If you find that your hair is weak and lacks its previous buoyancy, your hair might be thinning. This is a condition that affects millions of men and women across the world. The condition is often hereditary and is passed on from the parents to their children. However in some people the gene may be recessive or dormant, while being active or dominant in others.
If you have noticed hair thinning in members of your family, there are chances that you might develop the condition of hair thinning sooner or later. To protect yourself from this condition you need to know what causes hair loss, and why you may be experiencing it even before you reach old age.
The process of hair braiding causes your scalp to weaken due to the strain and stress. Repeated braiding or plucking may even cause scarring, which may be permanent if not treated on time. Stress caused by plucking or braiding may cause the scalp to be permanently affected, and therefore it is important to treat any scarring in time. Injuries or burns to the scalp can also be a cause for hair thinning, as can certain diseases like folliculitis, in which the hair follicle gets infected. Some other diseases which can cause thinning are scleroderma, lupus erythematosus, bacterial and fungal infections.
Hair thinning may also be caused by alopecia areata. In this condition, round or oval patches are formed on the scalp, which can be a very embarrassing. This condition results in hair loss in patches. Alopecia areata is treatable, and hair lost due to this condition can grow back within six to twelve months, depending on the severity of the infection.
Alopecia areata should be curable, but effectiveness any treatment depends on whether the root causes are accurately identified. For now, the cause of alopecia areata has not been identified.
DHT or dihydrotestosterone is one of the major causes for hair thinning in men. DHT, which is a by-product of the hormone testosterone, is largely responsible for hair fall in men. Testosterone, which is secreted by the male hormonal glands, plays a major role in shaping a man’s secondary sexual characteristics. It is a hormone responsible for major changes in men during puberty and through adolescence.
So while testosterone is very important to the male body, its by-product DHT has the not so desirable effect of causing hair thinning. DHT affects the hair follicles and they become thin and short, causing the hair to fall out. DHT can be controlled only by the presence of DHT inhibitors in the male body.