Many women, discovering even severe hair loss in strands, try not to notice the problem, hide it and keep silent, only changing their color or hairstyle. However, the sooner measures are taken, the greater the chance of eliminating the pathology.
Alopecia in women is most often diffuse, and after finding out the cause and appropriate assistance, the hair begins to grow again.
Significant shedding is not as uncommon as it might seem. It occurs in about 5% of women under 30 and in almost 50% of women over 70. Such a pathology causes significant stress, and is also often a sign of disruption of the internal organs and systems. These can be iron deficiency, thyroid disease, autoimmune disorders, and more.
Specialists use different means to treat alopecia in women. Their choice primarily depends on the reasons. Let’s consider the most common.
Causes of Hair Loss
There are several possible precipitating factors:
- Violation of the course of the life cycle of the hair. Usually, the end of the anagen phase occurs atypically early, hence the telogen begins earlier.
- In puberty, when the body is going through a serious hormonal change. Sebum is produced in a significantly larger volume, which is also a provoking factor. As a rule, the problem goes away after the end of puberty.
- If a woman has a genetic predisposition to baldness, when the androgen level is exceeded, the vessels of the papillae of the hair follicles of the head spasm, which causes loss. At the same time, abundant growth can be noted on other parts of the body.
- Many women experience alopecia during pregnancy despite increased estrogen secretion. This is due to the fact that nutrients are actively consumed for the growth and development of the fetus.
- Stress and disruption of periods of sleep and wakefulness. In this case, the biopotentials of the brain deteriorate significantly, due to which the hair follicles do not receive sufficient nutrition.
- Exposure to exogenous factors, for example, the use of a hot air dryer, aggressive masks and shampoos, frequent staining with “strong” compounds. As a result, the location of the hair scales is disturbed, and the hair shaft is gradually destroyed.
- Taking certain types of drugs, such as antidepressants, NSAIDs, antibiotics, antivirals, anthelmintics, anticoagulants, anesthetics. Most of the patients suffering from oncology and taking cytotoxic drugs face this problem.
Also, some other diseases can lead to prolapse: from thyroid pathologies to tuberculosis. The scourge of modernity is trichorrhea after suffering a coronovirus infection. That is why it is not always easy to determine the cause, and a doctor should deal with this.
Hair loss rate
From 100 to 250 thousand hairs grow on the head, and the loss of 50-150 units daily is considered normal. This happens because the hair is constantly being renewed, in place of the fallen hair, new ones begin to grow normally.
It is important to consider that each hair goes through several stages of its “life”:
- anagen – the growth phase, which accounts for 80-90% of the follicles, the duration is on average from 2 to 5 years;
- catagen – transitional phase, it accounts for about 1-5% of hair follicles, duration – 2-3 weeks;
- telogen – the resting phase, it accounts for 10-20% of the follicles, the average duration is 2-3 months;
- exogen – loss, after which the cycle begins anew already for a new hair.
The daily loss of 50-150 hairs does not affect the density of the hairstyle, since the cycle of maturation of the hair follicle proceeds asynchronously, that is, all hairs are in different phases.
There is a relatively simple subjective-objective method for determining the activity of hair loss, which anyone can do at home. The traction test, or hair tension test, is carried out as follows: in the parietal region, a strand of hair is grasped with the fingers and moderate pulling is carried out. It is very important to understand that the hair is not torn out (not forcibly removed from the skin), namely, it is painlessly stretched. The test is most informative one day after shampooing. Normally, after 4-6 sips, 1, maximum 2 hairs can remain in the hands. With pathological loss after each traction, 3-10 or more hairs remain in the hands.
Medical treatment
Mesotherapy is a cosmetic procedure in which drugs are injected intradermally into the scalp. The method is considered one of the most effective in hair loss and restoration.
Thanks to the procedure, it is possible to quickly and significantly improve local blood circulation and create a high concentration of the drug. As a rule, cocktails are used, which in their composition contain vitamins, minerals, amino acids.
The specialist selects preparations for mesotherapy individually for each patient. As a rule, the course of therapy includes 10 procedures once a week, after that – 5 more times in 2 weeks. Then maintenance sessions can be carried out regularly: once every 1-2 months. Each session takes about 20 minutes. Mesotherapeutic injections are performed superficially, the patient does not experience discomfort, so anesthesia is not required.
The effect of mesotherapy can be seen already after 4-5 sessions in the form of a reduction in hair loss, and hair restoration is noted 2 months after the start of treatment. Additionally, a specialist can prescribe vitamin-mineral complexes both for external use and for oral administration.
At the moment, among the various methods of plasma therapy, the most effective is PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma). Its essence lies in the active stimulation of the so-called hidden reserves by introducing platelet-rich plasma, which was obtained from the patient’s own blood. This method of hair treatment is absolutely safe, very well studied and proven to be highly effective.
First, blood is taken from a vein and placed in a centrifuge to separate platelet-rich plasma.
Platelets contain growth factors that allow you to activate metabolic processes and accelerate the division of hair follicle cells, thus normalizing the natural cycle of its development. The procedure is similar to mesotherapy in its implementation – the resulting composition is injected into the scalp with a micropapular technique. Sessions are carried out every 10-30 days, depending on the situation and the doctor’s prescription.
You can see the effect after 2-3 sessions: small hairs that have grown back will appear all over the head. When the course is over, the “cancellation effect” will not happen: hair will not fall out, but they will gain density, strength and shine. It is also important that the procedure is cumulative, so the result will please for a long time. In our clinic, we use the Swiss PRP Regen Lab technique.
This technique is based on the interaction of polynucleotides with a DNA molecule. Replacing its individual elements with intact or detaching entire mutation sites and connecting the remaining healthy parts, polynucleotides restore the functional activity of cells. An excellent effect is achieved by stimulating the growth of fibroblasts, stimulating angiogenesis, increasing tissue oxygenation, and protecting against free radicals. Intradermal injections are done at intervals: 1 procedure in 7-14 days, a course of 6-8 procedures. In our clinic, the procedure is carried out using the Italian drug with polynucleotides – Plinest Fast (0.75% PDRN).
Prevention
Only a doctor can accurately answer the questions why the hair on the head falls out very much and how to stop it. However, preventive measures will be useful for every woman who does not want to face such a problem.
The main way is high-quality and regular hair care, which involves the use of carefully selected shampoo and mask, as well as a balanced diet. It is better to reduce or completely eliminate procedures that can cause hair loss and damage to the scalp, such as:
