Your hair doesn’t define you. But it can make you feel more like yourself. You might not have noticed how important your hair was to you until you started losing it. Aging isn’t the only cause of hair loss — many medical conditions can lead to hair loss.
Your hair doesn’t define you, but it can play a big role in how you feel about yourself. You may not realize just how important it is until you start noticing it thinning or falling out. While aging is a common cause, it’s not the only reason for hair loss — many underlying medical conditions can also contribute.
Regardless of the cause, Hair Doc, located in Cow Hollow, San Francisco, is here to help. Read on to understand the key factors behind medical conditions contributing to hair loss and the effective treatments, like laser cap and minoxidil, that can help regrow it.
Does your hair loss look like small, quarter-sized patches? You may have alopecia areata, a disease where your immune system mistakenly targets hair follicles, leading to hair loss. While alopecia areata can occur anywhere on your body, it most often affects the head and the face.
No matter your gender or race, you can get alopecia areata. People who are generally healthy get the disease, and more than 80% experience it before the age of 40. While alopecia areata cannot be cured, you can manage hair loss with treatments like minoxidil, a topical treatment that you apply to your scalp twice daily.
Your thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland located in the middle of your neck, is responsible for regulating the speed of your metabolism. If you have a thyroid disorder, this means your thyroid produces too much or too little of the hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).
Hair loss is a common side effect of a thyroid disorder, often occurring in patchy hair loss or overall thinness across the head. The laser cap is a safe and easy way to help improve hair loss caused by a thyroid disorder. Just place the cap on your head and wear it for 20 minutes, 2-3 times a week.
Minoxidil may also be effective at treating this type of hair loss. Gently rub the solution on areas where you’ve experienced balding and allow it to dry completely.
Telogen effluvium is the second most common cause of hair loss diagnosed by dermatologists. This type of hair loss occurs when there’s a shift in the number of hair follicles that are growing hair, often in the pattern of a widening part of the overall thinning of hair.
Telogen effluvium is usually caused by significant stress or trauma to your body, causing you to lose up to 500 strands of hair a day. Luckily, this condition is often temporary, and hair will regrow in 3-6 months.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormonal disorder that affects many individuals with female hormones during their reproductive years. PCOS is defined by hormonal disruptions that result in symptoms such as irregular menstrual cycles, excessive hair growth or hair loss, and ovarian cysts, and it is often associated with insulin resistance.
Hair loss from PCOS may look like:
Treatment for PCOS may include minoxidil, hormone replacement therapy, and lifestyle changes.
Do you have red, inflamed, scaly patches on your scalp? If yes, you may be experiencing scalp psoriasis.
Scalp psoriasis happens when your immune system erroneously increases the production of skin cells, resulting in a buildup of dead skin cells and irritation. In extreme cases, hair loss can occur from intense inflammation or scratching and picking at the affected areas.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a nonsurgical treatment that uses your blood to promote tissue regeneration and hair growth. PRP reduces inflammation and irritation, which suggests it's a beneficial treatment for hair growth.
Do you have hair loss that sounds like one of these medical conditions? We’re here to help. Call 415-907-7354 to schedule your consultation or book online.
Disclaimer: Photos used in this article are models and may or may not have had treatment.
