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Hair
Loss For Beginners: Bauman Medical Group Offers Quick Lesson On Hair
Loss
About Hair
Loss
It is important to understand the normal hair growth cycle to understand why
hair loss occurs. The hair follicle is an anatomical structure that evolved to
produce and (push out) a hair shaft.
Normal Hair Growth
All folicles repeatedly cycle through the following 3 stages.
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1.
Anagen Stage (growth)
The new hair grows from the base of the follicle. This growth phase
usually lasts for a number of years and results in a full-grown hair. |
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2.
Catagen Stage (resting)
During this stage the hair stops growing and the hair root shrinks. The
base of the follicle breaks dow and the hair moves upward in the
follicle, wawy from the root and the blood vessel supplying it with
nutrients. |
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3.
Telogen Stage (re-growth)
The mature hair is now only loosely anchored to the hair root. It usually
falls out after a few months or is pushed out by the next hair growing
up below it. |
The Hair Loss Process
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How DHT Affects Normal Hair Growth
The hair roots receive nutrients from blood vessels which contain blood
cells (red) and a hormone called testosterone (blue). Testosterone is
converted to another hormone called DHT (yellow) by the actions of an
enzyme called 5 alpha reductase. |
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DHT Shortens the Hair Growth Phase
When DHT is present in the scalps of men genetically predisposed to
male pattern hair loss, the following happens:- the anagen growth
phase is shortened so the hair is shorter when it stops growing. - over
time the follice produces hair that gets progressively shorter and less
pigmented. |
Male Pattern Hair Loss
The most common form of hair loss in men is called male pattern
hair loss. Male pattern hair loss is mostly influenced by heredity and is generally passed on from the mother or father.
What is "Male Pattern Hair Loss"?
Male Pattern Hair Loss is the most common type of hair loss in
men. With male pattern hair loss, your hair begins to thin at the
temples and at the crown. As time goes on, the hair at the
temples recedes further, leaving a central spur of hair at the
front, and an increasing bald spot at the crown. Eventually the
areas of hair loss at the front and crown meet, and the top of the
head becomes increasingly bald. Eventually all that remains is a border of hair around the side and back of the head.
Hair Loss Myths & Facts
The Myth:"I can tell how much hair loss I will experience
by looking at my mother’s father."
The Facts:While baldness is inherited, there is no single
dominant gene that causes hair loss; it is a combination of
genes passed on from either your mother or father's side of the
family. The more hair loss that exists in your family, the more
likely the chance that you too will experience thinning hair.
Your first-degree relatives will be your best predictor for future
hair loss—father, brother and uncles.
The Myth:"I’m less likely to go bald because my hair grows
so fast."
The Facts:Rapid hair-growth may be a sign of good health, but
it has no bearing on when you’re likely to lose it.
The Myth:"Brushing my hair is better than combing."
The Facts:It was once believed that hair loss was due to poor
circulation and that brushing or massaging stimulates
circulation in the scalp improving blood flow and nutrition to the
follicles. There has never been any scientific research to
support this. As it turns out there’s no major difference
between the scalp circulation of a man with hair or without.
The Myth:"Wearing hats or helmets caused my to lose
hair"
The Facts: "Headwear" such as hats, helmets have no effect
on hair loss. However, certain hairpieces are anchored to the
scalp-by being woven into existing hair. This method of
attachment can cause hairloss in those area called "traction
alopecia".
The Myth:"It’s important for me to use special shampoos
to cleanse or unclog hair follicles."
The Facts:Over the years, many products have claimed to help
remove excess sebum and oil from the scalp, and thereby
improve hair growth. There has never been any scientific proof
that flushing follicles prevents hair loss, or that ‘clogged’
follicles are the cause of hair loss.
The Myth:"Blow-drying makes my hair brittle and thus
more likely to fall out."
The Facts:Over-drying or drying with too high a heat setting
can make your hair more prone to breakage and can change it's
manageability and texture. Unless you happen to be using a
blowtorch, it doesn’t really matter how you dry your hair when
it comes to hair loss.
The Myth:"If I eat a diet that is high in animal fat it won't
affect my hairloss."
The Facts:A diet that contains high quantities of animal fat
can lead to an increased concentration of testosterone in the
bloodstream, increasing your risk of hair loss. Remember that in
the body, testosterone is converted to dihydrotestosterone, a
hormone that has been proven to be a trigger responsible for
shrinking hair follicles in the scalp. Propecia® (finasteride)
blocks this conversion and has been proven to reverse the hair
loss process.
The Myth:"The more often I shower and shampoo, the
more hair I’ll lose."
The Facts:No amount of soap and water applied to the scalp
can cause hair to fall out.
The Myth:"Bad lifestyle decisions won't accelerate my hair
loss."
The Facts:"Drinking, smoking, poor diet can all accelerate hair
loss."
The Myth:"Using steroids won't cause me to bald
prematurely."
The Facts:Use of anabolic steroids increases the levels of male
hormones that have been linked to baldness. If you have a
genetic risk of thinning hair, starting steroids can accelerate
hair loss in as little as 3 to 6 months. Sometimes, hair will
regrow after steroid use ceases, but in many cases, the hair
loss is irreversible.
The Myth:"Stress caused my hair to fall out."
The Facts:Typical daily stress usually won’t cause hair loss.
More likely, severe and traumatically stressful experiences such
as divorce, a sudden death in the family, natural disasters, or
even crash diets have been linked to hair loss. Hair loss due to
stress is most likely to occur if you have a condition called
alopecia areata. This usually results in small patches of hair
loss, not the typical male-pattern variety.
The Myth:"If I use Propecia (finasteride) to regrow hair,
the better it works the more sexual side effects I’ll
experience."
The Facts:The research on Propecia shows that its ability to
reverse the hair loss process has no direct relation to the
possible side effects. Propecia is known to stop hair loss in 5
out 6 men and regrow a significant amount of hair in 2 out of 3
men. Side effects from taking Propecia are extremely rare,
occurring in only one-half of a percent more patients than
those just taking placebo (sugar-pill).
The Myth:"All hair transplants are obvious, they all look
like corn-rows or doll’s hair."
The Facts:Corn-rows of large ‘plugs’ are examples of outdated
technology in the field of hair transplantation. Today’s
transplants are done with thousands of tiny skin grafts, many
containing just a single hair, to recreate a completely natural
hairline. The naturalness of a hair transplant today depends
mostly on the surgeon’s artistic ability and his skill in
microsurgical techniques.
The Myth:"Hair transplantation is a long, painful process."
The Facts:Advances in the field of hair transplantation have
made the procedure an efficient process completed comfortably
under local anesthesia. Once the medication takes effect there
is little, if any, discomfort; allowing the patient to watch
videotapes, TV or take a nap during the procedure. Most hair
restoration goals today are reached between one to four
sessions with the average being two.
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