Seasonal Hair Loss- A Myth or Reality?

Some of us are willingly waiting for their particular seasons which they like most. Now temperature is dropping down in the atmosphere and winter is about to come. Winter is such a lovely season which someone likes it and someone not. But don't worry here we are not going to discuss this one. Trees lose their leaves & flowers for the new one in autumn and same happens with our hairs in the spring season. 

Winter is a such a season which directly related to our hair and somewhat we face much hair related issues in winter. Not only that we have to face Diffuse Hair Loss and we always in a dilemma that this season is a season for hair loss or not? Means seasonal hair loss is a myth or reality? 

A large percentage of people face hair loss problem when winter is about to come especially in the month of October to December. And that group of people think that this hair loss may be seasonal. Around this time many men and women especially women get aware about this  seasonal hair loss because they see more hairs on washing & shampooing. And then later on some researchers have confirmed some amount of hair loss during this season. So, now we can say that seasonal hair loss is a reality not myth. 

Reasons behind Seasonal Hair Loss:

Seasonal hair loss is also very common  although we think it is not but the good news is that its a temporary not the permanent. But frankly speaking wether its temporary or permanent its very frustrating for the person who is suffering from it. 

Generally there is a hair cycle through which each & every hair has to pass and there time period of this hair cycle like 3 yrs & 4 months including 3 stages namely Anagen, Catagen & Telogen as Growth phase, Resting phase & Falling

 There is ratio of Anagen & Telogen that we call A:T ration which normal value is 9:1 or 8:2. It simply means out of 100 hairs 10-20% of hairs fall at a normal level and we should not be bother about the same. Actually we have approx 1,50,000 hairs on our scalp. Basically everyday 100-120 hairs shed. 

Researchers have found that women at a greater percentage may suffer from the seasonal hair loss especially in summer because in them telogen period higher than normal rate so as a result the about to fall hairs 3 months later and it comes to winter then. But this is not the confirmatory and exact reason has been found yet that's why stress corms to it. Earlier we are in dilemma that stress can cause hair loss or not but now we can say stress could be reason for hair loss. And its confirmed that hair loss could be seasonal for women. 

Hair loss during the winter is generally seasonal one for many women and they observe more hair fall than a normal range. And this is very minute observation that they did. 

Wether you are using your  hairs or not, the best thing is to look at your parting line. If it is getting wider & wider, simply means that your are losing the hairs and that is because of Female Pattern Thinning. It can also seen if have long enough hairs and make ponytails, it feels thinner due to less density. 

Everyone loses some amount of hairs on daily basis and at the same some amount of new hairs also grow back so its a balance cycle but someone loses significant amount of hairs but it also regrows back very quickly so hair loss is not noticeable for them.But yes, you should be very careful if you are facing very slow growth of hairs or there is a pattern hair loss like in mid of the scalp or sides because there could be some underlying disease conditions. 

If such conditions are there and hair loss is genetic one, you must take a meeting with your nearby Trichologist because he is the only person who can make a proper diagnosis otherwise it would late to prevent because Male Pattern Baldness is an irreversible condition. 

Another major reason for seasonal hair loss is seasonal adaptation. Generally mammals change their fur twice in a year to adapt the seasonal changes. Same like that humans also evolved to lose all hairs on our body what is left is kept stable throughout the year. But it does not mean that our body does not adapt itself to environmental changes. That's why we lose more hairs in season than others.

During summer our hair growth increases than normal to protect from hairs from sunlight because warmer weather boosts the nutrients for production of keratin with which 90% of our hair is made of. And that's why when boosted hair growth is over after summer, hairs start sheding after 2-3 months especially from September to November. 

How can we differentiate from Seasonal Hair Loss from Alopecia?

When one morning I went to my bathroom for taking a shower I suddenly saw a bunch of hairs in my hand and that was a winter. I so afraid and when I ask my doctor, he told that its was just a seasonal hair loss. 

So, as per the doctor its was just perfect and not to worry about it. When we lose hairs during winter its all right because we should know that some amount of hairs we always and at the same time same amount of hairs will grow itself. Problems arise when there would be less hair density afterwards and it may last for more than 2-3 months. 

