Major Hair Loss Triggers in Women

If you lose about 50-100 strands of hair each day, but the loss is not visible as new hair grow in their place. However, if you lose more than a 100 strands in a day and more than 200 strands on the day you shampoo, you may be suffering from what is known as excessive hair fall.

Following are the conditions that lead to hair loss:

• PCOS: In polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), your body makes more male hormones, or androgen, than it should. This can cause the extra hair on your face and body while the hair on your head thins out.
• The Pill: The hormones that suppress ovulation can also thin out your hair. You can also lose hair when you stop taking the pill.
• Crash Diets: You may lose more than weight with a fad diet. And if you lose weight more rapidly, you might also lose hair in a couple of months.
• Deficiency: A longstanding deficiency of Iron, Folic acid, and other nutrients can also trigger off hair loss and cause hair thinning.
• Thyroid Problems: If the thyroid makes too much or too little thyroid hormone, you may develop progressive thinning of hair all over the scalp.
• Medicines: Drugs like blood thinners, methotrexate, cholesterol lowering medications, chemotherapeutic agents, anti-depressants etc. can cause hair loss and thinning.
• Childbirth: Hair seems fuller during pregnancy because high hormone levels keep resting hairs from falling out. But after the baby comes, things go back to normal and those strands will fall out quickly. You could lose a lot of hair at once.
• Cancer treatment: Chemo and radiation therapy can take a toll on your hair. In their quest to kill cancer cells, both can harm hair follicles and trigger dramatic hair loss. Extreme stress e.g. a serious illness, major surgery, trauma involving blood loss, severe emotional disturbance etc., can cause you to suddenly shed huge amounts of hair. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Dermatologist.