Hair loss can cause severe consequences in the personal and professional lives of people. It affects people psychologically and psychosocially giving rise to an inferiority complex, lowered self-esteem, and depression. It is been increasingly seen among patients post COVID. This gained prominence when various celebs started tweeting about their condition.
Dr. Akshay Batra, Vice-chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Batra’s Group of Companies and the 1st Indian President of the Trichological Society, London spoke to ETV Bharat Sukhibhava.
A survey conducted by Dr. Batra’s reveals:
- Over 75% of women find bald men less attractive
- 80% of men give preference to women with longer hair
- 81% prefer alternative treatments over conventional treatments for hair loss.
- 88% feel hair is the most aspect of your appearance.
Causes of hair loss could be:
1.People on Crash diets with unrealistic expectations who are highly influenced by the Size ZERO syndrome
2.Stressful situations
3.Medication, operations, typhoid, malaria, etc. causes shock
4. Hair loss is also common post-delivery and after menopause - due to hormonal change. Estrogen helps hair grow and progesterone leads to hair fall. During both these phases of life, estrogen declines, hence the hair fall. So in such cases, we should wait for 3 months for the hair fall to regrow. This effect is also seen in patients of PCOD/S.
5. Hard water or sudden change of place/ migration to an area with hard water can also cause hair fall.
Normally, our hair GROWS-RESTS-FALLS-REGROWS. When there is an imbalance in this ratio we perceive what is known as hair loss and we start noticing patches of hair loss (baldness). In the normal growth phase when there is a stressor or shocker, it can make the hair go into a fall phase.
The hair fall phase can take anywhere between 6 weeks to 3 months for the hair to actually fall off the scalp which means the stressor has been there before 6 weeks or 3 months before you start noticing it.
So why does that hair loss result as a sequel to the shock?
Hair is the fastest growing cell in the body. Hair cells replicate and multiply very fast and therefore need a lot of nutrition.
Also Read: Do Hair Supplements Actually Work?
Some types of hair loss
1.Hair root is not affected, and hair can come back up to 100% as this hair loss is temporary.
telogen effluvium /trichotillomania (Trichotillomania is pulling out hair and is common up to 70% of teenagers and more than 30% common in women)
2.But in cases of Androgenic Alopecia where there is shrinkage of the hair follicle it is difficult to get hair back.
Identify the reason for hair loss and treat it accordingly. There are different treatments for different types of hair loss. Medical causes are the simplest to treat especially in cases of Iron deficiency, thyroid, PCOD, hormonal.
Most common treatment - Homoeopathy along with recommended-supplement for a nutritional deficiency. We also recommend homeopathy in conjunction with aesthetic treatments like STM cell or HVT treatments
In severe cases- hair transplant, wig, Instant hair spray that gives you a sensation of fullness on the scalp are also recommended.
The decision on the type of treatment depends on age, expectation from the subject, stage, cause of hair loss
Self-medication and hair loss: If you understand why you lose hair, you will understand why you cannot self-medicate. No topical or cosmetic treatment will help if you don’t know the root cause of your hair loss and the relief will only be temporary.
Communication with patients needs to be very transparent. Always “Under Promise and Over Achiever”. Continuous hand-holding of the patient is important.
So, the dictum is ACT FAST-IDENTIFY-FIX IT. Seek professional help timely.
For more queries on hair loss, contact danielle.gracias@drbatras.com
