Hair loss is a normal process. It is common to lose 50-100 strands of hair per day. One may experience excessive hair fall due to aging, sign of a medical condition, stressful event(s), or simply due to genetic factors.
Everything You Need to Know About Your Hair
A person normally shed 50-100 strands of hair per day. To understand better what causes excessive hair loss, it is important to understand our hair cycle.
The hair cycle consists of 4 phases: Anagen (growing), Catagen (transition), Telogen (resting), and Exogen (shedding) Phase.
The Anagen Phase
The hair cycle begins with the anagen phase. This phase is the longest in the cycle and can last about 3-7 years (a period where it is genetically determined) where the hair continues to grow. During the anagen phase, your hair will continue to grow until it receives a signal to enter the catagen phase.
The Catagen Phase
The catagen phase is a short transition stage that lasts for 2-3 weeks. During this period of time, a club hair is formed - a bulb of keratin attaches to the bottom of the hair. The hair still remains in the hair follicle while new hair starts to form beneath it. About 2-3 weeks later, the hair follicle enters the telogen phase.
The Telogen Phase
The telogen phase is the resting phase of a hair follicle and typically lasts for 2-4 months.
The Exogen Phase
This can last around 5 months when hair is shed. Normally, we shed 50-100 strands of hair per day.
Factors Affecting Excessive Hair Loss
Hair loss is caused by many factors, we will discuss a few here:
Aging
As we age, the hair becomes finer and has fewer pigments. Many hair follicles also stop producing new hair.
Hereditary Hair Loss
Hereditary hair loss affects both men and women (known as male and female pattern hair loss respectively).
Male pattern baldness is the most common form of hair loss in men. This condition is related to the genes and DHT (male sex hormones which cause hair fall at higher levels). It typically causes the hairline to recede and the hair on the back of the head thins and expands in size over time.
Female pattern baldness is more common after menopause but it can occur at any age. However, the pattern of hair loss is different: hair on the top of the head will start to thin and fall.
Secondary to illness or other stressors
Alopecia Areata
One of the common diseases that leads to sudden hair loss starts with a small bald patch(s) and gradually increases in size. This can happen on your scalp/eyebrow/beard area.
Unfortunately, there is no treatment for the disease at this time, however, treatment is available for hair regrowth.
Other stressors
Any stressors whether it is after childbirth, crash diet, hormonal imbalance, recovering from an illness or surgery, stressful time of your life (a divorce, grieving, etc...). The emotional or physiological stress that you are undergoing will result in an alteration of the hair cycle - you enter the telogen phase early, resulting in an increased rate of hair shedding.
Hair regrowth happens after 6-9 months depending on the underlying cause. Treatment can be done to shorten the time required for hair to regrow.
Treatments for some types of hair loss are available:
Medications: Minoxidil, Finasteride
Hair transplant
We will explain more about how each treatment helps with hair loss in the next article.
If you would like to know more about hair loss treatment, do schedule an appointment at Klinik Mediglow (+60 11-2534 1600) for a detailed consultation.
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