Top Hair Loss Remedy
Premature Hair Loss In Children
When children do lose their hair, the cause is normally traced to one of four conditions: fungal infections, alopecia areata, trauma to the hair shaft, or telogen effluvium. Normally these conditions represent a temporary rather than a permanent hair loss although in fungal infections and alopecia areata symptoms can reoccur.
Fungal infections in toddlers and grade school children are very common and highly contagious. The fungus, tinea capitis, is akin to athlete’s foot and causes patchy hair loss in round or oval spots. The condition is treated with oral anti-fungal medications, creams, and shampoos. Once the fungus has been killed, the hair grows back and the infection is rarely seen after an individual reaches puberty.
The localized baldness of alopecia areata is harder to explain and more likely to return. It would seem that the immune system attacks the body’s ability to produce hair but medical science is not sure why this occurs or what exactly triggers an attack. The condition is characterized by sharply defined round and oval patches of baldness that otherwise show no signs of irritation. Creams, lotions, shampoos, and drugs to suppress the immune system are used as treatment but the condition can reoccur into adulthood. Once a specific outbreak has subsided, however, the hair does grow back into place until the next outbreak occurs.
Balding patches from trauma are common in girls who braid their hair or wear it in a ponytail. Friction from hats, caps, hair bands, or ribbons can also cause bald spots and the nervous habit trichotillomania, the obsessive twirling or pulling of hair, is also a common culprit. When the trauma is removed, the hair resumes its normal growth pattern.
Both children and adults can suffer from telogen effluvium, a condition in which some event occurs to interrupt the growth and production of hair. From 6 to 16 weeks following this event, baldness begins to occur. Triggers in this condition may be a high fever, medications, a crash diet, stress, surgery, or an injury. However, telogen effluvium produces only temporary hair loss.
Female hair loss is often traced to fluctuating hormones during pregnancy or during menopause. Thinning hair is but one of the many temporary conditions that may occur while a woman is carrying a child including gestational diabetes and varicose veins. Since pregnancy lasts nine months or less, most treatments employed involve diet and stress reduction with an understanding that the symptoms will normalize once the pregnancy is over.
The stress from an illness or from undergoing surgery can also effect hair growth but thinning and hair loss should improve in direct proportion to the patient’s overall recovery. Other culprits in premature hair loss in men could be changes in hormone levels (perhaps as a result of treatment for testicular or prostate cancer), the use of a new medication (like an antidepressant), or an over use of vitamin supplements as part of a fitness routine. Too much Vitamin A, for instance, can cause hair loss.
