Hair shedding and hair loss (baldness patterns) are often used as interchangeable terms, but there is a significant difference between the two? If you suddenly notice more hair in your hairbrush while showering or pillow than average, you might assume that you have hair loss. But there is a huge difference between the two terms, and we will highlight them in detail.
Difference between Hair Loss and Hair Shedding
Hair Shedding
It is entirely normal to shed hair somewhere about 50 to 100 strands in a day. You can suffer from excessive hair shedding. Medically it’s known as “telogen effluvium,” but even this has specific symptoms that lead to excessive hair shedding. Some of the most common hair shedding causes are weight loss, extra stress, high fever, or recovering from an illness or surgery. In Women halting your birth control pills or going through pregnancy may also lead to excessive hair shedding. Most new moms experience hair shedding two months in after giving birth. But rest assured, the shedding is normal and temporary. Removing the stressor for hair shedding usually puts a stop to it.
Hair Loss
Hair loss occurs when growing hair meets a hindrance in its growth. The most known cause of hair loss is often genetics. Our hereditary plays a crucial role in hair loss. Likewise, changes in our immune system are also a cause of hair loss. Harsh care products, medication or drugs, and making hairstyles that pull on the hair also damage follicles and eventually lead to hair loss.
If you’re suffering from hair loss, your hair will not grow unless the cause is removed. For instance, sometimes, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation often see excessive hair loss. When the treatment stops, hair usually tends to grow back. Most cases of hair loss are treatable except for “Androgenic Alopecia.” Androgenic Alopecia is one of the most common causes of hair loss in men. Women can also experience this sort of hair loss, but it is not as common.
Androgenic Alopecia
This type of hair loss can affect your scalp or your entire body. It can be temporary or permanent; in most cases, it is permanent. It is usually hereditary in nature but can also be caused by hormonal changes, medical conditions, or a normal part of aging.
Baldness is described as excessive hair loss from the scalp. Most people often leave this untreated, while some do opt for treatments that restore hair growth. Before investing in a hair loss treatment, it is best to consult a dermatologist. How does Androgenic Alopecia manifest itself in men and women? Read ahead to find out.
Hair loss Pattern in Men
The reason why men suffer from hair loss, while others do not is not yet understood. Genetic background plays a vital role in the development of androgenetic alopecia in men. In men, hormones related to testosterone known as androgens affect how hair follicles function. They miniaturize hair follicles resulting in hair shafts that are short and thin. One such androgen is DHT.
What is DHT?
DHT or Dihydrotestosterone is an androgen. An androgen is a sex hormone. Sex hormones in the body are an important underlying cause of baldness in males. DHT contributes to the development of male “sex characteristics,” especially body hair. There are treatments meant to slow down the male pattern of hair loss by targeting DHT.
DHT’s Connection to Hair Loss
Hair grows out hair follicles that go through a growth cycle. The growth cycle usually lasts about two to six years. At the end of the cycle, the hair enters the resting phase before falling out a month later. The follicle then produces new hair, and the cycle begins anew. Having high levels of DHT can shrink the hair follicle and shorten this cycle. Hair becomes brittle, thinner, and fall out excessively. DHT’s excess presence can also increase the time between hair fall and hair growth in a follicle. An individual may be more susceptible to the effect of DHT on hair loss based on their “androgen receptor” (AR) gene. AR gene can increase androgen receptivity in the follicles in our scalp, making it more likely to experience hair loss, especially in men.
How to Help Block DHT
There are hundreds of topical products that claim to block DHT and help reverse hair loss. However, almost none of them contain ingredients that are clinically-proven to help block DHT from binding to the androgen receptors, which is necessary in order to reverse hair loss. Thus, they are of little to no value. Should you choose to treat hair loss or thinning with a topical product, you need to ensure that it contains ingredients clinically proven to help block DHT. By blocking DHT, the miniaturization process can be prevented, halted and/or reversed, allowing thicker, fuller and healthier hair to regrow.
When we block the effects of DHT on the hair follicle and hair growth cycle, we will start seeing results such as improved hair growth and hair thickness. Our recommendation? The Hair Restore product line from Hair Restoration Laboratories, which contains a line of DHT-blocking shampoos, conditioners and serums specifically formulated to fight the harmful effects of DHT on the hair follicles.
Androgenetic Alopecia in women
Androgenetic Alopecia in women is often referred to as “Female pattern Baldness.” Just like in men, genetics plays a role in female pattern baldness as well. Women are likely to experience excessive hair loss after menopause, so hormones are one reason behind it as well.
Hair Loss Symptoms in Men and Women
Men and women experience androgenetic with identical incidence, but in women, it is better disguised. Women, unlike men, do not experience complete baldness.
Hair Loss Symptoms in Men
In men, androgenetic alopecia is identified by a gradual thinning in the hair around the scalp’s crown and frontal areas. It also manifests itself as a receding hairline and is likely to regress along with the temples as well. As hair loss moves to the mid-scalp, hair pattern forms an “M-shape.”
The hair in the affected areas often varies in length and thickness. The presence of this uneven texture is a classic tell of male pattern balding.
Hair Loss Symptoms in Women
In women, the hair’s growing phase slows down. It also increases the time for new hair to grow. The hair follicles shrink, the new hair that grows is thin and very fine, making it easily breakable.
Women may lose hair from all over their head. Temples and part lines are the most sensitive parts. But unlike men, women are less likely to completely bald. Thinning is the most common symptom of hair loss in women. Doctors often divide hair loss among women into three types:
Type I: thinning around the area where you part your hair.
Type II: the part widens, and increased thinning is seen around it.
Type III: a see-through area appears at the top of the scalp, and thinning is now in the hair’s entirety.
Conclusion:
When using a hair loss treatment, such as those offered by Hair Restoration Laboratories, you should see two kinds of growth: thicker and fuller growth from active follicles and activation of dormant follicles. Both types of growth have to start with a new hair. That means the active follicles must either drop their hairs or complete their cycles before you’ll see fuller growth from them. Dormant follicles that are stimulated by your treatment will first grow thin and colorless peach fuzz before sprouting stronger and thicker hair.
You won’t notice one or two thicker hairs, so you’ll have to wait until a significant number of treated follicles have gone through shedding, kenogen and started new, active growth before you’ll notice a difference. That’s why it can take months for your hair treatment to work, but you can watch for signs like peach fuzz and shedding to let you know that a fuller head of hair is on the way.
Rest assured that, with a little time, patience and daily use of products clinically proven to regrow hair, you will, soon enough, start seeing and enjoying stronger, thicker and healthier regrowth!
