Tackle hair loss head on
By Smriti Daniel
Experience has taught Dr. Haren Jayasinghe, Director of the FUE hair transplant clinic in Sri Lanka, not to underestimate the toll hair loss can take on a person’s self-esteem. It can leave people feeling deeply unattractive and socially crippled. However, depending on what the underlying cause is, hair loss can be challenging to treat and options range from medications to hair transplants.
This month, Dr. Jayasinghe talks to MediScene about natural hair growth, various conditions that could trigger hair loss and what treatments are on offer.
1. If you’re anything like the average person, your scalp has 100,000 hairs growing on it right now. Each is rooted in a follicle and grows up to ½ an inch per month. It will keep doing this for anywhere between two to six years. Then, after a brief rest, the hair will fall out. However, it is soon replaced with a new hair and the cycle begins again. Different hair are on different cycles which is why you don’t abruptly go bald when they fall out. Instead, at any given moment an estimated 85% of hair is growing while the remaining 15% is resting. People shed approximately 10 – 100 strands of these resting hairs every day.
2. Abnormal hair loss tends to get your attention – you may notice large clumps of hair in your brush or caught in your hairband. Some people find it on their pillow or notice it coming away in the shower. However, for others hair loss takes a different form. It simply thins out slowly over time until the scalp begins to show through. “Hair density has to decrease by nearly 50% before it becomes obviously balding,” says Dr. Jayasinghe. Though not widely recognised, the toll hair loss exacts on a person’s emotional well-being may be quite severe. People may struggle with feeling unattractive and socially handicapped because of their condition leading to depression and issues of self-esteem.
3. Both men and women are affected by hair loss. “By the age of 50, 50% of men and 40% of women have some degree of visible hair loss,” says Dr. Jayasinghe. However, the underlying causes of the condition can be more challenging to decipher in women than in men. While over 90% of hair loss can be attributed to male pattern baldness, both men and women must sort through a wider range of possible triggers. Among the more common are pregnancy, thyroid disorders, and anemia. Others include autoimmune diseases, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and skin conditions such as psoriasis and seborrhic dermatitis. In both sexes, hair loss can also be caused by malnutrition, a severe infection, ringworm, major surgery, extreme stress or even a hairstyle that pulls on the hair or is too tight bound.
4. However the most common cause of visible hair is Androgenic Alopecia. Patients with the condition find that their hair loss follows an obvious pattern of loss on the top and front scalp areas only, which is what earned the condition the moniker ‘Pattern Balding.’ Most women will have diffused thinning across their entire scalp while men tend to have more distinct patches of baldness. The condition has been linked to genetic causes and is also believed to be related to age and specific hormones.
In both sexes the hormone DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) is believed to be the culprit. Under the influence of DHT the head hairs on top can have their growth cycle shortened from the usual five years to a short growth phase (weeks to months). This in turn leads to small vellus hairs forming instead of healthy mature terminal hairs. The process is known as miniaturisation and eventually leads to complete hair loss.
5. Treatments vary depending on the underlying cause of hair loss. In some cases,treatment may not be required as hair growth may resume on its own. For others however, treatments may be required to help promote hair growth or hide hair loss. If your hair loss is caused by an underlying disease, your doctor will address that first. “Unfortunately medication is not very effective at re-growing hair and has severe potential side effects so must only be taken on medical advice,” cautions Dr. Jayasinghe.
6. Many patients turn to transplantation as a solution. “The only way to permanently re-grow natural hair on a bald scalp is to transplant hair,” says Dr. Jayasinghe, explaining that transplanting hair uses modern medical methods to extract permanent hair roots from the side and back of the scalp and re-locate them to the bald areas on top and in front. Once the transplanted hair grows to cover the area the baldness will disappear.The process is known as Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE).
7. In the meantime, small changes in the way you handle your hair can help reduce the pace of hair loss. Use a good conditioner after every shampoo. Comb your hair only when it’s wet and use a wide toothed comb. Instead of drying your hair roughly, simply wrap a towel around it that will absorb the excess water and then allow it to air dry. A hairstyle like a tight bun or ponytail can lead to hair loss, so consider opting for something where the hair is tied loosely. Your hair doesn’t need 100 brush strokes a day, so be gentle with it. Use moisturizing conditioner when untangling it. However, if you see no difference visit a doctor for further advice.
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