About Hair Loss: From Personal Injury Accidents to Medical Conditions
Hair loss can bring you much unhappiness and distress. Often, people see their bald or thinning head of hair in the mirror and have to make choices.
Do I shave it all off? This may be acceptable for some men, but typically not for women.
Do I wear a hat? Well, wearing a hat is helpful at times, but at some point, you have to take off your hat, and baldness is still there.
What about hair restoration? As a doctor who specializes in female hair transplant surgery such as Dr. Robin Unger knows well, this is a question that many people are asking these days, mainly because hair restoration techniques are becoming more and more advanced. There’s still no cure for your baldness, but there is hope.
Factors Leading to Hair Loss
Losing hair can be a result of several factors, including the aging process and genetics. The normal shedding and regrowth process can be disturbed by:
- Hormonal changes
- Hereditary factors, family history, and genetic predisposition
- Medications
- Medical conditions
- Emotional and physical stress and trauma
- Product defects
- Motor vehicle accidents or other accidents involving scalp injuries or burns
Certain types of hair loss tend to occur gradually and often in predictable patterns—this is known as pattern baldness. Receding hairlines and overall thinning of the hair is also common. However, many other factors can cause moderate thinning hair loss to total baldness. Several of these are due to medical issues, including:
- Androgenic Alopecia
The majority of all hair loss and women results from androgenic alopecia. A body deficient in male hormones can cause this.
- Alopecia Areata
This is a hair loss condition caused by an autoimmune dysfunction where the body attacks and destroys the normal function of its own hair follicles. This is thought to be a genetic problem and is usually treated with steroid injections.
- Thyroid Imbalance
Both hypothyroidism (underactive) and hyperthyroidism (overactive) conditions can cause hair to fall out.
- Protein deficiency
Hair shafts are made mostly of proteins, so there needs to be sufficient intake of amino acids in the diet to help keep the hair healthy.
- Nutritional deficiencies
Minerals, trace minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids in short supply in the diet can lead to hair loss. However, this can typically be remedied by eating nutritious, whole foods, or taking vitamins and nutritional supplements.
- Anemia
Anemia is a condition caused by low iron levels in the body. Without sufficient iron in the diet, hair loss can result. Issues with the blood such as cancer and sickle-cell anemia can also cause iron deficiency-related hair loss.
- Hypervitaminosis A
Excessive levels of vitamin A in the body can lead to hair falling out.
Lastly, excessive stress and trauma, both physical and emotional, can lead to hair loss. These stress levels can be brought on by life events, including childbirth, divorce, loss of a loved one, disease, extreme dieting, and injuries from a motor vehicle accident. (Note: If you’ve been injured in an auto accident, the costs of your hair restoration might be covered in a damage settlement from a negligent party that caused the harm.) Contact a hair treatment doctor for more information or to schedule a consultation.
