The cause of hair loss has finally been found! Check here to see if it’s you (including tips on how to prevent hair loss)

What storms and waves have you never seen?

But I'm really scared of hair loss.

There's hair all over the bed, pillow, floor...

Except for the head

I lose a lot of hair every time I wash my hair

So panic~~~~~

Throughout our lives, hair is constantly growing and falling out. Normally, we lose between dozens and a hundred hairs a day.

Image source: Photo Network

But this value also varies from person to person. The amount of hair loss varies from person to person and from season to season.

Under normal circumstances, hair loss is distributed evenly, and no obvious changes can be seen with the naked eye . You will only feel it when washing your hair, when you have lost a lot of hair. For this reason, many friends are afraid to wash their hair, for fear that the more they wash, the more hair they will lose.

In fact, you don’t have to worry about this. Physiological hair loss is normal. Each hair has its own growth cycle:

● Growth phase: Hair growth is active and can last for 2 to 6 years;

● Catagen phase: Hair stops growing, and this process lasts for 2 to 3 weeks;

● Telogen phase: The hair is in a static and falling state, and this period lasts about 3 months.

Not daring to wash your hair for fear of hair loss will have the opposite effect. Not washing your hair or washing it less often will cause the accumulation of sebum metabolic products, causing itching or inflammation of the scalp, which will lead to hair loss .

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Our hair needs to be cleaned moderately. We should wash our hair once every 2 to 3 days on average. If conditions permit, we can wash our hair every day.

Why do I feel like I'm losing so much hair?

In fact, it is very likely that you pay too much attention to your hair and are overly anxious .

In addition to physiological hair loss, what are other causes of hair loss?

There are many reasons for hair loss, which can be simply summarized as follows↓

● Postpartum telogen effluvium: Hair will slowly return to its natural state without intervention;

● Pathological hair loss: such as alopecia areata, fungal and bacterial infections;

● Male baldness: the majority;

● Hair loss due to other reasons: such as not being able to adapt to a new environment, staying up late, mental stress, having surgery, taking medicines that have the side effect of hair loss, blindly dieting to lose weight leading to anemia, lack of some trace elements, etc.

Among them, alopecia areata (commonly known as "alopecia areata") is an autoimmune disease, in which the immune cells in the body do not distinguish between friend and foe and attack the hair follicles in the body, resulting in sudden partial or complete hair loss, and may even affect the eyebrows and eyelashes.

Image source: Photo Network

There is also a type of androgenic alopecia (commonly known as "baldness") that people often consult about. This is a type of hair loss related to genetics, hormone levels, living conditions, emotions and environment. Men have thin hair on the top of the head and normal hair around the head. Women have relatively mild androgenic alopecia. The hair between the top of the head and the hairline becomes sparse and thin, and the hair parting becomes wider.

Image source: Photo Network

1

Maintain healthy lifestyle habits

Such as a balanced diet, adequate sleep and effective stress management.

2

Gentle hair care

● Use mild shampoo and conditioner, do not use water that is too hot when washing your hair, and do not blow dry your hair at too high a temperature;

● Don’t dye or perm your hair too frequently;

● When combing your hair, be as gentle as possible and don’t pull it hard;

● Avoid maintaining tight hairstyles for long periods of time, such as ponytails, braids, etc., or wearing tight hats or hair accessories to reduce pulling on the hair.

3

Medical intervention

👉🏻 Medication:

If alopecia areata occurs, timely treatment is needed to prevent further degeneration of hair follicles and hair loss. Mild alopecia areata is generally treated with local intralesional injections or topical glucocorticoids , while severe alopecia areata requires systemic use of JAK inhibitors or glucocorticoids , and the treatment may take several years.

If it is androgenic alopecia, finasteride can be used for treatment (except for female friends), which can reduce the activity of androgen receptors, prolong the life of hair follicles, and preserve the remaining hair. It can be supplemented with other drug treatments to delay the progression of male pattern baldness.

Is the popular minoxidil on the Internet useful? Is it true that you will experience a "shedding period"?

In fact, minoxidil was originally developed as an oral antihypertensive drug.

In the process of treating high blood pressure, doctors discovered that it has an unexpected side effect - promoting hair growth! But this effect is not effective for everyone, and it may take several months of use to see the effect.

Generally, in the early stages of topical minoxidil use, you may experience a so-called "shedding period". This is because it accelerates the hair growth cycle, causing the hair that should fall out to fall out faster, while also causing the hair that should grow to grow faster. This is a normal phenomenon and a sign that it is effective.

Image source: Photo Network

Pay special attention! All the drugs mentioned above need to be used under the guidance of a doctor. Don’t buy them and take them casually!

It is best to make an appointment with a dermatologist to ask your doctor to make sure the medication is suitable for your specific situation and understand the correct use and possible side effects.

👉🏻 Hair transplant:

Hair transplantation does not make you grow "new" hair, but redistributes your existing hair area. Simply put, it transplants hair from areas with more hair to areas with less hair, thus tearing down the "east wall" to repair the "west wall".

For those who have severe hair loss, hair transplantation is just transplanting the hair that grows in the dense area to the sparse area. In fact, your hair is still the same, but it is less and more evenly distributed ~ (heartbreaking)

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Statement: This article is a medical-related educational popular science article. It does not involve specific treatment methods or medical behaviors and cannot replace hospital visits.

Experts who reviewed this article

References

[1] Kong Wei. About hair loss[J]. Science Life, 2024(9).

[2] Li Yongmei. Getting rid of the trouble of alopecia areata[J]. Popular Medicine, 2006(2):1.

[3] Zhao Bian. Chinese Clinical Dermatology (2nd Edition) [M]. Jiangsu. Jiangsu Phoenix Science and Technology Press, 2017.6

[4] Wu Zhihua. Modern Dermatology[M]. Beijing. People's Medical Publishing House, 2021-11-01

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Map: Eastern Zhou Dynasty