Causes of Hair Falling
There may be one or multiple
factors responsible leading to hair falling, which may be summarized as
under:
1. Local factors 2. General factors 3.
Psychological factors 4. Miscellaneous
1.
Local factors:
Some
of the local factors or conditions associated with hair falling
are:
(a)
Local skin disorders: Certain local skin ailments are known to
lead to hair falling. Local skin infections such as Fungal infection
(Tinea capitis), pyoderma, secondary syphilis,etc. Non-infectious
conditions such as Dandruff, psoriasis, lichen planus, eczema, etc.
(b)
Local exposure to toxins: Over use or abuse with chemical based
shampoos, soaps, lotions are known to produce hair falling.
(c)
Scalp carelessness: Unhygienic measures in scalp care may lead to
air falling. For instance, infrequent head wash, over exposure to harsh
sun without protection, exposing the head to industrial fumes, etc.
2.
General factors:
(a)
Deficient Nutrition: Overall all deficiency of nutrition may
affect the growth and the quality of hair. Deficiency of vitamins B
Group, Vitamin A, may lead to hair falling. Deficiency in proteins,
iron, certain minerals may affect the hair growth, leading to hair
falling. Iron deficiency due to a wide range of reasons such as
excessive bleeding, restricted intake of iron forms an important cause
of hair falling, especially found in females. The deficiency as above
may be either due to faulty intake or which may have occurred due to
certain systemic disorders such as Mal-assimilation or mal-absorbtion
syndrome. It may occur following any prolonged acute or subacute
diseases such as Irritable Bowel syndrome.
(b)
Hormonal variations: Certain hormones including androgen,
estrogen and progesterone variations during different phases in life may
bring about hair falling in excess. Thyroid hormones form another
important group of disorders responsible for hair falling in some cases.
Menopausal age hence makes one prone to have hair falling. Post
pregnancy and child-birth is another example.
(c)
Post-acute-ailment: Certain acute diseases are known to leave
behind a weakened vitality leading one to have hair falling. For
examples: Pneumonia, viral infections, typhoid, etc.
(d)
Medicine and Drug induced: Certain chemical medicines have known
toxicity on the hair roots and growth. Long term use of chemotherapy,
cancer medication, steroids, antibiotics, antiepileptic,
antihypertensive medications etc. have been observed to produce hair
falling in some patients, as per a study at our center. Contraceptive
tablets are also known to induce hair falling.
3.
Psychological factors:
The
mind plays a vital role in maintaining the health in general and the
developing a wide range of disorders, such as hair falling in
particular.
Emotional stress is an epidemic condition prevailing in the world
today. There is no single emotion, which may be figured out as a victim.
In our experiecne, any and every emotion, which was experienced
intensely, may cause a constitutional disorder affecting the
physiological functioning of the hair growth.
Some
of the examples of emotional stress may be summarized in brief as under:
Intense anxiety about any important matter. Sadness or depression in
one's life which may be arising after marital disharmony or job
dissatisfaction or unhappy social structure, etc. Grief due to
unexpected events in one's life such as loss of a family member, loss in
business, major set back in life, etc. A long standing fear and
apprehensive habit. And so on. Similarly, certain unhealthy attitudes
such as aggressive behavior, violent expressions, hurried and impatient
behavior, and like.
To put
it in nutshell, the personality type plays a greater role in most cases
of hair falling and that should form in turn, the major criterion to
decide the correct line of treatment for hair falling.
4.
Miscellaneous:
Some
lesser common factors are industrial toxins,
intoxicated water (with high levels or minerals and metals), local
dermal infection, local allergic ailment, etc.
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