Hair Loss

Hair Facts
Hair loss may come as a surprise, but it is no mystery. There is always a cause. And the cause can be diagnosed by a physician hair restoration specialist, who can recommend appropriate treatment. Both men and women suffer hair loss but patterns may be different in women than in men.

Hair Components

• Keratin
  The main component of hair is keratin. It is a protein that makes up nails and the outer layer of our skin. The visible part out of the skin is known as strand or hair shaft. Cuticle is the outermost protective layer. It is thin and colorless. Cortex is the thickest middle layer providing strength and defining color of hair.
  
• Melanin
  Melanin from pigment cell is responsible for the coloration of hair. Eumelanin, a kind of melanin that dyes hair black to brown and pheomelanin, an iron rich pigment, dyes hair yellow-blond to black. Darkness of hair depends on the density and number of pigment cells.

Hair Growth Stages:
Hair growth stages or cycle has three phases.

• Anagen is the active phase. It lasts about 1000 days at a rate of 1cm per month.
• Catagen is the transition phase which lasts for few weeks.
• Telogen is the last and the resting phase. It lasts about 100 days and hair starts to shed after this cycle.

Hair Loss Diagnosis
Before recommending or performing a hair restoration procedure, a hair restoration doctor will conduct a scalp examination to determine the cause of hair loss. If the examination indicates that hair loss may be due to a condition other than male or female pattern baldness, the physician will seek the cause with other diagnostic measures. In some cases an underlying condition may have to be treated before hair restoration is undertaken.

Hair Pull
A hair pull is a diagnostic procedure used in virtually every patient with a complaint of unexplained hair loss, to assess the presence or absence of any abnormalities in the hair growth cycle. About 25 to 50 hairs are removed from the scalp by a series of gentle hair pulls. Normally only a few hairs are dislodged with each pull. When more are removed the possibility of an abnormality of hair growth cycling is indicated; the ends of the pulled-out hairs may be examined under a microscope to evaluate the condition of the hair shaft and the bulb (the end of the hair shaft extracted from the hair follicle).

Variations of the hair pull are the phototrichogram and hair window:

Phototrichogram - hairs are clipped or shaved in an area of the scalp and consecutive photographs taken over a period of 3 to 5 days to determine the pattern of hair growth.

Hair window - hairs are clipped or shaved in an area of the scalp and hair growth is evaluated over the next 3 to 30 days.

Abnormalities of hair growth cycling is a relatively uncommon cause of hair loss but may occur at any age. Underlying causes of these abnormalities include thyroid hormone imbalance, nutritional deficiencies, side effects of certain drugs, anemia and other systemic illness, and psychological stress.

Scalp Biopsy
A biopsy of the scalp is usually performed only if additional information is needed to evaluate the mechanism of hair loss inside the hair follicle. Biopsy is not necessary in the great majority of patients evaluated for hair loss and hair restoration.

Hair Shaft Evaluation
If a hair shaft abnormality or infection is suspected, the hair shafts removed from the scalp by hair pull are examined under a microscope. Hair shaft abnormalities and fungal, bacterial or viral infection can be responsible for hair loss associated with hair breakage, hair shedding and hair that is unruly.