The average individual sheds about 100 strands of hair every day. That being said, since new hair is also growing at the same time, there is no discernible loss of hair. When this cycle of hair production and shedding is hampered, this results in loss of hair when the hair shaft is lost and replaced with injured cells. Alopecia can be categorised basically into 2 categories: conditions that leave scars on the scalp and those that don’t. In this post, we are providing you with a complete guide covering what constitutes hair loss, causes of hair loss, effects of hair loss and numerous hair loss treatment in Singapore available for you in today.
Male Pattern Hair Loss
One of the most common kinds of loss of hair in men is androgenic alopecia, also referred to as male pattern baldness. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, upwards of half of the male population over 50 years old will experience a certain amount of male pattern hair loss.
If baldness begins at the top or forehead, a person may have male pattern baldness. A certain number of men might start to go bald. Some people may observe that the frontal hairline of a person’s hair is forming an “M” shape. The edge of a person’s hair may appear to regress in certain men until much or the entire hairline is lost.
Some of the symptoms include:
- Bald regions at the back of the head that gradually increases in size
- Thinner, finer, and shorter hair that forms a “U” pattern along the sides and back of the head
- A receding hairline creating an “M” pattern
Female Pattern Hair Loss
About one-third of females have alopecia, or hair loss, at some point in their life. As many as two-thirds of postmenopausal women may fall into this category. Females experience a relatively similar basic type of androgenetic alopecia—a sort of hair loss—as do men. Hair loss in men and thinning hair upon the crown of the head both tend to result in baldness. Women experience diffuse hair loss that spreads from the crown of the scalp and intensifies following a progressive shedding at the part line. Females rarely go bald, and their hairline hardly ever regresses, different from males.
Some of the symptoms include:
- Hairline does not recede and remains unchanged
- Almost never leads to complete baldness
- Hair thinning mostly on top of the head, spreading from the centre hair part
Common Factors Contributing to Hair Loss
#1 Androgenetic Hair Loss
The chemicals defined as androgens, that are necessary for normal reproductive maturation and also play other important functions among both genders, including modulating sexual appetite and hair growth, are what give rise to androgenetic alopecia, as the term suggests. The condition, which could be hereditary, may be caused by several genetic factors. A baseline hormonal problem, such as an overabundance of testosterone or a tumour that discharges androgen, may also be the cause. In either case, the baldness is most likely caused by increased androgen production. However, compared to androgenetic alopecia in men, the precise role of androgens in women is less understood. When a woman experiences hair loss that strongly resembles the female trend, it’s critical to assess her androgen and hormonal production amounts.
#2 Genetic
This type of baldness, which affects all genders, represents the most common cause of hair loss worldwide. Its name in medical terminology is androgenic alopecia. It is known that genes on the head cause hair shaft, the pods from which every hair originates, to progressively stop growing hair and constrict. While it may occur as early as a person hits adolescence, this frequently starts for aged folks.
#3 Age
Between two and seven years are the normal lifespans of hair strands. After that, fresh hair comes in to replace the lost hair. The quantity and quality of your hair are also influenced by your heredity. As people age, just about everyone loses some of their hair. Furthermore, hair growth slows throughout time. With time, the colour in the hair dries out and becomes finer. As a result, young people’s hair starts out thick before becoming scant. As even more hair glands stop producing new hairs, this occurs. Men may start to experience baldness concerns around the age range of 30. Many men lose nearly all of their hair by the point they become 60 years old.
#4 Alopecia Areata
It is triggered just as the body’s immune system eliminates the hair roots that are in charge of maintaining the hair’s alignment. Baldness can occur on any body part, namely the scalp, the interior of the nostrils, and the ears. Sometimes people also lose their eyebrows or eyelashes. Hormonal imbalances can also result in hair loss. This is frequently brought on by polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In addition to other symptoms like hair loss, it causes tumours in the ovaries. Eliminating the use of some birth control medication types may cause temporary hormonal irregularities.
#5 Nutritional Deficiency
Due to the role of nutrients and vitamins in the biological process of hair growth, numerous forms of nutrient deficiencies can result in hair loss and reduced hair growth. Insufficient protein, biotin, zinc, and iron are a few vitamins that might lead to baldness. A nutritious, diversified, and balanced regimen provides the important nutrients and minerals that your body needs to function properly. This includes all of your body parts and bodily functions. Any forms of nutritional shortages can cause hair loss, as a consequence of poor nourishment or excessively stringent crashes or craze diets.
