What is Hair Fall ?

Beautiful and well-styled hair is a boost to anyone's appearance and that is the sole reason why we give so much importance to its maintenance. Hair fall though, forces us to press the panic buttons.

What is Hair Fall?

Who doesn't like to spend hours in front of the mirror just to get the right kind of hairstyle? While at it, everything else seems secondary, even getting late for work! Beautiful and well-styled hair is a boost to anyone's appearance and that is the sole reason why we give so much importance to its maintenance. But as much as we love our hair, we hate even the idea of hair fall and when it actually happens, that's when we start pressing the panic buttons.

Alopecia is the medical term used for the phenomenon of hair fall. It might also lead to thinning of hair or temporary baldness. Alopecia can occur in patches anywhere on the body but it's on the scalp where one experiences maximum hair fall and maximum distress due to that hair fall. Whilst, losing about 50-70 strands of hair in a day is normal, losing excessively more hair than that is a cause for worry. This type of syndrome occurs in both, Men and Women. Need less to say that it is a cause for stress among many people. It sometimes has a psychological effect on people who suffer from anxiety of this disease.

It is difficult to point out one reason for hair fall in any person. Hormonal imbalance may lead to hair fall. In men, it is usually genetic as a person can inherit this type of disease from his parents. The hormone, dihydrotestosterone, causes the hair follicles to shrink. Hormonal imbalance in women mostly refers to the hormonal changes during or after pregnancy that results in thinning of hair gradually leading to hair loss. Treatment of thyroid glands can be one of the remedies to prevent this type of hair fall. Fungi infection in scalp is quite common among teens, though it can be easily treated with the help of consultation with the doctors.

Hair fall is also a direct result of the side effects of some medicines taken to treat diseases like high blood pressure or cancer; even some painkillers have those kinds of effects. People who undergo surgeries have also reported significant hair loss. Some psychological disorders like Trichotillomania also result in hair loss, as people suffering from this disorder tend to pull their hair out very often. Mental therapy is suggested in those cases. Also tightly knit or tugged hair causes scarring of scalp further aggravating the problem of hair fall.

Many companies in the market have tried to cash-in onto the problem of hair fall claiming to have come up with special pills, shampoos and various remedies. There are also Vedic (Ayurvedic) treatments that can help people without resorting to expensive treatments. But any effort to cure this disease should be chosen carefully.