Hair Health & Wellness

5 Main Types of Hair Loss and Their Causes – Understanding Why Hair Loss Occurs In Order To Prevent It

Hair loss is pretty common today, and everyone usually experiences some form of it at some point in their lives; the reason for this is because different types of hair loss can be caused by a variety of things including fungal infections, parasites, common hairstyling techniques, and the use of strong chemicals on the hair.

The modern lifestyle and today’s beauty standards have contributed to hair loss, as well as exposure to parasites that have existed since the beginning of time. To better help you understand the different types of hair loss and their causes, we will teach you the five most common forms of hair loss and the things that cause them.

Receding Hairline

A receding hairline is something that both the young and the old may experience. A receding hairline occurs when the kitchens on the side of the face and the hair near the center of the forehead recedes backward to the point where there is less and less hair framing the face.

Various things can cause a receding hairline. I experienced a receding hairline when I used to wear wigs for modeling and acting jobs because I did not want my hair damaged by hairstylists. Wearing wigs created friction around my kitchens and over time, the hair around my face was pulled out by the wigs and wig caps, so I had very little hair around my face. Wearing wigs regularly can create a receding hairline, as well as parasitic infections from mites, lice, and ticks.

“Demodex brevis is a type of mite that lives in the oil glands of human hair follicles. It is closely related to Demodex folliculorum, another type of mite. Collectively, D. brevis and D. folliculorum are referred to as Demodex…D. folliculorum also inhabits the follicles. Unlike D. brevis, it is mostly found on the face and around the eyelids and eyelashes. It feeds on skin cells, whereas D. brevis feeds on oil called sebum in the oil gland cells” (“What is Demodex brevis?”, 2017, Jayne Leonard, MedicalNewsToday).

When you have Demodex mites, they will feed on the skin on your face and on your hair follicles, which will cause hair thinning and hair loss on the scalp, as well as on your face, lashes, and brows.

Thinning

Hair thinning is a problem that many people experience, and it is most often caused by modern beauty standards and treatments, as well as parasitic infections. Hair thinning can occur because of strong chemicals used on the hair, such as perms and ammonia, as well as by using hot tools to style the hair. In particular, using flat irons and curling irons on the hair can be extremely damaging, especially when used regularly, so this will lead to broken hair bonds, thinning, and damaged hair.

Most often when I have seen people with thinning hair, more than chemical and heat damage, I have found that people show signs of parasitic infections. When parasites infect the scalp, they eat away at the skin cells on the scalp and the hair follicle. Parasites also steal nutrients from the body and hair, which leads to hair thinning and hair loss.

“Humans have been infested with skin parasites ever since we evolved. Modern hygienic living conditions have rid many of the world’s population of lice and fleas but one group of microscopic inhabitants of human skin have not been eliminated. It appears that 100% of adult human beings worldwide are infested with these mites…high densities have been associated with skin conditions such as acne rosacea. Draw your fingers across your forehead and you are likely to have captured under your nails some of the two species of microscopic mites that live in your hair follicles or sebaceous glands. They are particularly associated with eyelashes and eyebrows and are sometimes known as eyelash mites…Their pin-like mouthparts are used for eating dead skin cells and sebum from sebaceous glands and they come out and crawl about the skin; usually at night to avoid the light” (“BugBitten”, 2016, Hilary Hurd, BMC).

Partial Alopecia

“File:Alopecia areata 2.jpg”, 2017, Thirunavukkarasye-Raveendran, Wikimedia Commons

Partial alopecia is when you experience partial balding, so you may experience hair loss on one side of your head, in patches, or in a pattern of some sort.

When it comes to alopecia, there is some misinformation about it; one misunderstanding is that alopecia is not a disease and that it is caused by everything but parasites. Alopecia is in fact a disease; alopecia areata is even an autoimmune disease. Alopecia is also often caused by other diseases and disorders, as well as by bacteria, ticks, fleas, lice, and fungi.

