How is Hair Loss Related to Ageing?

Is your hair getting drier, lighter, coarser, and less shiny in recent months? This is a normal aging process and the hair goes through many changes as you age. With age, there will be changes in hair growth rate like color, texture, thickness, and volume. Through this article, we will discuss how your hair ages, genetic effects on hair growth, and factors affecting hair loss. We will also provide tips which if you start today, you can minimize the hair loss related to aging and have healthier hair tomorrow.

Feel free to skip ahead if any of the topics catches your eye:

1. Science of hair aging
2. Reasons that can affect your hair loss
3. The solutions

• Science of hair aging 

As we age, our hair ages too. Thus, the cells that make up hair also decrease in their functionality, resulting in various changes like:

• Greying and change in texture: As melanin pigment decreases with age, the hair color becomes less and finally disappears, making the hair white and coarser.
• Becomes thinner: As the density of hair decreases, the hair grows finer.
• Increase in hair loss: The shedding of hair increases as you grow older.
• Slower hair growth rate by age and loss of volume: Due to aging, the growth of hair decreases from around ½ to 1/4 inch per month, thus its volume also becomes less.
• Breaks easily: With age, the keratin protein decreases resulting in reduced strength of hair.
• Becomes dull: Loss of keratin and natural fats results in dull and grey hair.

The density of hair, length, color, and texture are hereditary, which means they can be acquired from one generation to another. Some genetic disorders can affect hair loss like androgenetic alopecia and hereditary-patterned baldness in both males and females. This is called genetic hair loss.

2. Reasons that can affect your hair loss

There are various reasons which affect the loss of hair such as:

• Hereditary traits from family: A family history of hair loss on either the maternal or paternal side will affect your hair conditions. A pattern running in your family can be connected to your hair loss.
• Nutritional deficiencies: Nutrients like proteins, iron, folic acid, zinc, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, and Vitamin E are essential for maintaining proper hair health. So, deficiency of any of these can cause hair loss.
• Hormonal changes in males and females: Changes in hormones that cause hormonal disturbances can be related to hair thinning, drying, and finally loss. These changes may be related to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, or conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and disorders related to the endocrine system, mainly thyroid diseases, in both males and females. This can result in hair thinning at a young age too.
• Physical and emotional stress: Stress and anxiety also lead to thinning of hair. But this is temporary and hair growth can resume normally if the stress reverts.
• Aging: There is hair thinning with age and ultimately loss of hair.
• Medications and supplements: Hair loss can be a side effect of some drugs used for cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, some anti-depressants, etc.
• Excessive hairstyling and use of heat: Too much hairstyling involving tight pulling, tying, and excessive use of hair dryer, may result in hair loss.
• Sudden and drastic weight loss: When there is sudden or extreme weight loss very quickly, it is considered as physical trauma to the body. This results in hair thinning as well as hair loss.
• Lack of proper exercise and low blood circulation: Lack of exercise results in improper blood circulation and the hair does not get enough oxygen and nutrition, resulting in hair loss.
• Condition of your scalp: If you have too oily or dry scalp and not taking proper care, it may result in reduced hair growth.
• Excessive exposure to sunlight, pollution, alcohol consumption, and smoking: All of these can harm cells that produce hair, resulting in hair loss.

3. The solutions 

There may be several reasons for your hair damage and loss. Whether it is due to temporary or long-term conditions, there are always some tips you can follow to prevent hair loss due to aging. This will help you to keep them healthy and strong.

• Don’t under/over wash your hair: Wash your hair at least twice a week, but not too frequently. Always use shampoos that are indicated according to your hair type.
• Choose the right products and don’t do excessive styling: Always follow instructions on how to use various hair products properly. Do not use too much styling or apply heat to your hair.
• Eat a balanced diet and take supplements: You must consume a proper diet that includes all nutrients like proteins, vitamins, minerals, iron. Include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet and ask a nutritionist for your requirements.
• Don’t chemically treat or bleach much: Avoid excessive use of chemicals and bleach as they may reduce the strength of your hair, resulting in hair loss.
• Use essential oils and massage: Ask a dermatologist for oils needed for your scalp like coconut oil, olive oil. A gentle massage is also good to increase blood circulation for the scalp.
• Avoid smoking and alcohol: Smoking and alcohol damage hair follicles resulting in hair loss, so avoid them.
• Regular exercise and yoga: These help to reduce stress and increase blood circulation.
• Take adequate sleep: Having a sound sleep will help in relieving stress, thus preventing hair loss.

Apart from these old-age hair loss remedies, there are many cosmetic procedures available that will help you to prevent hair loss and treat your lost hair comparatively faster.

• Laser therapy: It is a non-invasive technique that uses laser light emissions to deliver safe laser rays to the scalp. The light energy is absorbed by the hair follicles resulting in abundant blood supply which stimulates the cells to regrow hair.
• PRP procedure: Platelet-rich plasma helps to stimulate the growth of hair in areas where your hair is thinned. Dermatologists extract it from blood and inject it into the scalp, thus strengthening and reviving the hair follicles and stimulating hair growth.
• Hair transplant: This involves removing hair follicles surgically from one area of the scalp (donor site) and putting at the bald or thinned area (recipient site). It is done by a doctor in a clinic under anesthesia.
• Scalp reduction: This involves surgically removing the parts of the scalp affected with hair loss and replacing them with scalp skin that has active, growing hair follicles, thus stimulating more hair growth.
• Mesotherapy: In this treatment, the nutrients, vitamins, and nourishing boosters are injected into the roots of the hair. This helps to nourish the scalp and hydrates it, which helps to lessen hair fall and increase the growth of hair.

Takeaway

Visit SkinQure, which is the one-stop solution for your problems. The SkinQure Clinic, which is the best skin and Best Hair Transplant in South Delhi, offers you all sorts of hair and skin solutions. We have a highly experienced team of doctors and trained staff with up-to-date technology. We maintain high standards of hygiene, as well as infection control, and all treatment plans will be customized according to your needs and comfort.