The Real Reasons You Have Hair Loss

All men have to face sooner or later and women too, usually later - hair loss. So, why does it occur and what can you do about it. If you look of the structure of your hair, you'll find at the very bottom of the hair shaft, the follicle, a bulb called the papilla.

The papilla is what creates and controls the formation of your hair and is the area that is filled with blood, which brings to the hair the nutrients it needs to grow.

It is through your genetics that hormonal messages are sent to the follicle cells and papilla on what type of hair you will have and when it will fall out.

These hormones are called androgens - testosterone is one of them. When testosterone reaches the papilla, it combines with an enzyme - 5-alpha reductase - which then changes to dihydrotestosterone, DHT.

It is DHT that causes hair loss by restricting the flow of blood into the papilla. Since women have more estrogen then men, they have less hair loss. It turns out that estrogen blocks the effects of DHT. But once women go through menopause, some of them produce less estrogen and they start to experience hair loss.

Despite your genetic tendency towards hair loss at a particular time in your life, it is possible to interrupt this process and reduce the speed at which you loose hair. If you do nothing to stop your hair loss, you will lose plenty, if not all.

Here are some common sense things to do to protect your hair:

When you have stressful times in your life, you can experience rapid hair loss. Knowing this, you can bring the level of stress back to normal and start a program to regain your hair. You're hair is not damaged and follicles are still open and your can recover your hair. If you keep stress levels up and do nothing to nourish your hair, you will lose much of your hair sooner than normal.

Hair will stop growing when you don't have the right nutrients in your blood. When your body is ill, terribly stressed, or nutrients are desperately need somewhere else in the body, the last place these nutrients will go is to your hair papilla. During these times, take a supplement that supplies the hair nutrients that you need.

Always wait for your hair to dry before combing it. At this time your hair is soft and can be easily damaged.

Excessive shampooing, with cheap shampoos, can dry out your hair. You can also damage your hair by vigorous shampooing, poor scalp massage, or rough towel hair drying.

Sunlight and chlorine can weaken your hair, so after swimming quickly wash your hair. In the sun, wear a hat or cap to avoid sun damage. In the shower, put a filter to get rid of the chlorine.

In all of the conditions listed above on how you lose hair, DHT included, or damage your hair, here's what it boils down to:

When you subject you hair to conditions that damage your hair, sebum - oil that lubricates your hair shaft - starts to build up in your follicles. As time passes, your follicles become blocked creating further damage to your hair and reducing your changes of these follicles growing hair.

This is why you have hair loss as you age or even at a young age. What your can do about this is discussed further in other articles or on my website.