#6 Physical and Emotional Stress
Often, such stress caused by events like childbirth, major surgery or recovering from major illness, can lead to hair loss. With postpartum hair loss, hormonal fluctuations are mostly to blame for irregular hair growth during childbearing. Because of the increased oestrogen levels during childbearing, you didn’t lose hair at the standard rhythm. The hair frequently sheds in small amounts every day. During pregnancy, hair fall decelerates. The effect is amplified by the enhanced blood supply and distribution, which may also lead to reduced hair fall than normal. As a result, after giving birth and the oestrogen level declining, the hair makes up for the time missed by losing significantly more than usual. Although your abrupt hair loss creates the illusion that you are losing a lot more hair than you have over the past nine months, this is probably not the case.
#7 Poor Hair Care
You can potentially inflict substantial harm and breakdown when trying to achieve a fashionable hairstyle, which may lead to hair thinning and loss. Hair loss can result from excessive shampooing, blow-drying, use of overheated styling products, yanking on hair, and violently scratching the scalp. Damage-related hair loss may also be facilitated by straighteners, perms, and hair colouration.
Effects of Hair Loss
Hair fall is much more common in males, despite the fact that it can start considerably at a younger age. As a necessary consequence, there has been a long push to decrease the social and psychological effects of baldness in men. Nevertheless, hair loss affects women significantly and affects one-thirds of the female population at some stage of their lives. In contrast to men, there has not been enough done to alleviate the effects of female pattern baldness.
Throughout our culture, balding men are often accepted, although balding women are not. Therefore, it stands to reason that women are much more likely than men to get more fear and discrimination as a consequence of loss of hair. Females have a strong bond with their locks, and several research studies suggest losing their strands is far more psychologically distressing compared to removing a breast to tumour.
Seeking a Doctor about Hair Loss Problems
Many people assume when they visit a doctor, the available treatment options are limited to medications which may have undesirable side effects or hair transplant which is very costly and painful. Furthermore, they might feel that their condition is not severe enough to warrant it. Hence, many individuals will start trying to treat hair loss by getting an over-the-counter shampoo for hair loss from the pharmacy. When they feel like it doesn’t work, then they may move on to using an over-the-counter hair tonic or a low dose minoxidil. Following this, they may visit a hair salon for hair treatments in an attempt to fix the issue themselves. After some treatments and having already spent a lot of money, they do not experience noticeable improvements to their condition. At this stage, by the time they visit a medical doctor to get professional help, their hair loss condition has already worsened.
To avoid this common pitfall, hair consultations when individuals notice early thinning, would be recommended for people of all ages and genders, even for those without a definite family history of hair loss issues. This also applies to women who experienced hair loss during pregnancy or after child delivery. They will benefit from non-invasive hair loss treatments in Singapore as the stress of taking care of a baby along with the need to balance roles of being a mum, wife, and an employee may delay prolonged hair loss. As older men and women beyond the age of 50 years old would likely notice hair thinning, hair consultations are also encouraged for those who want to preserve their hair volume and strength to prevent hair loss due to ageing.
Starting early helps to extend the active life cycle of the hair follicles. It helps to retain and promote consistent healthy hair growth for as long as possible. Regular maintenance and treatment of hair would then prevent or delay the need for more invasive treatments like hair transplant further down the line when your hair condition worsens. This is because once the hair follicles are inactive, the only solution to treat the condition would be to do a hair transplant to the bald patches. Thus, for those who have hereditary hair loss especially, it is recommended to visit a clinic to monitor, prevent and treat any small signs and symptoms before they become more serious.
Medications for hair loss and their side effects
#1 Minoxidil
Available over-the-counter versions of minoxidil come in solution, shower gel, and foamy forms. For optimal effectiveness, apply the serum to the hair twice daily for men and once daily for women. Using minoxidil-based products enables people to either regrow hair, slow down the extent of hair loss, or accomplish both. Medication needs to be used for at least six months in order to avoid further hair loss and start fresh hair growth. It may require months to establish if the drug is working. Regardless of whether the drug is working, you still need to take it regularly to keep getting the advantages.
#2 Finasteride
Finasteride lowers levels of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone in the hair, which is a major cause of male pattern baldness. This is how finasteride stops the thinning cycle, preventing further hair fall and, in certain cases, encouraging hair growth. The degree of effectiveness varies from individual to individual; it usually occurs a minimum of three months into taking the medicine; and it merely continues as long as the treatment is still being taken. Alopecia will return three to six months after stopping the medication.
#3 Iron Supplementation for Deficiencies
Medications for treatment of medical conditions which indirectly causes hair loss is also recommended in some cases. On several occasions, female pattern hair loss may be driven by a deficiency in iron. A blood screening check is needed to assess whether the system has reduced iron levels may be recommended by the doctor if a patient experiences heavy menstrual flow, has been diagnosed with anaemia, or engages in vegetarianism.
