Hair Loss Basics

Stress and the release of certain hormones due to stress can cause baldness.  And worrying about hair loss can cause stress.  Therefore, dealing with thinning hair and managing your stress level are important factors to treating baldness.

Like with everything in life, when you see a problem, it’s always best to take action immediately. When it comes to Male Pattern Baldness or MPB, recognize the early signs:

• Hair will get thinner and the hair line will start to recede.
• Then, hair all around the scalp will start thinning in bunches until the baldness becomes more evident.

On average, men prone to MPB start showing these signs at the age of 25 to 30.

It is normal to start out in denial. In fact, some even just accept the baldness. Those with the confidence, sport this new fashion, even shaving off the hair that is left on their scalp. The less assured opt to buy wigs to hide it. Even if you’re not sure that it’s MPB, get going towards dealing with it - now.

In this case, time is not on your side. Delaying or trying to “fix” it yourself will just mean more hair loss. While you ponder and while you try out the latest self-applied concoction, your hair is also thinning and eventually disappearing in sync with you.

Remember that early treatment is more effective and it will cost you less in the long run. Studies show that medication and therapy for hair loss is more effective when treated earlier. When things start to get serious, it will be harder to cure and more expensive to remedy.

So, do the right thing as soon as possible:

• Seek medical advice from a qualified and certified physician. Go see your doctor, preferably a hair restoration specialist. He or she can positively identify the reason for your hair loss. Get expert help because the baldness might just be a symptom and not the actual problem.
• Get treatment immediately. There are many options available from FDA approved medication to hair surgery. Your doctor will know which ones would be right for you.
• Follow your doctor’s advice and live healthy. Smoking, whether you’re the smoker or your inhaling second hand smoke, not only causes lung cancer but brings about poorer hair conditions.
• Eat well. Lack of protein and iron in your body can cause hair to thin.
• Get enough rest. Relax and manage your stress levels.
• Exercise. Blood circulation is needed for hair to grow.
• Stay positive. Having a wholesome attitude towards the problem will help in dealing with the hair loss.

Fashion and the open-mindedness of today’s society have led to several hairstyles becoming en vogue. These days, long thick luxurious hair is not the only thing that can make heads turn.

Nonetheless, baldness is still seen as a sign of frailty, weakness and old age. A skin head and a bald head may look the same but wide acceptance between the two is several miles apart. People with bald or thinning hair are disregarded and jeered at, perhaps not as out in the open as before, but nevertheless, they are still disregarded and jeered at.

Male and female pattern baldness may not be a health hazard but they can still lead to many psychological and emotional problems. It can cause lack of confidence, loneliness, fear, dread, a sense of defeat, and even depression.

As we are living in Madonna’s “Material World”, it is not a surprise to find a person’s crowning glory in the center of what we view as physically appealing. But what exactly is it about hair and the lack thereof that dictates stature?

When all his peers are sporting long, thick and sometimes even bushy hair, it is only natural for a 20-year-old man with a receding hairline to cave in and seek help. Since society tolerates bald heads on 40 year old men and no younger, the bald head makes our 20-something feel as old as his 40 year old counterparts - making him seem to age at a faster rate.

At such a young age, he is feeling the pressure to get a hair transplant. It is the loss of hair that is making him feel the loss of youth.

When he reaches his late 30’s up until his early 40’s, it is easier for him to consider getting treatment for many reasons. One such trigger could be some unavoidable stress in his personal life such as a divorce or a midlife crisis. He could also be motivated to do so as a business move. He might also find it an easier task to accomplish because of monetary reasons.

Curing hair thinning or hair loss is something that both men and women associate to regaining youth and confidence mainly because of societal and biological dictates. Society finds baldheadedness a sure sign of old age. Biology assures us of this.

It is thus good to see that the empowered individual these days have grown to accept baldheadedness for what it is: a harmless genetic condition. Perhaps, in the near future, not one of our young 20 year olds will ever feel a negative vibe when it comes to the loss of their manes.