Why Am I Losing Hair?

The aver­age per­son sheds between 50 – 100 hairs per day. As you age, it is nor­mal to expe­ri­ence grad­ual thin­ning and break­age of hair.

Hair loss, or alope­cia, can be caused by a vari­ety of fac­tors includ­ing age, fam­i­ly his­to­ry and genet­ics, stress and oth­er envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors includ­ing med­ica­tion and diet. 

The most com­mon form of hair loss is called andro­genic alope­cia, also known as male and female pat­tern bald­ness. Andro­genic alope­cia is a hered­i­tary con­di­tion that is most com­mon in men and devel­ops in ear­ly adult­hood and increas­es with age. In most cas­es, med­ical treat­ment is not nec­es­sary. If you expe­ri­ence sig­nif­i­cant hair loss and have not been diag­nosed with andro­genic alope­cia, it could be a sign of an under­ly­ing med­ical condition.

Below are some of the most com­mon med­ical con­di­tions asso­ci­at­ed with hair loss.

Autoim­mune disease

Lupus is a chron­ic autoim­mune dis­or­der that caus­es a vari­ety of symp­toms includ­ing fatigue, headaches and/​or hair loss. This autoim­mune con­di­tion caus­es an over­pro­duc­tion of anti­bod­ies which can dam­age your hair fol­li­cles and result in hair loss.

Diet

Dietary fac­tors can also con­tribute to hair loss, so it’s impor­tant to main­tain a healthy, well-bal­anced diet. Cer­tain nutri­ent defi­cien­cies, such as low iron lev­els, can cause hair loss and/​or ane­mia. Try to incor­po­rate iron-rich foods such as beans, chick­en, dark-leafy greens, lentils, turkey and whole grains to reduce your risk.

Hor­mon­al Imbalances

Hor­mones such as estro­gen, insulin and testos­terone, play a vital role in keep­ing your hair fol­li­cles healthy. Imbal­ances weak­en hair fol­li­cles, caus­ing tem­po­rary or per­ma­nent hair loss. Hor­mon­al con­di­tions that com­mon­ly cause hair loss include:

• Hypo- and hyperthyroidism
• Hashimo­to’s disease
• PCOS
• Preg­nan­cy
• Menopause

Med­ica­tion

Cer­tain over-the-counter and pre­scrip­tion med­ica­tions can cause you to lose hair more rapid­ly than nor­mal, including: 

• Acne med­ica­tions that con­tain vit­a­min- A, such as isotretinoin (Accu­tane)
• Anti-depres­sants and mood sta­bi­liz­ers such as flu­ox­e­tine (Prozac), ser­tra­line (Zoloft) and amitripty­line (Elav­il)
• Chemother­a­py used to treat cer­tain types of can­cers and autoim­mune con­di­tions can cause tem­po­rary hair loss dur­ing treatment
• Immuno­sup­pres­sants such as methotrex­ate and etan­er­cept, which may be pre­scribed for autoim­mune dis­or­ders such as lupus and rheuma­toid arthritis
• Pre­scrip­tion antibi­otics in gen­er­al can tem­porar­i­ly deplete vit­a­min B and hemo­glo­bin, which can result in tem­po­rary hair loss

If you expe­ri­ence sig­nif­i­cant hair loss as a result of med­ica­tion, speak with your pri­ma­ry care physi­cian about alter­na­tives that may be appro­pri­ate for you.

Hair loss does­n’t always require a med­ical treat­ment. How­ev­er, if you notice sud­den or per­sis­tent hair loss, or if hair loss is caus­ing you dis­tress, you should speak with your pri­ma­ry care doc­tor. Your doc­tor can help deter­mine what is caus­ing your hair loss and refer you to a der­ma­tol­o­gist to dis­cuss treat­ment options.

Our der­ma­tol­o­gists offer a range of treat­ments includ­ing platelet rich plas­ma (PRP) for cer­tain types of hair loss. To learn more about our Cos­met­ic Der­ma­tol­ogy team or to sched­ule a con­sult, vis­it DMGAes​thet​ics​.com.