Hair fall is one of the major issue of psychological stress in today's world.Alopecia / hair fall refers to loss of hair. Hair fall may be in small patches or in severe cases larger patches may also be seen. Scalp is almost always involved but loss of hair may be seen from other body parts also.

TYPES OF ALOPECIA

1. ALOPECIA AREATA- It is an autoimmune condition in which the hair follicles are mistakenly attacked by the immune system causing patchy hair loss. The follicles become smaller and stop producing hair, leading to hair loss the patch may be single bald patch or there may be extensive patchy hair loss also.

CAUSE– exact cause of alopecia areata is not known but the condition is often associated with other autoimmune disorders like hypothyroidism, vitiligo etc or there may be family history of autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis etc.

2. ALOPECIA TOTALIS- It is an advanced form of alopecia in which there is severe loss of hair or total loss of hair from the scalp and there may be complete baldness also.

CAUSE- Cause of alopecia totalis is also autoimmune in which the hair follicles are attacked by immunity cells but the condition is much more severe as compared to alopecia areata and the immune system attack of hair follicle is severe enough to cause complete baldness sometimes.

3. ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS- In this condition there is severe loss of hair from all body parts including eyelashes and eyebrows.

CAUSE- Cause is autoimmune in which hair follicles of whole of the body may be attacked including the eyelashes and eyebrows causing loss of hair from those areas also.

4. ALOPECIA BARBAE- In this condition the loss of hair is localized to the beard area only and there can be a single bald patch or more extensive hair loss across whole of the beard area. Thus this condition is localized alopecia areata.

CAUSE- The main cause is autoimmune attack on the hair follicles of the beard. T lymphocytes are said to be the cause of this condition. The lymphocytes start entering the hair follicles in the beard area and start disturbing the normal hair growth rapidly and destroys the hair follicle which weakens the root and hair falls out sporadically.

5.  ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA- it is the most common type of progressive hair loss and is hereditary in form. In this type of hair loss there is progressive thinning of hair and this type of hair loss is seen in both the sexes. This is also known as male pattern or female pattern hair loss.

CAUSE- In men below normal levels of hormones like sex hormone binding globulin, follicle stimulating hormone, testosterone, epitestosterone. Androgens regulate sebaceous glands, apocrine hair growth, libido and with increasing age may stimulate facial hair growth and suppress scalp hair growth.There may be genetic cause also.

6. SCARRING/ CICATRICIAL ALOPECIA- In this type there is permanent hair loss.

CAUSE- There is inflammation of upper part of hair follicle where the stem cells and sebaceous glands are located and once these are destroyed; there is no possibility of regeneration of hair follicle which results in permanent hair loss.

7. TRACTION ALOPECIA- In this type of alopecia there is hair loss due to extensive pulling or tension on hair-shafts and if traction or pulling is prolonged, it can stop development of new hair follicle and lead to permanent hair loss.

CAUSE- Cause of traction alopecia is mechanical and hair are commonly pulled out from the follicles due to particular hairstyle which tenses the hair shaft.

8. ANAGEN EFFLUVIUM- in this type hair fall is due to chemicals and is usually a side-effect of some disease treatment e.g. cancer treatment in which there is loss of hair due to chemotherapy or radiation therapy but hair grow back normally once the treatment is stopped.

CAUSE- there is temporary loss of hair during medication, chemotherapy, radiation therapy which is soon recovered as the therapy is stopped.

9. TELOGEN EFFLUVIUM-It is a scalp disorder in which there is early entry of hair in telogen phase which is the resting phase of hair follicle. In this type there is loss of hair more than normal amounts along with general thinning of hair but the loss of hair is temporary and there is abrupt recovery in such loss of hair.

CAUSE- emotional or psychological stress, eating disorder, childbirth, crash diet, drugs, hypothyroidism, chronic illness, anaemia, major surgery are amongst the common cause of this type of hair loss.

BLOOD TESTS FOR HAIR FALL

  • C-reactive protein and ESR
  • Iron levels
  • Anti nuclear antibody test
  • Thyroid profile
  • Free and total Testosterone
  • FSH, LH

HOMOEOPATHY AND HAIR FALL

Homoeopathy has wonderful results in treatment of hair fall. Though androgenetic hair fall has bad prognosis and best possible treatment available for this type is to prevent further loss of hair and regrowth of hair is not possible. But apart from androgenetic hair fall where we can just help the patient to prevent the further hair loss, other types of hair fall can be treated well and regrowth of hair can be seen. Medicines useful in treatment of hair fall are-Sulphur, graphites, natrum mur, tuberculinum, psorinum, lycopodium, calcarea carb, sepia, pulsatilla etc.

Medicines in homoeopathy are chosen after thorough case taking of the patient that is only after knowing the constitution and exact cause of the hair fall. Maintaining cause of the problem should also be removed for better treatment of the problem. Patient using any sort of chemical should be advised to leave it, those under any sort of treatment are counseled about the cause and about the chances and time period for regrowth of hair. Those who are having hair issues due to the type of hair style they adopt are advised to have hair dos which keep hair loose and require no pulling or traction. Those with autoimmune cause are treated for the same.

Disclaimer: This article is written by the Practitioner for informational purposes only. Users must not view the content as medical advice in any way. Users are also required to ’NOT SELF MEDICATE’ and always consult a practicing specialist before taking any medicines or undergoing any treatment. Practo and the Practitioner will not be responsible for any act or omission by the User arising from the User’s interpretation of the content.