Hair Loss Matters!

Hair loss (alopecia), or becoming a "baldy", often provide plenty of joke fodder for mischievous colleagues and friends, but it's no laughing matter for those who are afflicted by it. This is especially so if the hair loss happens to those in their early 20s or 30s, or to women.

For women, they love their hair to be either long and silky, short and sassy, straight or curly. Trends come and go but the hair will always be a woman's crowning glory. Besides the face, the hair must surely command the most attention of women, if the number of advertisements promoting shampoos and other hair care products is anything to go by.

So let's face it. Seeing strands and strands of your crowning glory going down the plughole every time you wash your hair is most disconcerting. It gets even more alarming when you begin to notice sparse patches on your head - and you're not even middle-aged yet.

Hair loss is not desirable for most people, and people often go to great lengths - from toupees to hair transplants - to hide their receding crowning glory. People with hair loss problems encounter depression, low self-esteem and feelings of unattractiveness. In women, these feelings are perhaps magnified because of greater pyschological investment in appearance. In extreme cases, women become withdrawn, which in the long run, can cause work and relationships to suffer.

In the case of men, studies have shown that men with male pattern hair loss are perceived as older, less physically and socially attractive. Also, balding men do feel less attractive.

Causes of hair loss

There are many factors that can cause clinical hair loss. These include endocrine abnormalities, genetic predisposition, drugs, systemic illness, psychological abnormalities, trauma, diet, infections, autoimmunity, and structural hair defects.

But it seems that thinning hair and bald patches are no longer predicaments of those in their later years. Over the past 10 years or so, an increasing number of young people have been inflicted with premature hair loss due to factors such as high-stress, high-pressure jobs, and their modern lifestyle of late nights, fast food and lack of sleep.

It's no wonder then that lots of questions are being posted on forums and blogs concerning hair loss. This site, hairlossmentor.com, strives to provide answers to those frequently asked questions. One such question was from a 46-year-old lady from Atlanta who wanted to know if scalp paresthesias and hair loss are related in any way.

Being concerned about hair loss is important because it is a well documented fact that if something is not right with the crowning glory, it would not only affect the look (and self esteem) of the person inflicted by it, but it may also be a sign of some underlying problems in the body. In fact, someone once said that our hair is a barometer of the state of our health, so much so that if we get our hair analysed, we'll discover a lot about the state of our body. Even one gram of hair can reveal a lot about our health.

Since our hair is so vital to our image, it is therefore very important that we take good care of it to minimize the possibility of suffering hair loss in future.

Continue reading - Scalp Paresthesias and Hair Loss