Surprising Reasons Your Hair Is Falling Out

It's a serious problem, and the more you know about it, the better equipped you will be to combat it. And if this is not an issue for you at all right now, but only something that interests or concerns you, then hopefully what I have written will be of some help to you. I'll address the most common hair loss conditions, their causes and treatment options.

The three hair loss conditions that this article will mainly focus on are Alopecia Areata , Telogen Effluvium , Androgenetic Alopecia , or more commonly known as male/female pattern hair loss. Other hair disorders such as hair shaft abnormalities, hair diseases such as syphilis and lupus erythematosus, hair infections such as fungal infection (ringworm) and bacterial infection will also be mentioned briefly but more detail will be explored with the first three hair loss conditions described above.

The main thing to remember is that hair loss is not a death sentence. There are ways to treat hair loss. Keep reading to find out what you can do about hair loss, and how it happens!

Alopecia Areata

Is an autoimmune disease which causes hair loss on the scalp of varying degrees. The hair follicles get attacked by our body's own immune system, and hair loss becomes more likely. The hair follicles are more easily triggered to shut down, producing ever thinner hair shafts until no hair is growing at all. This hormone-related hair loss treatment offers hope that the hair follicles will be brought back into their normal cycle of producing hair again. Alopecia Areata hair loss which is caused by an autoimmune response usually occurs in children and teenagers, but can develop at any age. It usually begins with a single patch of hair loss on the scalp, and hair loss will spread rapidly to other areas of the scalp.

Here's how it happens:

The hair follicles are very sensitive to hormones (such as the male hormone, testosterone) and chemicals (such as hair styling products). The hair shafts can become thinner and weaker due to stress. All these factors make hair loss much more likely.

Hair loss will usually begin with one or two round bald patches on the scalp. These bald patches are smooth and shiny, without any hair growing in them.

The hair loss can spread to affect the entire scalp, and sometimes other areas like the beard and pubic hair. The hair loss usually doesn't extend beyond these areas, but occasionally it does. Alopecia Areata will only cause hair loss on the scalp (and occasionally facial hair) and will not affect other body hair such as hair on the arms, legs and eyebrows.

Telogen Effluvium hair loss is another form of hair loss that occurs when hair follicles resting (telogen) fall out in large numbers before they have a chance to re-grow, resulting in thinning hair and hair loss all over the scalp. This condition can be induced by severe stress, and is much more common in women than men.

Telogen hair follicles usually reabsorb into the hair shaft after a certain number of months, but if hair loss occurs as a result of an extremely stressful event such as chronic illness or severe emotional trauma, those hair follicles may remain in their resting state.

If hair loss occurs at this time, hair follicles will begin sprouting hair again but the hair shafts are much thinner than usual; they become weakened and brittle by the Telogen Effluvium hair loss condition. Those hair follicles in their telogen phase can cause significant