Hair has played an important role in our society – it is connected with youthfulness and beauty in women and virility and manliness in men. Any form of hair loss, hair thinning, or balding anywhere in the body is termed as alopecia. Among the variety of causes which can lead to hair loss, the most common is aging.

Severe hair loss could occur due to many reasons such as stress, pregnancy in women, male pattern baldness, female pattern baldness, exposure to strong sunlight, anemia, hypothyroidism’, vitamin B deficiency, an autoimmune disorder, chemotherapy, etc.

What are the types of hair loss?

If your hair growth cycle is disturbed, problems such as hair loss, and hair thinning starts. There is a number of reasons which lead to the interruption of the hair growth cycle and result in different types of alopecia such as:

Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA)

Androgenetic alopecia – This type of hair loss can affect both men and women, and is caused by the hormone dihydrotestosterone.

Androgenetic alopecia is genetically determined and can be classified as follows:

• Male-pattern hair loss— This is typically characterized by a receding hairline at the temples and balding at the top of the head.
• Female-pattern hair loss — This is characterized by hair fall and widening of the parting, along with the reduction in the density as well as the volume of the hair.

Involution alopecia — More hair follicles go into the resting phase with advancing age. This causes the gradual thinning of hair, termed as involution alopecia.

Telogen effluvium — It is a condition that leads to hair thinning and hair loss from all over the scalp. Hair loss is usually caused by a certain stressor factor that leads the hair to prematurely enter the resting phase and, subsequently, shed. This may sometimes occur even within three to six months after the initial stressor. The stressor could be anything like sudden weight loss, childbirth, starting or stopping of oral contraceptive pills, typhoid, malaria, etc.

Anagen effluvium — It is characterized by the sudden loss of hair in very large numbers. It is called anagen effluvium as the hair falls directly from the growing stage. Hair falls into the growing phase can be quite severe. Anagen effluvium is largely seen as a side effect of radiation or chemotherapy is given for cancer treatment.

Drug-induced hair loss — the Side effect of certain medications cause this type of hair loss. Some of these medications are generally used, namely, blood thinners, cholesterol-lowering drugs, oral contraceptives, medicines for the treatment of gout, etc. It is important to let your doctor know if you are facing hair fall due to any medication so that it can be treated accordingly.

Alopecia areata — It is an autoimmune condition characterized by the sudden, patchy loss of hair. The onset of alopecia areata can be quite unexpected, with rapid hair loss.

This condition may also be connected to the imbalance of the thyroid hormone or rapid and extreme stress. Hair can be lost from the entire scalp or from the entire body. The state is known to vary, and often, old patches can fill up whereas new ones still appear.

Traction alopecia — It is caused because of traction or pulls on the hair. This may be caused by certain hairstyles that pull at the roots, namely, tight braids and buns, or because the hair gets pulled by the wrong use of tight rubber bands clips, etc.

Trichotillomania — It is a psychological disorder more commonly occurring in children, which makes them develop a tendency to pull out their own hair, leading to hair loss.

In most cases of hair loss, it can be treated. You should see a dermatologist if you are facing hair problems.