The commonest cause of alopecia is hereditary. If your father, or even your mother suffered with baldness it is highly likely that you will too. Hair loss specialists will tell you that it accounts for 95% of the cases that they deal with. However there are other causes which your doctor may be able to exclude – lupus, diabetes,fungal infections, hypothyroidism or other hormonal disturbances. A major illness or surgery may mean that you notice excessive hair loss a few weeks afterwards. This is because more hair than usual reached the shedding stage at the same time. The same thing occurs a month or so after pregnancy or stopping taking the birth control pill. In fact there are a number of medications that can cause symptoms – blood thinners or anticoagulants, excessive doses of vitamin A, antidepressives and medicine for gout, as well of course as anti-cancer treatment. In most of these cases the matter will right itself when the hormonal levels return to normal, but male pattern baldness is another matter.
You should consult a doctor if your hair loss is accompanied by itching, broken hairs, scaling, pain, redness or other symptoms. Also if it comes on after starting a new medication, is patchy or all over the head. He may also be able to advise you if you want to prevent further loss, but there is no totally effective cure for male pattern baldness. In most cases it begins at the temples, gradually forming an M shape. The hair at the crown begins to thin and finally there is just a horseshoe of hair at the base of the scalp. The hair that remains may become finer and shorter. In some people such loss may cause lack of self esteem but it is a perfectly normal process there are two drugs that can slow down the process, Minoxidil and Finasteride, but in both cases the process will continue once the drugs have stopped. Hair transplants are an expensive solution, but in many cases bring about excellent and permanent results
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Posted under Hair Loss General
This post was written by admin on August 30, 2009
