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What Makes Your Hair Fall Out?

Hair loss isn't something that only older men experience. Hair loss can be permanent or temporary and can be caused by a number of factors in men and women of all ages. If you are experiencing unusual hair loss, visit your doctor to determine its cause.

  1. Permanent Hair Loss

    • Some types of hair loss are permanent and can happen to men and women. Pattern baldness is a permanent loss and can be due to hereditary factors. Another type of permanent loss happens when inflammation damages the hair follicles, preventing new hair from growing. This inflammation can be caused by a skin condition.

    Changes in Hair Cycle

    • A physical or emotional shock to your system can disrupt your hair's growth cycle. These shocks can include stress, sudden weight loss, emotional trauma or surgery. Hormonal changes due to pregnancy, menopause, thyroid problems and other hormonal imbalances can also cause temporary hair loss.

    Hair Care

    • If you pull your hair too tightly into hairstyles on a regular basis, it can cause damage to the hair follicles. The hair will grow back unless there is permanent damage or scarring to the hair follicles. Chemicals used for perms, bleaching and dying can cause hair loss if overused.

    Nutrition

    • You might experience temporary hair loss if you have nutritional deficiencies, such as a lack of iron in your diet. Sudden weight loss due to crash diets, illness and eating disorders can also cause hair loss.

    Medications

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, taking certain medications can result in temporary hair loss. Some of these medications include drugs for arthritis, heart problems and high blood pressure. Medical treatments, such as chemotherapy, can also cause hair loss, but the hair will usually grow back when treatments are done.

    Physical and Mental Conditions

    • Some people develop alopecia areata, which is an autoimmune disease that occurs in people usually in good health. Alopecia areata has no known cause, but can be due to genetics. Hair loss is temporary, but the loss cycle can happen repeatedly. The condition trichotillomania is a mental illness that gives people the urge to pull out their hair, leaving patches of baldness. The cause of trichotillomania is not known.

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