Losing a few hair strands is normal. However, if you are losing a huge chunk of hair every now and then and some parts of your head have been left without hair, then that’s unusual.
In order to understand more about hair loss (alopecia), Pulselive spoke to Trichologist John Mburu who shed more light on the topic. First, we sought to know what causes hair loss and the certified trichologist went on to share some of the reasons you may experience hair loss:
Causes of hair loss
1. Hormonal imbalance - eg dominance of the male hormone, androgen
2. Deficiencies of vital minerals and nutrients
3. Stress
4. Birth control pills
5. Strong medications - eg cancer treatment (chemotherapy)
6. Autoimmune conditions
7. Physical causes like braiding, weaving
8. Shock
9. Childbirth
Signs of alopecia besides evident hair loss
Apart from evident loss of hair, this hair expert tells us that there are also other signs that you will need to watch out for so that you can seek treatment early enough. They include:
1. Painful scalp
2. Irritated scalp
3. Itchiness
4. Redness
5. Pimples
6. Inflammation of the scalp
7. Tightness of the scalp
8. Colour change of the scalp
9. Small open spaces on the scalp which is an indication that something serious is on the making.
Treating alopecia
On treatment of hair loss, this trichologist tells us that the earlier it’s diagnosed, the better. “If one gets alopecia, the earlier one gets treated the better. The more it stays untreated, the worse it gets. Alopecia can take over 5 years to manifest itself to a noticeable stage. Thereafter it progresses very fast so early treatment is advised.” says John Mburu.
Luckily, we have hair loss clinics in Kenya today when you can get treatment. The choice of treatment depends on your age, the type of alopecia and also how far it has gone. This expert goes on to give us hope that almost all types of hair loss are treatable.