What Are The Types Of Hair Loss?

Hair Loss: Different Types and Potential Factors

Hair loss is a natural process to replace brittle, damaged, and worn out hair follicles, a part of the hair cycle (exogen phase) occurring all over the body. Hairfall becomes a clinical problem when abrupt shedding of hair strands happens. A daily loss of 50-100 hair strands is natural, but anything more than that or the development of bald patches requires clinical intervention. Various factors like lifestyle, health, genetics enhance hair loss problems.

This article explains the various types of hair loss (1), causative agents, and potential factors that make an individual prone to experience a sudden loss of hair.

What are the Different Types of Hair Loss?

Every hair follicle sheds at the end of the hair cycle during the exogen phase. Daily hair fall in an adult occurs at an average of 80. It suddenly increases when hair follicles fall before reaching their exogen phase. In clinical terminology, that's alopecia areata. Here are the various hair loss experienced across gender and age groups;

Alopecia Areata

The immune system attacks hair follicles, destroying them, shedding hair strands in volumes. Dermatologists classify it as an autoimmune disorder. Alopecia can occur alone to a body part (scalp) or all over the body. It could begin as a sudden patch-like appearance on the scalp. Being an autoimmune disorder, it has no permanent cure, but hair growth often resumes after a while.

Gradual Thinning of Hair

Prevalent in males than females, hair loss happens gradually over the years, starting with a receding hairline. It begins with the marked thinning of hair strands in men. Females experience loss of hair around the crown region or parietal lobe. In later years, women also experience receding hairlines. It leads to baldness in men. Dermatologists define this pattern of hair fall as androgenic alopecia.

Anagen Effluvium

Massive loss of hair occurs in patients getting treated for cancerous conditions. Hair fall happens in the growing phase (anagen) triggered by chemotherapy treatments. Hair strands experience natural growth in the anagen phase. With anagen effluvium, unnatural and rapid hair fall takes place during the growing phase. It leads to temporary baldness, with natural hair growth restoring after a month or two.

Telogen Effluvium

Abrupt shedding of hair strands occurring in the telogen phase (pre-shedding phase of the hair cycle). Diagnosis has found that people experiencing intense stress show telogen effluvium. Hair loss happens around the crown region of the scalp. Also reversible, natural hair growth restores with the treatment of the underlying issues.

Potential Factors Responsible for Types of Hair Loss

Hair loss can happen for a single factor (disease) or multiple factors (lifestyle-related problems). Dermatologists consider these factors that cause hair loss;

Malassezia and Scalp Infection

The scalp produces hair oil as a lubricant to nourish hair strands. A yeast-like organism (Malassezia) grows on a dirty scalp filled with dirt, clogged pores, and dandruff-like conditions. It starves the hair follicles from vital nutrition, making them brittle, and triggers the shedding of hair strands.

Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania, a mental disorder called the hair-pulling disease. A compulsive urge to pull hair strands leads to significant hair loss, creating patches across the scalp. People diagnosed with personality disorder, extreme anxiety and stress pull hair constantly, making hair roots weak.

Thyroid and Hormonal Issues

People suffering from thyroid problems, unbalanced hormone levels, suffering from PCOS-like conditions experience hair fall. Altered levels of thyroxine, estrogen, and progesterone affect the body temperature, BMI level, enhances stress and anxiety, which cause gradual hair loss.

Poor Lifestyle

A favourable factor for hair loss, poor lifestyle issues like altered sleep patterns, stressful work-life balance, addiction-related problems, little hygiene practice, and inadequate hair management lead to permanent hair loss. People with emotional hostility related to work, relationships also experience hair fall.

Genetics

A prominent cause of poor hair and hair-related problems happens from the expression of hostile capillary genes. It leads to gradual loss of hair over the years, ending in permanent baldness. More prevalent in men than women, it has no permanent cure, but clinical treatment can slow down the rate of hair loss.