When you regularly find your hair on a pillow, shower, or brush, it may not seem important to know what type of baldness you have. Hair loss is terrible, isn’t it? Is it really important what you name your moody? Well, that’s right. Knowing the enemies you are facing is, as any military strategist tells you, the first step to winning a battle. If you can identify the type of hair loss you are experiencing, you will be in a better position to know what the future of your mane will be and what treatments you can apply.
So put on a tin hat, fasten your chin strap and get ready to see the enemy’s eyes!
Five common types of baldness
There are many reasons why people experience hair loss, and to cover them all, you’ll need an article that’s many times longer than this one. Some of these types are certainly very rare, but instead of spending time learning about outliers, we’ll look at five more common causes of baldness.
Androgenetic alopecia
Androgenetic alopecia is a medical term used to describe what most of us call androgenetic alopecia and female pattern baldness. This is the most common form of trichotillomania, with an estimated 15 in 10,000 people affected in the United Kingdom. Pattern alopecia is performed in the family. If you can identify the baldness of your ancestors and older relatives, you are quite likely to develop the same type of hair loss.
The male pattern takes the form of a receding bangs hairline, although hair loss from the scalp or crown is also part of the condition. For women, this type of hair loss manifests itself in common thinning hair throughout the scalp. Such hereditary hair loss can be treated with medicines and hair transplant surgery.
Telogen effluvium
Telogen effluvium occurs when the natural growth cycle of hair is interrupted. Telogen is the name of the telogen of the growth cycle, followed by the telogen. If the growth period does not begin, the hair will begin to fall and noticeable thinning will occur.
Telogen effluvium is often caused by a medical condition. If you have a recent childbirth, are suffering from thyroid imbalance, or have had surgery that requires postoperative medication, you are more likely to have this type of hair loss. The good news is that it rarely leads to complete baldness. When the trigger of the condition disappears from your life, there is a good chance that your hair will be restored.
Anagen effluvium
Anagen effluvium is another type of baldness caused by external events. This is a fairly dramatic type of hair loss brought about by treatments such as chemotherapy, a medical intervention that kills powerful cancers, and suddenly stops the formation of hair follicles. This type of hair loss is traumatic but temporary. When the treatment is over, the hair will be restored.
Alopecia areata
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease. That’s when the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells, including hair follicles, rather than the bacteria and viruses it’s supposed to kill. It can cause patchy and unpredictable hair loss or complete baldness. Much depends on the severity of your condition.
There are two types of alopecia areata. Alopecia totalis is the loss of all hair from the scalp. If you experience this for more than 2 years, you are less likely to have hair. Systemic alopecia gets worse again. It’s when you lose all body hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes, and hair on your head.
Alopecia areata can be treated with medications that may help stimulate hair regrowth.
Abnormal hair follicles
Hair loss in this category covers several types of thinning hair and baldness. This happens when damage occurs along the hair shaft, not along the hair follicles. If your hair breaks, it may weaken and fall off. Repeating this over the entire scalp produces noticeable thinning hair.
An example of an abnormality in the hair shaft is traction alopecia. This results from the hair breaking and falling out as the strands are constantly pulled and tightened to achieve a particular hairstyle (think ponytails and braids). Fortunately, this condition can usually be undone by changing to a looser, less worn hairstyle.
Conclusion
Hopefully this article has given you different types of hair loss sensations that affect many of us at some point. Correctly identifying the cause of hair loss is the first step in addressing the problem. If the root cause is known, it is much more likely to choose an effective treatment strategy.
Always keep in mind that the sooner you act on the problem of hair loss, the more effective it may be. Vinci Hair Clinic offers all new clients a free, non-obligatory consultation with one of our hair experts. Don’t be late-contact us now and book!
