Worried about your receding hairline? Finding lumps of hair after every shampoo? Losing 100-150 strands of hair per day is normal, but hair fall exceeding that and for a prolonged period of time is worrisome.
The causes of hair fall are many and vary in men and women. Family history, genetic factors and age-related changes are commonly involved. However, sudden severe physical or emotional stress, nutritional changes (crash dieting), and hormonal changes in teenage, pregnancy, post-partum and menopause can cause reversible hair damage and fall. Occasionally, the underlying cause could be chronic anaemia, hypothyroidism, PCOS (in females) or other such generalized illnesses.
The pattern of hair fall also gives a clue to the underlying problem. Hair loss in patches could be due to a) alopecia areata (autoimmune in nature) b) pull when hair is always tied tight or c)fungal infection.
Generalized hair loss could be post certain events like childbirth, severe illness, nutritional deficiency, surgery, high fever, sudden emotional stress etc where 30-40% of the scalp hair is suddenly shed. It could also be a result of hormonal imbalance or age-related progression or combination of both, resulting in male or female pattern baldness. Hair fall can be associated with local scalp conditions in the form of dry scaly skin, oily greasy scalp and/or itching. More often than not, this is not a result of poor hygiene or improper handling of hair. Itchy scalp with ‘dandruff’ could be due to the generalized dry skin, seborrheic dermatitis or skin hypersensitivity to normal skin flora.
Eating a healthy balanced diet is the mainstay of any treatment for hair fall. Diet rich in zinc, Vit E, Omega 3 fatty acids derived from natural sources like fruits, vegetables, fish helps. In addition, in this fast-paced lifestyle, create some time to relieve your stress in any form. Regular exercise to keep the mind-body balance is essential. Avoid heavy use of styling products and styling procedures. Keep your scalp and hair clean by regular use of natural conditioning with oil and mild shampoo. Determining the severity of the hair fall, ruling out the existence of any underlying generalized condition contributing to the problem, treating the local scalp condition and correcting hormonal imbalance if any, are the mainstays of managing the condition.
Arnica shampoo along with over the counter medicines taken internally help in case of mild hair fall due to no known particular cause. However, medicines prescribed taking the lifestyle, diet, stress if any, into account, give long-lasting results.