If you’re suffering from hair loss, before you go out and buy that hair cream that promises miracles, you should look into the underlying reasons you could be losing your hair.
Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss and it’s important to understand the two types. First, Telogen effluvium is the more common type of hair loss where your hair follicles basically go into a dormant state and eventually fall out. This type of Alopecia can be restored in 6 to 9 months. The other type is Alopecia Areata and it has to do with white blood cells attacking hair follicles which causes hair to thin and fall out, mostly in patches. This is a more serious condition because hair may not grow back on its own even if you alleviate the conditions that caused it.
How Hormones Affect Hair Loss
For men, hair loss is often closely related to hormone imbalance. As men age, they go through similar hormonal changes as women. It’s called andropause or menopause if you will. Because hormone balance affects nearly every function in the body and especially hair growth. The main causes of hair loss in men is varying levels of testosterone as a result of bad eating habits and stress. What happens is the body produces dihydrotesterone (DHT) which is a type of testosterone directly related to hair loss. What DHT does is reduces the growth cycle and results in shorter and eventually no hair to areas of your body. DHT is also related to adult acne and prostate enlargement in older men, so it’s crucial to reduce the production of DHT to prevent hair loss.
Stress Causes Hair Loss
When people are stressed, and in this case, when men are stressed, the adrenal glands produce a hormone called cortisol better known as the stress hormone. Too much cortisol in the body, and especially over time, can lead to hair loss and many other negative factors. When we have to much stress in our life or prolonged stress, the body is constantly producing cortisol. Too much exercise, work stress, emotional problems can all lead to large cortisol production but also DHT production. This often leads to hairloss.
Your Thyroid Could Be Affecting Your Hair!
Hair loss is often associated with thyroid problems. Because your thyroid gland produces hormones, when it is not working right, improper amounts of critical hormones your body needs are either insufficient or there are too much of them. So, a malfunctioning thyroid can lead to dry, easily tangled hair. It can cause reduced hair growth on your face and body as well. It can affect your eyebrows as well. So, maintaining healthy thyroid function is important to your hair. So, if you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it could be your thyroid.
Bad Diet and Nutrition CAN affect your Hair
Nutrition is critical to a healthy body and healthy hair. If you’re eating too much of the wrong foods and not enough of the right foods, you are not getting the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain optimum health. Not enough of certain nutrients and too much of others can lead to premature pattern baldness. So, it’s critical to look at your eating habits and supplement what you are not getting enough of to keep your hair healthy and keep your hair longer. You don’t have to accept baldness. But, you have to get to the root of the problem and nutrition balance is a big part of maintaining healthy hair well into your golden years.
Medication Can Cause Hair Loss
There are numerous medications on the market including blood thinning meds, NSAIDS, vitamin A, beta blockers and antidepressants that can cause hair loss. Chemotherapy is a well known culprit in hair loss as well, so if you’re losing hair, looking towards the medications you’re taking is one of the first steps in identifying why. It’s critical to examine your nutrition and your hormones, but before we do that, we need to look at your current medications to see if one or more of those could be responsible.
The Solution: Hair Loss Treatment
As an integrative and functional medicine doctor, the first thing I’m going to do is look at your meds, your DHT levels, your thyroid and other hormones. I’m going to look at your cortisol production and then we can determine whether your hair loss is genetic or is being caused by one of the above factors. Then, I’m going to customize a treatment plan that’s right for your situation. The treatment may include supplements, dietary adjustments and hormone therapy.
You don’t have to accept baldness. You may be able to combat it and regrow a healthy head of hair with the right treatment. Call us today to schedule an assessment. You just might be very happy you did.
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