From hereditary disorders to poor nutrition, there are numerous causes for females to experience hair loss at some point in their lives. With hair being an important part in showcasing personal style, most women stress when they start experiencing hair loss. Luckily, most reasons for hair loss are temporary and can be reversed. Some, however, can leave permanent damage.
Poor Nutrition
With fad diets being popular, one of the most common reasons for loss of hair in females is due to nutritional deficiencies. Poor nourishment, such as inadequate protein and iron, is a significant factor to female hair loss. Fad diets severely limiting specific food groups including iron-rich foods like liver, lean red meats, beans and iron-fortified whole grains, low-carb diets, and consistently not consuming enough protein from animal products or soy products can all contribute to hair loss.
Medications
Certain medications such as those used to treat arthritis, depression, gout, high blood pressure and heart disease are also commonly associated with hair loss. In some females, one side effect of taking birth control pills may be hair loss. Make sure to check your birth-controls side-effect warnings to see if hair loss is common.
Excessive Hair Treatments
Chemicals in dying, bleaching, coloring, highlighting, perming and tinting, when abused, can cause hair to become damaged and break. Refraining from using these types of chemicals will allow damaged hair to strengthen.
Telogen Effluvium
Caused by a change in the normal hair cycle, this type of temporary hair loss occurs from an emotional or physical shock to the system. This shock prematurely pushes the root into a resting state, but within a couple of months it will become active again.
Traction Alopecia
Excessively styling hair or pulling hair too tightly can lead to damaged roots. If stopped before there is permanent scarring on the scalp, hair will typically grow back normally. This type of hair loss is not due to any type of deficiency, but to inadequate personal maintenance such as frequently pulling hair up in tight bands.
Cicatricial (Scarring) Alopecia
When inflammation damages and scars the hair follicles, preventing hair from growing, permanent hair loss occurs. While the specific inflammation trigger is not known, this condition is seen in several skin conditions such as lichen planus.
Other Causes of Hair Loss
A few other reasons for a female to experience hair loss are a scalp infection, hormonal changes or imbalances, or certain diseases such as diabetes or lupus. Hormonal changes or imbalances may result from pregnancy, menopause, discontinuing birth-control pills or from an overactive or underactive thyroid gland.
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