Medical professionals will tell you that alopecia is genetic, but that is not completely true or always the case. Alopecia can run in families because it is passed down from parasites within the mother’s stomach; the baby will get these parasites, lice, and bugs from contact with the family members directly, or from the home that the baby will live in. Bugs are on things like clothing, bedding, and surfaces, all of which a baby will have contact with, so if you experience alopecia, do not forget to treat for parasites. Your health depends on how well you reduce the number of parasites on and inside of your body.

“In a recent issue of the American Journal of Dermatopathology, Lynch and colleagues report on the case of a 21-year-old man who suffered hair loss following a tick bite to the scalp. The man presented with nonscarring alopecia, a pattern of hair loss similar to alopecia-areata, also known as spot baldness…Tick bite alopecia is a reported phenomenon that is thought to be caused by a robust host response to tick-injected saliva containing an anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory chemicals” (“Hair Loss In Lyme Disease – The Last Straw?”, Daniel Cameron, danielcameronmd.com/).

Full Alopecia

Full alopecia is when you experience full hair loss, so you become completely bald. Most people experience partial alopecia for a long time, and over time when left untreated, the hair loss continues until there is nothing left.

One thing that may surprise you about alopecia is that it does not only occur on the head; it can occur all over the body. We are animals so our bodies are covered with hair, but if we become infested with mites in large amounts, we may become hairless all over.

“A variety of skin conditions are associated with inflammation and pruritis and may also result in hair loss. These etiologies include bacterial infections, either primary or secondary to some other disease process, parasitic infections…Several different bacteria affect the skin, producing lesions and hair loss. Staphylococcus bacteria can produce scarring alopecia (folliculitis decalvans) in middle-aged adults.79 Staphylococcus infections have also been shown to produce skin lesions and alopecia in sheep,59 horses…and dogs. Furthermore, induction of chronic salmonellosis in guinea pigs was associated with hair loss that varied across subjects as a function of the route of administration and the strain of Salmonella” (Novak, M. A., & Meyer, J. S. (2009). Alopecia: possible causes and treatments, particularly in captive nonhuman primates. Comparative medicine, 59(1), 18–26).

Ringworm

“File:Teigne – Tinea capitis.jpg”, 2009, Wikimedia Commons

A lot of men in particular suffer from ringworm. Ringworm is very noticeable because the fungi that causes it creates partial alopecia that forms in a circular ring (hence the name, “ringworm”). Ringworm has been found to be caused by the fungi Microsporum and Trichophyton, which is part of the Arthrodermataceae family.

“On the scalp, ringworm usually begins as a small pimple that progressively expands in size, leaving scaly patches of temporary baldness. The fungus gets into the hair fibers in the affected area and these hairs become brittle and break off easily, leaving a bald patch of skin. Affected areas are often itchy, red, and inflamed, with scaly patches that may blister and ooze. The patches are usually redder around the outside with a more normal skin tone in the center. This may create the appearance of a ring” (“Hair Loss: Infectious Agents”, WebMD).

Conclusion/Final Thoughts

There is a lot of misinformation out there about hair loss; partly because the medical field keeps evolving and new discoveries are constantly being made, but also because of a fear that people will not be able to handle the reality about the world that we live in. There is also a lack of understanding about what it means to be a mammal.

In nature, parasites and bacteria are everywhere; they kill us often and they are why animals do not live very long, but knowledge is power, and understanding these parasites gives us a huge advantage. Understanding parasites allows you to live longer and healthier; it allows you to create biologically stronger more resilient offspring/children, as well as to extend your natural physical beauty. Thus, continuing to learn about health and parasites can allow you to live a healthier higher-quality of life.

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Enter the realm of health, wellness, beauty, makeup, and fashion. The world is full of so many different forms of beauty. Every culture has its own unique beauty, but one thing that all of them have in common is that healthy is always beautiful. But health is not constant or instant in life. Health is part of the life journey that we are all on until our time is up.

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