy thyroid gland can cause hair loss. Levels of Androgen and Estrogen can play the role of villains too.

DISEASES

Hair loss can also be an early sign of an undiagnosed condition such as diabetes.

PREGNANCY

Though temporary, thankfully, women may experience hair loss after giving birth to a baby.

STRESS FROM ILLNESS/SURGERY

This is a temporary condition and Hairini advices the readers not to worry much if the hair loss happens in this period. Almost every single day every man or woman living in urban landscape faces a huge amount of stress and a stressed individual will certainly lose hair…

TYPES OF HAIR LOSS

A shot arrow and a spoken word can never be taken back. A fallen hair strand deserves a worthy inclusion in that list. Based on the way it falls, hair loss or Alopecia can be classified into the following types.

TELOGEN EFFLUVIUM (TE)

Is caused of dietary deficiencies, anaemia, high grade fevers, stress etc. it usually recovers within 6 months.

MALE PATTERN BALDNESS AKA ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA

Is the thinning of scalp hair in a definite pattern. The three main reasons for this are: genetic, age and hormones.

FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS

Is the thinning of hair around the entire scalp extensively on the crown area.

And that’s all for today folks. I am getting late for my hair massage. See you next time with some more information on hair care. Until then, this is Hairini, the hair care expert, signing off.

ALOPECIA AREATA

Is the loss of hair from the scalp in small patches.

ALOPECIA TOTALIS

Is the loss of hair from the entire scalp.

ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS

Is the loss of hair from the entire body including eyebrows and eyelashes.

SCARRING ALOPECIA AKA CICATRICIAL ALOPECIA

Is caused by burns or infections which may cause permanent damage to the hair follicle

TRACTION ALOPECIA

Is the loss of hair due to hair styles that tie or pull the hair so tightly that the hair roots are pulled from the scalp.

TRICOTILOMANIA

Is the loss of hair due to repetitive or compulsive self-pulling by the patients themselves.