What men need
to know about hair and hair loss - Hair Care Tips
What men need to know about hair and
hair loss
ARE YOU LOSING YOUR HAIR? If you are,
then maybe you are anemic or swallowing your mouthwash or have been
dieting or knocked your head or have a fungal infection OR PERHAPS you
are on steroids or marijuana or have bad teeth or take too many aspirins
or wear your ponytail too tightly or you have had a fever or eat too
many nuts or your tonsils are infected or you have syphilis OR POSSIBLY
you are pulling your own hair out or you have had an operation or you
are zinc deficient or someone close has died or you have just separated
from your partner or you are a diabetic UNLESS PERHAPS you have a bird
in the house or you suffer malabsorption or you have been exposed to
X-rays or you have a thyroid imbalance ASSUMING OF COURSE that your hair
loss is not normal.
Loss of hair does worry people and when
you realise that any of the aforementioned factors can be responsible
for hair loss, you can appreciate that it is important and right that
you should worry.
The first thing we have to say is that
even though you want a fabulous physique don't take steroids if you want
to keep your hair. Both male hormones such as testosterone or hormones
such as cortisone can trigger or aggravate genetic hair loss, the most
common type of hair loss experienced by men. Genetic hair loss is
characterised by either recession at the temples, thinning in the crown
area or both. Eventually it can lead to baldness on the top and front of
the scalp. It is "genetic" because you must inherit the genes for
baldness from either your dad or mum to be affected by the baldness
yourself. If your dad carries the genes, he will show the baldness and
your chances, then, of inheriting the baldness genes from him are at
least 50%. If your mum carries the genes, she will not show the baldness
because her male hormones are at too low a level. The bottom line is
that just because your dad is bald doesn't mean you will be, and just
because both your parent have wonderful hair doesn't mean that you won't
go bald. However, it still pays to chose your parents carefully.
On a positive note, if you still have a
good head of hair at the age of 30, you probably always will have. And
for those who do suffer genetic baldness and want to do something about
it, it is worth trying Propecia (a prescription medication that reduces
one of the male hormones) or rubbing in Regaine 5%, available from the
chemist, to see if they help. If either one helps, you will have to
continue the therapy for life or until you are married, when you'll be
loved, hair or no hair. Other alternatives are hairpieces or hair
transplants. "Single hair" transplants can look excellent. Hair can even
be transplanted from your body to your scalp, but pubic hair tends to
look out of place on the scalp.
For those of you who suspect your
partner is trying to poison you, analysis of the hair is the best way to
measure such minerals as arsenic, aluminium, cadmium, lead and mercury.
It can even be determined which month you were poisoned, when you died,
and whether your partner was found guilty. Hair is sent to a laboratory
where it is analysed by atomic absorption spectroscopy or emission
spectroscopy. In the case of Napoleon, who died from arsenic poisoning,
his partner was never caught.
What about drinking and smoking? Do
they cause genetic hair loss? Fortunately not, but they can aggravate
such problems as alopecia areata that normally exhibits as circular
patches of baldness. Marijuana and/or excessive alcohol intake can cause
a general loss of hair through their effects on the liver and blood
sugar levels. Excess alcohol intake also increases your female hormones
that, in turn, should reduce the genetic balding process in those
predisposed. The possible choice is therefore to drink lots and die
young with a full head of hair or to refrain from drinking and die bald.
And what about sex and hair loss? Don't
worry, there are no studies that link the two. However, there was a
study that found a relationship between the anticipation of sex and the
rate of hair growth; the closer the anticipated event, the greater the
rate of growth (of hair). One university in America was given funding
for a clinical study on the relationship between the frequency of sex
and hair loss. When they advertised for volunteers, they were inundated
with responses. Unfortunately, selecting the right men cost so much that
there was no money left to conduct the actual study.
Talking of sex, many medications can
cause general hair loss. Amongst these are some anticoagulants and
beta-blockers. And what about stress? Stress is blamed for everything so
can it also cause hair loss? The sad truth is that it can but it is one
amongst many causes. Stress increases the levels of such hormones as
cortisone, which can trigger or worsen genetic hair loss. Stress can
also trigger a general hair loss or alopecia areata. Trichologists are
increasingly seeing patients who combine long working hours with poor
eating habits. This is a recipe for disaster (including heart attacks),
not only causing hair loss but also leading to dry brittle hair. The
positive side of excessive diffuse hair loss is that the hair is
replaced, even while it is falling, and that the hair will thicken up
once the internal imbalance (whatever it be) is corrected or corrects
itself.
Hair reflects what we eat and
nutritional deficiencies commonly cause hair loss. Iron, zinc, protein
and essential fatty acid deficiencies can all cause a general hair loss.
Other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, chromium, silicon, sulphur,
manganese, iodine, sodium and potassium, are all essential to normal
hair growth and normal hair structure. It is therefore critical to eat a
balanced diet. The hair is mainly protein but minerals and vitamins are
critical to the structure and growth of hair.
Don't let birds walk all over you (the
feathered variety). Fungal infections leading to ringworm (tinea) are
easily caught from birds, puppies and kittens. Ringworm of the scalp
usually shows as circular patches of hair breakage, with scaling,
redness and itching. It is very contagious but easy to treat with
internal medications. And be careful with your investments. At the time
of the last big share crash, there was a big increase in the number of
patients suffering alopecia areata. This baldness problem is an
autoimmune one, in other words a group of white blood cells is attacking
your hair follicles. Viral or bacterial infections, stress and many
other factors can trigger such problems. Fortunately, the hair often
grows back without any therapy, and there are several therapies if
needed.
Frequency of shampooing will not affect
hair loss one way or the other. Daily shampooing is advised with an
"everyday" shampoo (see your hairdresser), and make sure you shampoo
after exercising or working up a sweat. Chemical treatments do weaken
the hair and can cause hair breakage if administered too frequently or
incorrectly. Cutting or shaving the hair will not make any difference to
the hairs' thickness or rate of growth. Hair lonely looks thicker
because it's blunt at the ends.
What about hanging upside down every
day to get the blood to your hair? While this may give you a different
perspective on the world, it will make no difference to your hair. Our
skin is supplied with more blood than the hair would ever need and I
have never come across a hair loss problem due to poor circulation. The
fact that, in men with genetic baldness, hair that is transplanted from
the back of the scalp to the bald area grows normally for the rest of
your life proves that circulation has nothing to do with genetic hair
loss.
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