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What Causes Alopecia

Baldness, scientifically called alopecia, refers to a partial or total absence of hair. Men are the most affected by this problem. Baldness would affect, in fact, nearly 10 million French people.

What is alopecia?

We find this loss of hair or body hair in two large families: scarring alopecia and non-scarring alopecia.
Hair follicles renew themselves naturally and each time a new hair replaces the previous one, as long as the follicle is alive. A hair has a life of about 2 and 7 years and each hair follicle can repeat the cycle 30 times (provided you do not suffer from hormonal problems). Once all these cycles are complete, the follicle dies and nothing regrows. Alopecia is therefore sometimes linked to a lack of these follicles or an acceleration of their life cycle.

Baldness can be caused by many factors. Significant and abnormal fatigue, known as asthenia, can induce hair loss. Stress can also be the cause of the disorder. However, in men, it is the hereditary character that is preponderant. Thus, when a parent has a bald head, there is a good chance that baldness affects his descendants too. Hereditary baldness, or androgenic alopecia, occurs between the ages of 30. An unbalanced diet or taking medication for a long time can also lead to baldness.

Cicatricial alopecia

In this alopecia, the follicle is not destroyed. It is therefore possible that the hair or hair grows back.

What are the causes ?

There are many things that can cause alopecia. The most common are a hormonal imbalance or a problem with the thyroid itself causing this imbalance. Pregnancy or a lack of vitamin A, intense or too long stress, or other reasons can explain hair loss, permanent or not. We must not forget the damage to the skin, and therefore to the follicles.

1.  Diffuse alopecia – effluvium that affects the entire skull. It is usually caused by a lack of iron, chemotherapy or radiotherapy;

1. Androgenic alopecia which is an abnormal evolution towards hair loss. The first sign of this type of baldness is a receding hairline and a receding forehead;

1. Seasonal hair loss which can be caused by illness, fatigue, pregnancy or with each change of season;

1. Traction alopecia, also called bun alopecia, which is related to a hairstyle that is too pulled or tight towards the back of the head;

1. Early baldness which manifests itself from adolescence by a scarcity of hair in the gulfs;

1. The incipient baldness which begins with the temples and the back of the skull;

1. Hereditary baldness when there are other cases of baldness in the family. It is linked to an excess of hormones that dries out the scalp.

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 Contrary to popular belief, we must look at the side of the maternal family because this predisposition is transmitted by the mother to her son.

This alopecia begins with hair loss on the top of the skull and may even go unnoticed at first. If you notice more than a hundred hair loss per day, then it is possible that it is the beginning of androgenic alopecia, especially if fine hair gives way to your hair.

What are the different other forms of alopecia?

Traction alopecia

It is mostly found in women. Tying up your hair by pulling it too tight can cause excessive tension on the scalp. Hair can fall out and this can prevent new follicles from appearing.

Telogen effluvium

Linked to stress or childbirth, it is a very important hair loss (30% of the scalp minimum). Temporary, we see the hair grow back afterward. A balanced diet rich in vitamin B, Zinc, and Selenium can help the body.

How do differentiate between alopecia and seasonal hair loss?

As seen above, a loss of a hundred hairs per day can be a manifestation of early alopecia, but it is also possible to lose less, around fifty. It is then rather a so-called seasonal hair loss.

• Stage 1 corresponds to the beginning of baldness when the first signs begin to appear: slight baldness at the level of the temporal and frontal gulfs.
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• Stage 2 is characterized by an extension of the alopecia at the level of the vertex, and an enlargement of the tonsure.
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• During stage 3, the three areas affected by baldness begin to come together.
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• Stage 6 is an aggravation of stage 4. The hair is becoming rarer and rarer on the whole skull.
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• Stage 5 is the last. All areas are bald and the remaining hair falls out. A down forms on the skull.
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What natural solutions to alopecia?

Beware of external aggressions

The sun and the extreme cold are not the best allies for your hair and scalp. Protect them as much as possible by adopting a hat or beanie.

Beware of stress

As we have just seen, stress is regularly the cause of certain types of alopecia. It is important to be well accompanied in the event of significant or regular stress, in order to help you slow down this phenomenon.

food supplements

Vitamin B8 or biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal hair. It is found naturally in nuts, almonds, eggs, wholemeal bread, kidneys, and poultry liver.

Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal hair. Zinc is found in seafood, nuts, eggs, and legumes.

Selenium also contributes to the maintenance of normal hair. It is found in fish and seafood but also in offal, eggs, pulses, and nuts.

The definitive methods

Tricopigmentation

This is a scalp tattoo that will give the illusion of a clean-shaven head. This tattoo is semi-permanent. It is more complicated to do it on very fair skin.

Depending on the cause of this loss of hair, body hair, eyelashes, or eyebrows, it is possible to act effectively to slow down and even stop this loss.

In the event that it is not possible to avoid it, it is possible to camouflage baldness by methods that have become fashionable or undetectable with technical progress.