Hair loss treatment for women
Hair
grows everywhere on the human skin except on the palms of our hands and the
soles of our feet, but many hairs are so fine they're virtually invisible. Hair
is made up of a protein called keratin that is produced in hair follicles in
the outer layer of skin. As follicles produce new hair cells, old cells are
being pushed out through the surface of the skin at the rate of about six
inches a year. The hair you can see is actually a string of dead keratin cells.
The average adult head has about 100,000 to 150,000 hairs and loses up to 100
of them a day; finding a few stray hairs on your hairbrush is not necessarily
cause for alarm.
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| Hair loss treatment for women |
At
any one time, about 90% of the hair on a person's scalp is growing. Each
follicle has its own life cycle that can be influenced by age, disease, and a
wide variety of other factors. This life cycle is divided into three phases:
Anagen
-- active hair growth that lasts between two to six years
Catagen
-- transitional hair growth that lasts two to three weeks
Telogen
-- resting phase that lasts about two to three months; at the end of the
resting phase the hair is shed and a new hair replaces it and the growing cycle
starts again.
Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. ... Hair loss in some people causes psychological distress. Common types include: male-pattern hair loss, female-pattern hair loss, alopecia areata, and a thinning of hair known as telogen effluvium.
As
people age, their rate of hair growth slows.
There
are many types of hair loss, also called alopecia:
Involutionalalopecia is a natural condition in which the hair gradually thins with age.
More hair follicles go into the resting phase, and the remaining hairs become
shorter and fewer in number.
Androgenicalopecia is a genetic condition that can affect both men and women. Men with
this condition, called male pattern baldness, can begin suffering hair loss as
early as their teens or early 20s. It's characterized by a receding hairline
and gradual disappearance of hair from the crown and frontal scalp. Women with
this condition, called female pattern baldness, don't experience noticeable
thinning until their 40s or later. Women experience a general thinning over the
entire scalp, with the most extensive hair loss at the crown.
Alopeciaareata often starts suddenly and causes patchy hair loss in children and young
adults. This condition may result in complete baldness (alopecia totalis). But
in about 90% of people with the condition, the hair returns within a few years.
Alopeciauniversalis causes all body hair to fall out, including the eyebrows,
eyelashes, and pubic hair.
Trichotillomania, seen most frequently in children, is a psychological disorder in which a
person pulls out one's own hair.
Telogeneffluvium is temporary hair thinning over the scalp that occurs because of
changes in the growth cycle of hair. A large number of hairs enter the resting
phase at the same time, causing hair shedding and subsequent thinning.
Scarring
alopecias result in permanent loss of hair. Inflammatory skin conditions (cellulitis, folliculitis, acne), and other
skin disorders (such as some forms of lupus and lichen planus) often result in
scars that destroy the ability of the hair to regenerate. Hot combs and hair too
tightly woven and pulled can also result in permanent hair loss.
