Types Of Hair Loss

Are you among those people who have lost more than the normal number of hair shed each day? You might already be experiencing hair loss. People used to think only women profess vanity over their "crowning glory" but it is actually the men, who are more predisposed to losing hair by the age of 50, who resort to hair growth products. Come to think of it, no one in his right mind would want to permanently lose his/her hair.

Hair loss is referred to in medical terms as alopecia. The condition is associated with several factors but the most common of these is genetics. Hair sloughing as a result of genetics is called androgenetic alopecia. Roughly 98 percent of baldness is caused by this condition.

Each of the hair loss types (besides androgenetic alopecia) are either caused by medications, underlying medical conditions or illnesses, hair styling and treatments, injury and trauma, childbirth, infancy, hormonal imbalance, medical treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, some cancers, contraceptive pills, antidepressants, scalp fungal infections, and poor nutrition.

Hair Loss Types

Majority of people experience hair loss at least once in their lifetime. Nevertheless, losing around 50 to 100 hair strands a day is perfectly normal and part of the hair growth cycle. But if you begin to see more of your scalp by looking at your image in the mirror, then you might be experiencing any of these:

Adult men and women have about the same types of hair loss, although, it might be altered depending on the cause. The different types of women's hair loss are due to some of those causes listed above such as hormonal imbalance, childbirth, and contraceptive pills.

Other types of women's hair loss, which also apply to men, are the following:

Alopecia areata is a type of hair loss classified as an auto-immune disease that initially appears as a round patch. No one still has an explanation why the body, in this condition, attacks the hair follicles. Alopecia areata affects men and women equally, and usually begins during childhood. Most cases of alopecia areata experience only one hair regrowth after a hair loss. After which, the condition recurs or it becomes permanent.

Three types of alopecia areata have been cited according to the severity of the case: alopecia areata, which is a milder type of hair loss is characterized as a inch-wide bald patches; alopecia totalis is the term for losing all hair on the scalp; and alopecia universalis is the loss of hair on the scalp and the entire body.

Telogen effluvium is caused by a traumatic event that results to excessive shedding of hair when hair follicles suddenly enter the resting phase (telogen) and stops producing hair cells. The hair then rests for three months and sloughs off. Often, the person has managed to recover from the traumatic event before the hair shedding occurs. In most cases, telogen effluvium recovers by itself but if hair loss continues without extrinsic reasons then it could be a result of underlying conditions.

Other types of women's hair loss occur roughly three months after childbirth. Many women notice their hair is thicker during pregnancy – this ensues when there is an increase in levels of the female hormones progesterone and estrogen. After the baby is born, however, the hair follicles that delayed entering the telogen phase suddenly shift back to the pre-pregnancy state that is why hair starts shedding about three months later.

The telogen effluvium hair loss types are more prevalent in women than in men because women are rather exposed to traumatic experiences like childbirth, surgery, and taking and stopping to take contraceptive pills.

Nonetheless, hair loss in women is delayed by 10 years around the age of 50 and women generally have longer hair that easily hides bald patches, than men.