Hair Fall and Baldness – What is the Relationship?

 

Having a stylish, voluminous, shiny hair is every man’s dream. And that’s the sign of healthy hair. At least most men think so. And whenever you see your drain clogged with hair strands you freak out considering that you’re having some health issues which is causing hair fall. And then you overthink and come to a conclusion that you may get bald. But that’s not how it works. And even if you do, you can always come to the best hair transplant clinic in Kolkata.

 

Hair fall and getting bald share a typical relationship. If your hair is falling it doesn’t mean that you are going to be bald. The reason you are going through can be the cause of your balding though. But first things first.

 

Every human being shed their hair each and every day. The number of hair lost by a man on average in a day lies in between 50-100 which is considered normal. Since our scalp contains around 100,000 hair follicles so losing 100 doesn’t make any difference.

 

Life cycle of hair:

There are hundreds of thousands of hair strands on your head and each one of them are in a different stage of its two to five years life span. The factors which are responsible of your daily hair loss are nutrition, stress, hygiene and styling.

 

In the cycle of hair there are phases, Anagen, Catagen and Telogen.

 

The phase in which hair strands are growing is called the anagen phase. About 90% of the hair strands are in this phase at any given time. Your hair grows approximately at the rate of 1cm per month. And when something disrupts the growth of the hair in this phase, it’s called anagen effluvium.

 

Then comes the catagen phase where the hair strands stop growing. It doesn’t fall out but it stops growing. This generally lasts for a week of two. About 1-2% hair stays in this phase.

 

And lastly the telogen phase where the hair strands prepare themselves to fall out of the scalp. About 8-9% of the hair stays in this phase at any given point of time.

 

Telogen Effluvium describes having more than 10 percent of your hair in the telogen phase. Telogen effluvium is temporary, but more hair will fall out while you have it. Stress, surgery, or even having a fever for a few days can bring on telogen effluvium, but your hair will probably be back to normal within six months.

 

Reason behind hair fall:

Regular hair fall is normal but if you start to have sudden hair fall which is more than the normal rate of hair fall, there could be some possible reasons:

Alopecia

Thyroid condition

Lupus

Nutritional deficiencies

If the hair fall seems to be heavy then you should consult a doctor before the time runs out!

 

Alopecia and Baldness:

Amongst the many reason of hair fall alopecia is one and one of the most difficult to get rid of. There many kind of alopecia out of which Androgenic alopecia is the most common that you will find in the streets. In this condition the hair falls out form the crown leaving the hair in the back and side areas intact. If you are suffering from this condition, there are some probable solutions to get your hair back depending upon the intensity of hair loss you have suffered from.

 

If the hair loss is medium and there are still some hair on your crown, your physician may recommend you to use Minoxidil and Finasteride along with PRP treatment.

 

Minoxidil is a topical solution which increases the blood circulation in the scalp which boosts the hair growth. On the other hand Finasteride is a DHT blocker. DHT is the hormone that blocks the hair follicle making the hair strands thin and grey and ultimately prone to breakage. Finasteride stops the action of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase which converts testosterone into Dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

 

PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) therapy is a kind of therapy where platelet rich plasma is extracted from the blood and then injected in the scalp. This platelet rich plasma acts as a fertilizer to the hair follicles.

 

Now if you have suffered from heavy hair loss then you have to opt for hair transplantation surgery because no medications will work if you don’t have the hair follicles. The concept of hair transplant is very simple. The hair grafts are extracted from the back or side of the head (known as the donor area) and then are inserted in the region where you have suffered hair loss.

 

There are two basic ways of hair transplantation; FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) and FUT (Follicular Unit Transplant).

In case of FUE the hair grafts are extracted from the back or side of the head where the follicles are healthy and less prone to damage using a punchinstrument and then the grafts are inserted in the affected region. This method is opted for the person who needs comparatively less number of grafts in the affected area.

 

In case of FUT a strip in cut from the back of the head and then they are precisely separated into individual grafts, the grafts are then inserted in the affected region. This method is opted for the people who has gone through heavy hair loss. The strip in the back is then stitched up.. General studies say FUT procedure gives access to higher donor yield area compared to FUE. While going through this method of hair transplant the patient doesn’t need to shave their head. It gives a fuller and denser look as maximum number of donor grafts can be extracted in this method. Also this method of transplant is cheaper than FUE.

 

Bottom line:

Just because you’re experiencing regular hair fall it doesn’t mean that you are going to be bald. If the rate of hair fall is normal then there is nothing to worry about. But if you are suddenly experiencing heavy hair fall visit a physician. Not every cause of hair loss will make you bald.