What's With My Hair Falling Out!?
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What if you could stop and prevent female hair loss and strengthen, revitalize and restore thinning hair, without involving cost, treatments, products or drugs? Do not spend one more dollar on your hair concerns until you learn this breakthrough knowledge to stop hair loss. Now for the first time you can discover the answers to the cause of female hair loss and take control guaranteed. Learn the single most important action you can take to stop and prevent female hair loss without cost, treatments or products.
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"Yeeee gads! My hair is falling out!" This is a cry that can
affect your whole family for long, awkward moments. What is it
with your hair? Is it gone forever? Who knew that womens hair loss would be an issue?
Let's clear up some confusion and try to notch down some panic
about this kind of a look in the mirror.
About Hair
Healthy hair simply looks good. The
healthier your scalp and hair follicles, the better your hair
will look. If you're starting to experience some hair loss and a
general decline in the overall health of your hair and scalp, it
has probably been deteriorating for a while, and you're only now
seeing the effects.
Hair grows in a cycle of three phases. Each individual hair is
in a growth phase (anagen phase) for 2-6 years, before it enters
a transition phase (catagen phase) for 1-2 weeks, and then a
resting phase (telogen phase) for 5-6 weeks. After that, the
hair dies and falls out. Then the follicle returns to the growth
phase, and a new hair begins to grow.
In normal, healthy adults, the approximate percentages of hairs
in these three different phases are:
- 84% in the growth (anagen) phase
- 0-1% in the transition
(catagen) phase
- 14-15% in the resting (telogen) phase
Returning your hair follicles to the anagen growth cycle is the
objective of any plan to regrow healthier hair.
DHT Effects On the Hair Follicle
The medical term for hair loss
is alopecia. This is defined as a state where 20% or more of a
person's hairs are in the telogen (resting) phase.
In cases of alopecia, the hair growth cycle has been altered so
that the anagen (growth) phase is shortened. This results in an
increased percentage of hairs in the catagen and telogen phases.
The enzyme conversion of testosterone creates a compound called
Di-Hydro Testosterone (DHT). The effect of DHT on the hair
follicles and oil glands of the scalp can be detrimental to the
anagen phase that you want to lengthen.
In areas of female hair loss or thinnin, the follicles have more sites
to which DHT can attach, and more DHT at those sites. This
buildup of DHT near the follicles can shorten their growth phase
and increase the numbers of hairs in the transition and resting
phases. A continuation in this buildup of DHT will actually
shrink the hair follicles, which causes their hairs to become
thinner, weaker, and look less healthy.
Reality Check: No product known today will grow a hair without a
viable hair follicle. Only a healthy hair follicle can grow a
hair.
A healthy hair follicle can resist the negative effects of DHT
buildup and continue in a normal growth cycle longer than an
unhealthy one can. Hair care products that seek to lessen DHT
work by binding to the same sites on the hair follicle to which
DHT attaches. This blocks the abnormal response of the follicle
to DHT, so it blocks the harm that is causing the weakening and
loss of the hair.
The nutritional supplements recommended by a naturopathic
physician work by helping the body to normalize its hormone
levels, while increasing the circulation of nutrients and
elimination of waste products from the hair follicle. This
increases the strength of the follicle and protects it from
further damage.
The amounts of the conversion enzymes that create DHT from
testosterone, as well as the amounts of testosterone or
cortisol, are thought to be genetically determined. This is why
some people tend to have less of a problem with DHT than others.
The good news is that a person's genetic expression (i.e., how
their body is now) can be changed by what that person does in
the upcoming weeks, months, and years, as well as how they do
it. With advances in the scientific understandings of these
physical events, you can arm yourself with the right information
and learn to make the changes necessary to stop a hair loss
problem. We'll next explain how.
Hair Loss
A variety of health conditions and
environmental factors can cause hair loss. Likewise, many
different approaches can be taken to stop hair loss and even
grow hair back.
Certainly, having great hair is important to us, but the body
has many other important things to do on a continuous basis.
Some are higher priorities than maintaining lustrous hair —
things like breathing, eliminating waste, absorbing food,
protecting itself from infections, fleeing from danger, and so
forth. If the body has a limited budget of energy, nutrients,
and strength, it starts to redirect its resources to the tasks
it deems most important. This is fortunate for us.