#4 Regenera Activa
With therapy with Regenera Activa, a special mixture containing stem cells, growth regulators, and progenitor cells with strong rebuilding capabilities is administered into the hairline. The procedure works by igniting the areas of your scalp that have been inactive, relying on your body’s natural ability to produce healthy, active hair shafts. Unfortunately, there can be slight discomfort and agony because localised anaesthetic is required. Furthermore, it would cost a sizable sum of capital and require a long period to completely show changes because several medical operations are required.
Other Non-Surgical Treatments for Hair Loss
#1 Lower Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) 655 nm Wavelength
Low-level laser treatment, commonly referred to as LLLT, activates hair follicles by sending electromagnetic signals to them. Such charges cause the blood flow to the scalp to be optimised and the discomfort around the hairline to lessen. Therefore, encouraging appropriate blood supply and aerobic metabolism encourages the regrowth of those latent follicles. Through strengthening and reinforcing individual hair roots, LLLT reduces hair fall and promotes optimal hair development.
#2 Nourkrin® Hair Growth+ Inclinic
A resurgence of knowledge about the nutritional factors that cause hair loss has begun as a result of nutritional medications that contain specific digestible proteoglycans to rejuvenate poorly functioning hair cells. It was proposed that this treatment is desirable as a primary treatment for all forms of hair loss in this aspect. Certain compounds, especially , can be important in initiating and prolonging the anagen stage of the hair growth phase. When coupled with certain flavonoids, these compounds have also been demonstrated to protect against stress-induced cell death and limit inflammation from occurring.
#3 Biosignal PDRN Follicle Therapy RF from Korea
Most individuals who seek our assistance suffer moderate to serious baldness but are reluctant to undergo more invasive procedures like hair transplants. We offer a redesigned and enhanced medical hair therapeutic approach using Bio-Signalling Technology from Korea in collaboration with PDRN and Israeli transdermal innovation to give our patients a cutting-edge way to restore their hair strands at the microscopic scale. It is intended to be non-invasive, comfortable, and involves zero injections. In order to boost hair renewal and increase hair volume and strength, this approach provides several signalling compounds and peptides to the Genetic material of the hair. The procedure uses the tried-and-true MP2 technology to increase hairline vascularity and encourage better hair growth.
What can I Expect on my First Consultation with Eeva?
Step 1: Detailed history taking as the cause of the hair loss is usually determined from an individual’s medical history
Step 2: Examination of the scalp based on:
- Scalp health (Oily, dandruff, areas of redness, scalp infection etc.)
- Identify the areas where hair is less dense
- Hair pull test
Step 3: Objective hair analysis with a hair analyzer
- To assess hair density, strand thickness, scalp condition, condition of hair follicles etc.
Step 4: Blood investigations for certain compounds such as male/female hormones, thyroid, iron, ferritin, zinc, vitamin D etc.
Step 5: Recommendations for a customised suitable hair treatment plan
Please note the importance of disciplined daily use of home care and supplements and regular scheduled sessions for in-clinic treatments.
Frequency and Length of Treatment Sessions
For mild hair loss, it requires:
- The first 6 sessions to be attended bimonthly
- The next 4 sessions to be attended monthly
- Regular maintenance at a monthly interval
- Reversible hair loss treatment period of 6 months
For moderate to severe hair loss, it requires:
- The first 6 sessions to be attended weekly
- The next 4 sessions to be attended bimonthly
- Then monthly for the next 6 sessions
- Condition stable maintenance sessions to be attended once every 3 months for the long term to override the genetic influence/chronic disease cause of hair loss
Please take note that the exact frequencies and length of your treatment would vary depending on your assessed hair loss condition. This will only be determined and communicated to you after consultation with our doctors.
How Much Improvement can I Expect?
For temporary hair loss due to physical or emotional stresses, visible hair volume restoration can be seen usually in 4-6 months. On the other hand, chronic long term medical conditions or those on long term medication or suffering from androgenetic hair loss, improved hair growth takes between 6-12 months. Subsequently, long term home treatment and in clinic treatment sessions will be necessary to maintain hair density, stabilise your condition, and prolong your hair growth cycle. For patients on chemotherapy, you can expect your hair to progressively return when the chemotherapy treatments are completed.
Please also note that improvements in hair density, hair thickness, scalp health, and stronger hair depends on numerous factors such as your age, gender, prior hair condition, and family history amongst others.
Conclusion
Through this complete guide, you can now better understand how hair loss can manifest in our lives. While sudden or extensive alopecia can be unsettling, there are frequently simple solutions. Treatment of the underlying cause and changes to daily practices can frequently be made to manage or prevent hair loss. If you need help with these hair loss difficulties, don’t hesitate to contact Eeva Medical Aesthetic Clinic!