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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Hair: Q&A - Hair Loss

Today's question comes from Anne-Marie.It's a good one that I'm sure has affected many women in their lifetime.

Her question is...

I have always had very thick and reasonably healthy hair...
despite constant colouring and foils over the past 20+ years or so... BUT why
do you think it is all falling out again?
It has happened to me after all 4 of my pregnancies... and then settled down.
BUT this time (those twins are TWO now already!) it settled down
after I stopped breast feeding but has since, recently, started happening again.
I have been told stress can cause it... which yeah, I guess I am ALWAYS
stressed... and I probably tie it up too often... BUT is there some miracle cure,
some supplement I should be taking?
It’s driving me nuts! LOL ;)

Ok, to start with the first part of the question about it falling out...
It isn't uncommon for hair to fall out after major changes in your life.
Things like childbirth, stopping breast feeding, illness or major surgery
cause disruptions to the body. These disruptions can cause hair loss.

Childbirth and Breastfeeding have a lot to do with hormones and once
these settle down and return to normal, you'll find your hair will settle down.
With Illness and Major Surgery, it's usually stress related but medications
can cause all sorts of havoc on your hair. You may need to chat to your Dr
about these.
Hormone Imbalances will also cause hair loss. Inactive or overactive throids 
can cause hair loss and once the hormone imbalance is sorted out,
hair will usually start to regrow.
There's also certain medications that can cause hair loss. These are side effects.
If you experience these, see your Dr. They may be able to recommend something
that won't cause this problem.
As for it settling down and now starting to lose hair again, there could be a few solutions.

Your hair does goes through  various growth phases. These phases are generally time based.
The normal cycle of growth lasts for about 2-3 years. Each hair on your head grows approx.
1cm per month. That's a normal pace of growth. It can differ from person to person.
Around 90% of your hair is growing at any one time and about 10% is in a resting phase,
at any one time. After a few months, the resting hair starts to fall out and the next phase begins.

A normal loss of hair for any one person is around 80-100 hairs per day.
Depending on your hair's thickness and how many hair's per square cm...it could be
significantly more or less. Lots of factors need to be considered.

As for hairstyles causing hair loss, it can happen.
Styles like corn rows, tight pigtails or even tight hair rollers can cause hair loss.
This is from excessive tension being put on the hair. It is called "traction alopecia".
It can be irreversible if scarring of the follicle hasn't occurred.
Once scarring has occured, hair will not regrow in that follicle.
So be kind to your hair!

Then there's male and female pattern baldness.
This is a whole other issue which I won't get into now. It's too complicated a subject.
The pattern baldnesses usually run in families, for men and women.
I'll touch on that at a later date.

To answer Anne-Marie's question, it really depends on what sort of hair loss you're experiencing.
It can be hard to pin-point it. I'd let your hair recover for a few more months,
but I'd say you're going through  the resting phase and a bit is falling out.
Just my guess?

If you're worried about it, talk to your Doctor.
Remember if you're feeling good on the inside you're not going to look great
on the outside. It all stems from how healthy you are!

I hope that has helped and cleared up that question a little!

Chat soon,

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