No matter what precautions you take, it is normal for hair to fall out on a daily basis. Humans can shed around 100 strands a day without cause for concern. If this delicate balance is disrupted due to a variety of causes, excessive hair loss can become visible and traumatic. If you’re losing hair in small clumps or are beginning to see bald patches, here are some of the reasons that may be responsible for hair loss.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is one of the common causes of hair loss. Not only does your body need a healthy balance of proteins, fats and complex carbohydrates, it also requires trace amounts of vitamins and minerals to stay strong and fight infections.
The vitamins responsible for keeping hair healthy include zinc, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin B complex and folic acid. These are all easy to incorporate in your diet by eating fresh foods. In developed countries, deficiencies can arise in spite of the available cornucopia of foods when people rely on a steady diet of junk food instead. Ditch the potato chips and dig into a rich green salad instead.
Mental Stress
Mental stress can wreak havoc on your body. Being under a prolonged state of anxiety, fear and apprehension causes the release of stress hormone cortisol, which in healthy doses boosts mental function and causes a surge in energy.
Excess cortisol due to prolonged stress can cause weight gain particularly the abdominal area, increased blood pressure, decreased bone density and impaired mental function just to name a few. For unknown reasons, stress can also cause hair to fall out in patches. Removing the stressful stimulus can help the hair go back to normal.
Strained Hairstyles
Women who have a habit of tying their hair up on a regular basis unknowingly subject their tresses to physical stress. Updos with bobby pins, ponytails with elastic bands and even simple plastic clips can cause hair to fall out. In most cases, hair is pulled back too tightly, exerting strain on the hair follicles and causing the hair to slip out from the roots. In other cases, strands can get snagged on hair accessories and get pulled out.
Toxic Substances
Heavy metal poisoning can cause hair to fall out. Heavy metals such as lead or arsenic can be found in wall paints, imported goods and even drinking water. It can take years before effects appear. These metals build up over time and deposit throughout the body, including in hair strands. While these are rare causes of hair loss, it is a possibility.
If the cause of your hair loss is due to ingestion of toxic substances, you’re likely to also be experiencing fatigue, headaches, mental confusion depression, lethargy, stomach pain and general aches and pains.
Inflammation
Inflammatory disorders can cause hair loss. In some cases, the inflammation is due to the body’s immune system attacking its own hair follicles. This can occur in lupus or alopecia areata, in which small round bald patches can appear.
In other cases, it is due to the body trying to fight off outside invaders. These can be due to parasitic infections such as scabies that cause excessive dryness and itching or more commonly, due to fungal infections like ringworm. To avoid getting infected, don’t share hairbrushes or towels and make sure to disinfect your own supplies on a regular basis.
Hormones
Hormonal fluctuations in women can cause hair loss. Any time the body goes through hormonal changes revolving around pregnancy, childbirth, menopause or cessation of birth control pills, hair loss can also occur.
Speak to a doctor about tapering off birth control pills or taking hormones to balance the side effects of menopause. For other natural hormonal changes, take preventive measures by putting extra effort into your hair care by nourishing it on the inside and out. Do this by taking supplements and routinely using hair masks.
The thyroid gland is responsible for regulating some of the most important hormones of the body. Increased or decreased function can offset the balance of these hormones and contribute to brittle hair, skin and alopecia. The only way to gauge the health of your thyroid gland is to visit a doctor and have thyroid function tests done.
Genetics
Sometimes hair loss in men and women is accelerated by genetic factors. This hereditary condition is called male-pattern baldness or female-pattern baldness, depending on the gender of the afflicted patient.
In these cases, the sufferer is genetically prone to thinning or falling hair. Being prone doesn’t mean it is bound to happen. Rather, it means that when faced with stress or fluctuating hormones, these people are more likely to experience hair loss.
In some cases, the hormonal fluctuations that accompany puberty can be the trigger causing hair to start thinning and falling out. This is why some men as young as in their twenties become bald.