Hair Loss Disorders Caused by Chemicals

Our modern environment is filled with chemicals. Our bodies are regulated through enzymatic and hormonal activity that is also chemical. We sometimes take the chemical reactions around us--and inside us--for granted. We don't notice them until an imbalance changes our appearance, such as causing our hair to fall out.

Types

• According to Health News Today, hair loss is most often caused by poor grooming habits. Chemical relaxers, curling solutions and dyes used to alter the hair's normal texture and color can burn hair off, leaving stubble, or they can burn the scalp, causing permanent scarring and preventing new hair growth.

  Chemotherapy often results in hair loss because the chemicals that attack cancerous cells attack hair-forming cells as well. For some patients, this hair loss becomes permanent (see Resources).

  Hair loss can be caused by menopause as the body's chemistry changes when estrogen production slows (see Resources).

Symptoms

• Hair loss due to styling can extend over several weeks or months. You might notice more hair in your brush than usual, or more hair on the bathroom floor after combing. Pieces of hair might be found around the bathroom sink, indicating breakage.

  Hair loss can be immediate when systemic poisoning is involved. Chemotherapy treatments, meant to kill off cancer cells faster than regular cells, stress the body.

Hair Restoration

• When hair has become fragile due to excessive grooming and processing, a complete change in grooming habits often helps. Using moisturizers and simple hair styles can prevent breakage.

  When hair loss is due to medical treatment, regrowth is unpredictable. As each cancer medication behaves differently, each patient's body reacts to the stress differently.

Insulation

• Most of our body heat escapes through the top of the head. The absence of hair makes us vulnerable to temperature changes.

  During chemotherapy, when partial baldness is common, wearing hats is important. Soft knitted or crocheted caps provide insulation while hair is absent.

Warnings

• Hair restoration scams are fairly common. If a product or treatment promises to regrow hair, be skeptical. The FDA tracks complaints and safety issues associated with health care and cosmetics (see Resources).