If stressful events occur to lower that 'budget,' the body may
find it necessary to prioritize other functions more highly than
hair growth.
For example, if a person undergoes a series of radiation
treatments to kill cancer, the treatments incur a major stress
on the body. The body's first priority then becomes to live and
breathe to grow nice hair another day. As a result, hair loss is
often the consequence of radiation treatments. Hair regrowth
after this type of trauma is possible, however, depending on the
state of the hair follicles and the person's overall capacity to
return to health. Naturopathic doctors call this their "vital
force."
Major Causes of Hair Loss
Hair loss might also be caused by various types of injury to the scalp,
such as burns, radiation, acid spills, or scrapes. If the
follicles are destroyed and replaced by smooth skin or scar
tissue, a lotion or vitamin routine won't very likely restore
hair growth. At this point, it may be time for an implant, a
weave, a wig, or a toupee. Or maybe it's just time to accept the
reality of a lack of hair. Bald can be beautiful, too.
Furthermore, various diseases, genetic tendencies, and
auto-immune disorders can direct the body to neglect the health
of the hair follicle, or even attack it directly. Some of these
attacks might be triggered by environmental toxins, the
side-effects of drugs, nutrient deficiencies, irregularities of
hormone metabolism, or poor elimination of wastes. Here, we
could discuss lifestyle choices and explanations of natural
sciences such as nutrition, physiology, and biochemistry until
your eyes glaze over.
If you have been taking anti-depressive medications like Zoloft
or Paxil, you should be aware that the known side-effects of
these types of drugs can include hair loss. The vicious cycle of
compounding one's depression by having to deal with hair loss
makes these drugs a thing worth trying to avoid. Work with your
doctor and be smart about your use of any medications, because
many drugs have negative effects on hair growth.
If you are a "stress puppy," and the slightest disruption in
your plans tears you to pieces for hours or days at a time, your
body's response to those stress hormones can be yet another
factor in hair loss and graying. Some training in stress
management or anger resolution would be your best bet, while
treating the resultant hair loss with physical medicines and
lotions.
Sudden Hair Loss
Sudden hair loss can occur
after severe psycho-physical stresses like illness, childbirth,
menopause, losing a job, or loss of a loved one. This type of
hair loss appears within a few weeks or a month of the trauma,
depending on its severity. It is often reversible with time,
emotional healing, and the principles of physical support
described here.
Hair Loss in Women
Women seldom lose their
hair for reasons of genetic predisposition. They do, however,
experience hair loss from the other causes we've already
mentioned. In addition, women are more commonly the consumers of
hair treatments which are known to damage the hair and cause
breakage and thinning. Rough handling, harsh commercial
shampoos, perms, hair color, bleach, and cosmetics all can
damage the hair follicles. Hormone fluctuations through life
events of men or women also contribute to stress on the physical
condition of the hair follicle.
Factors to Consider
What does your body need
to keep your hair looking good? Factors include good nutrition,
effective elimination of wastes, exercise affecting the
circulation, a good attitude, use of safe non-toxic products,
and sensible protections from injury. These contribute to
healthy glandular functions, especially of the thyroid,
adrenals, gonads, and liver. If the links in this chain of
hormone functions are weak or broken, your hair will probably be
the least of your problems. It might just be the most visible
one in your mirror, though.
Before you spend significant amounts of money on lotions or
supplements to treat hair loss, try to figure out what is
causing your hair to fall out, and change what you can about
that underlying situation.
Enlist the help of your doctor to figure out any internal
causes. Have your hormone levels tested for thyroid, adrenal,
pituitary, and functions of the ovaries or testes. Make sure
your nutritional intake and digestive functions are up to par.
Again, this is a complex issue. It may take some study about the
lotions and natural medicines available to find a plan that
works for you, but the benefits to your health and appearance
will be worth the effort.
About the Author
Dr. Thomas S. Lee holds a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine
(NMD/ND) from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. He has
practiced and taught natural medicine in Arizona since 1986. His
company, NaturoDoc LLC, is online at www.naturodoc.com,
where you can find an extensive library of information on
natural health approaches, as well as worldwide access to
physician's-quality health products that support these concepts.
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