5 Causes Of Thinning Hair

There can be a multitude of causes of thinning hair but not all necessarily mean you are going bald, and we are going to go through some of these in detail today, but before we do that lets have a quick look at hair growth and also a little test you can do to check if you are losing your hair.

One of the first things to know about hair is that not all of it is growing at the same time, in fact at any one time about ten percent of your hair is in a phase that is known as resting, and when your hair is in this phase, it is not uncommon for it to fall out.

There is a test you can do to give a further indication if you are going bald or not and that is to do a tug test. This is a lot less painful than it sounds, all it consists of is grabbing a few hairs between thumb and forefinger (you want at least 20 or so) and then pulling these strands slowly but firmly. If you lose more than half a dozen on this test then you may be going bald.

That said let us now look at five of the possible reasons behind hair loss :

1. Chemicals-Everyday we are subject to loads of different chemicals attacking our skin and its no different when it comes to our hair. People do lots of things to make their hair more attractive using colors and bleach etc… However you may be thinking I have never done that and yet I am still losing hair, well if thats the case let me point you in the direction of your shampoo. The reason for that is a lot of shampoos contain a chemical called Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and this cleans and degreases your hair, but it can thin your hair out too -so check your shampoo you may want to use a milder version.

2. Medications- If you are on medication then sometimes this can also have an effect on your hair and may cause it to fall out. Some drugs used for things like antidepressants, contraception, arthritis and even antibiotics have been linked with hair loss and there are more you could add to that list. Also if you are unlucky enough to be going through any kind of radiation or chemotherapy then you will be aware that will have an effect on your hair too.

3. Illness- Being ill can have many side effects on the body in general. However there are certain ailments which seem to be directly linked with hair loss and included amongst them are problems with the thyroid gland, diabetes, lupus and scalp fungal infections. Again there are probably more that you can add to the list but if you have started losing hair and you are ailing from something then there may be a link.

4. Sebum- You normally only hear about sebum when acne is discussed as a build up of it can be a cause behind acne, but it can also be a cause behind hair loss too. This happens if there is a build up of sebum on the scalp as it can attack the bulb of the hair from which the follicle grows.

5. Immune System- There are certain types of alopecia which can occur through disorders in the immune system and they can have various effects on a persons hair from partial hair loss to total baldness tight the way through to losing all of the body hair.

These are just a few of the things that can be behind what causes baldness, however the list is not exhaustive and if you are concerned about hair loss then you may want to seek expert advice or do further research into ways how to prevent hair loss.