Hair Loss Causes

Connections With Disease

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease in which your immune system attacks your hair follicles along with other healthy areas of your body. As a result, your hair can fall out of our scalp. Individuals with alopecia areata may notice one or more patches of baldness, usually across their scalp. However, individuals can lose hair in any place on the body with hair.

Mental Health Issues

Stress can trigger some forms of hair loss. Trichotillomania is one type of hair loss connected with high stress levels. This impulse-control disorder manifests itself through compulsive hair pulling, a behavior that often results from stress, tension, loneliness, boredom, or frustration. Teenagers may experience this form of hair loss, a condition that can cause bald patches on the scalp or missing eyebrows, eyelashes, or body hair. 

Drug Treatments

Specific types of drugs can contribute to a person’s hair loss. Drug-induced hair loss can reverse itself once individuals stop taking the medication that causes the hair loss. If you’re experiencing drug-induced alopecia, you may find your hair thinning instead of experiencing patchy hair loss. Chemotherapy can contribute to drug-induced hair loss. However, some medications may spur on hair loss at various stages of the hair growth cycle: 

• Anticonvulsants (epilepsy drugs).
• Antidepressants.
• Antihypertensives (such as ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and diuretics).
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Infections

Ringworm is a fungal infection that affects the skin. If ringworm occurs on the scalp, it can cause hair loss known as tinea capitis. Typically, this hair loss starts as a blister that grows larger, leaving temporary scaly spots of baldness. The fungus enters hair fibers and causes the hairs to become brittle and break off. You can identify affected areas by itchy, red inflammation. Scaly patches resulting from ringworm infections usually appear red around the exterior with normal skin tone in the center. This inflammation pattern creates a ring appearance, which contributes to the condition’s name, ringworm.