Hair Loss Isn’t Always Something To Settle For

Hair loss or alopecia can be difficult for women who suffer from it. There are many reasons why this may occur, and we will run through some of them for you.

Hormonal changes within a woman’s body

“Help, I’m losing my hair!” We are all at risk of losing our hair one day. Mostly because women’s hormones are so sporadic and can change quickly. The primary cause of alopecia in women is hormonal disturbances related to different periods of life, following treatment or endocrine disorders. This is called androgenic alopecia. In the event of significant and unexplained hair loss, it is advisable to consult a dermatologist who will sort out the various factors usually incriminated:

• Endocrinological disorders concern the main hormone-producing glands, such as the thyroid. More rarely, the pituitary gland, which then begins to function slowly (this is called hypopituitarism) or, on the contrary, to produce too much prolactin (hormone allowing the initiation and maintenance of lactation).
• It can also be an excess of androgens (male hormones secreted by the ovaries and adrenal glands) induced by the presence of micro-polycystic ovaries by menopause or childbirth. The associated decrease in female hormones then causes the scalp’s impoverishment and, therefore, hair loss, sensitized by too many male hormones.
• Alopecia can also result from a genetically programmed hypersensitivity of the hair follicle (hair bulb) to androgens without these being produced excessively. This is called hyperandrogenism.

Specific treatments can assist in hair loss, such as Vitamin B3 and even Vitamin C. We can also try good hair shampoos and treatments to assist. 

Hair changes in men

If you have a man in your life that also suffers from hair loss, it may lead to a lack of self-confidence. The cause of hair loss comes from an excessive and genetic receptivity of your scalp to androgens. Androgen is the generic term for all of the male sex hormones, the main one being testosterone.

These hormones are secreted 95% by the testes and 5% by the adrenal glands. To be very precise, it is not the androgens themselves that cause your hair loss but a local hormone (DHT), much more potent than androgens and born from the latter’s meeting with an enzyme located in the scalp: 5-alpha reductase. For men, however, baldness can make them feel old or unhappy. 

DHT causes your hair follicles in a physiological process of premature aging. This abnormal acceleration imposes on the hair follicles and the roots an infernal production rate, forcing them to “botch” their work and manufacture hair increasingly fine and short. Ultimately, exhausted, the follicles become miniaturized and end up producing only a fine down, then nothing at all.

At the end of the process, the inactive follicles sink into the dermis, and the skin becomes smooth. Therefore, the speed of the development of your baldness depends, to a large extent, on the receptivity of your hair follicles to androgens. Either way, it means that reducing stress in your life and leading a healthy lifestyle can help. However, in extreme hair loss cases, you can search for something such as a FUE hair transplant, which can give you a new lease of life.

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