Hair loss is a problem faced by many at any point in life. Hair grows all the places on the human body, except on palms and soles. In some areas of the body, hair is so fine, they are almost invisible to the human eye.
Keratin is the main constituent of hair. They grow out of the follicles that appear on the outer layer of the skin. During hair growth, when the newly created strands of hair are produced in the follicles, the old hair is pushed out. Then the old hair falls out. In general, hair is estimated to grow by about six inches every year. What you see as the hair is a bunch of keratin cells that appear as a string.
Hair loss is normal
A single person, on average, loses about 100 hairs a day. This is out of the 100,000 to 150,000 hairs that are supposed to be on a grown person. The loss of 100 hairs a day is nothing to be worried about. You should not go into a panic when you see a few strands of hair on your hairbrush.
Most of the hair on your head keep growing all the time. Each and every follicle has a lifecycle. Age and sicknesses can affect the lifecycle of these follicles. There can be other factors affecting the longevity of the follicles. These include chemicals in the shampoos you use, quality of water and pollution. All of these affect hair loss.
Three phases
The lifecycle of a hair follicles comes in three phases.
- Anagen–This is the stage of active hair growth. This can take place from 2 to 6 years
- Catagen — transmutation hair growth that lasts 2 to a few weeks
- Telogen — resting section that lasts regarding 2 to a few months; at the tip of the resting section the hair is shed and a replacement hair replaces it and also the growing cycle starts once more.
Rates of hair loss
When people age, the rate at which their hair grows slows down.
There are many sorts of hair loss, conjointly known as alopecia:
- Involutionalphalacrosis could be a natural condition within which the hair bit by bit thins with age. a lot of hair follicles get in the resting section, and also the remaining hairs become shorter and fewer in range.
- Androgenic phalacrosis could be a genetic condition which will have an effect on all men and ladies. Men with this condition, known as male pattern phalacrosis, will begin suffering hair loss as early as their teens or early 20s. You will notice this when you see the appearance of a receding hairline. Then comes the gradual loss of hair from the crown. And finally, hair begins to disappear from the frontal scalp. ladies with this condition, known as feminine pattern phalacrosis, do not expertise noticeable dilution till their 40s or later. Ladies expertise a general dilution over the complete scalp, with the foremost intensive hair loss at the crown.
- Alopecia areata typically starts suddenly and causes uneven hair loss in kids and young adults. This condition might lead to complete phalacrosis (alopecia totalis). However, in regarding ninetieth of individuals with the condition, the hair returns at intervals a couple of years.
- Alopecia Universalis causes all hair to fall out, as well as the eyebrows, eyelashes, and crotch hair.
- Trichotillomania, seen most often in kids, could be a folie within which someone pulls out one’s own hair.
- Telogen discharge is temporary hair dilution over the scalp that happens due to changes within the growth cycle of hair. an outsized range of hairs enters the resting section at constant time, inflicting hair shedding and ensuant dilution.
- Scarring alopecias lead to permanent loss of hair. Inflammatory skin conditions (cellulitis, inflammation, acne), and alternative skin disorders (such as some kinds of lupus and lichen planus) typically lead to scars that destroy the flexibility of the hair to regenerate. Hot combs and hair too tightly weaved and force can even lead to permanent hair loss.