Anyhow, we can make a fair difference between seasonal hair loss & other causes of hair loss:-

1)Hair Texture:- In seasonal hair, appearance of hair does not change while it happens in hair loss due to other causes. 

2)Hair Density:- In seasonal hair loss hair density also does not change and maintained while if there is hair loss due to nutritional deficiency, stress volume of hair is got affected and less hair density will be there especially in crown. 

3)Symptoms:- In seasonal hair loss you will see the alarming symptoms immediately while it will take some time to manifest in caee of alopecia due to some other causes.

Treatment & Management: As I always say there are many modes of treatments available in our great country India to any kind of diseases. But people mostly prefer to take it from Old School of Medicine(Allopathy) as their first choice and when some percentage of them do not get a satisfied results, they take a move toward other modes of treatments available in medical field. 

Yes, Here we are talking about the world's 2nd largest practising system of medicine called Homoeopathy.But it does not mean that you should not any treatment from Old School of Medicine  as first choice here I am saying this because what I have been seeing in my day to day practice.  Homoeopathy  has great scope in treatment of  any kind of diseases for last 200 years and had been giving wonderful satisfied results. So, seasonal hair loss can be treated very well in Homoeopathy.

Seasonal Hair Loss is completely a reversible condition so we easily reverse it with treatment & management but here you trichologist will going to help you in the diagnosis that its just  a seasonal hair loss or there are some other reasons like genetic, stress, or some disease conditions like PCOS etc. 

But yes, if you find that this is just a "seasonal hair loss", followings are suggestive to make prevention to it:- 

1) Conditioning the Hair: Conditioning of hair is always good and we should it. But if we talk about the winter, hair conditioning is must. Moisturising of hair is the first step for hair care in winter. Now the question is why we should keep our hair moisturised? During the winter there is dry cold air that makes our hair dry & frizzy and moistures get lost from hair. As a result dry & frizzy hairs break easily. So, for that we should moisturise hairs. Moisturising of hair is very simple just apply hair oil on regular basis.

2) Cover the Hair: Always cover your hair during rain, wind and snow because there is a dry air which makes our hairs dry resulting in hair  breakage. 

3) Trim the Hair: During winter mostly female develop split ends which are really a very problematic for them. To get rid of this we should maintain a habit of trimming our hairs every 4-6 weeks interval so it will reduces chances of developing the split ends.

4) Dry the Hair: Make your hairs dry by air dry not the blow dry because air dry is the best one for drying your hairs. Blow drying of hair removes the moisture from your hair and as a result hair becomes more dry and breakage of hair will be there. In today's world everybody is in burry and even don't have much time for themselves so how could they give time for their hair drying and all. So here we can a very simple tip to get rid of this if don't have time to air drying you hairs. You should wash hair at night then make them dry and in morning you don't have to give much time. 

5) Don't wet the Hair:  Keeping the hair wet for a longer period is also not good for hair. As you go outdoor with wet hairs, it freezes and damages the hairs even its more harmful for hair as compare to blow drying the hairs.

6)Healthy Diet for Healthy Hair: We always want a healthy hair but we never thought that healthy hair comes with good & healthy diet because I always "Hair is exactly whatever we eat & drink". We always a balanced diet for our good health as suggested by doctors then why not for our hairs. I think its all about the importance. It depends how important is that thing for you.  

7)Tale a Hair-Cut:Taking a hair-cut is a avoidance not a solution and you can do it till you did not a proper solution for seasonal hair loss. You may get some relieve from damage of hairs, breakage of hairs on temporary basis because hair breakage of common hair problems among females.

8)Deep conditioning of Hair:Conditioning is always good for hair especially dry & frizzy hair is one of you seasonal hair problems. Deep conditioning nourishes the hair strands as well as protects them from the environmental stress.

9) Less Hair Styling: Colouring, straightening, highlighting come under the hair styling and these are more harmful in winter for our hairs. There are 3 basic nutrients of hairs Protein, Mineral & Iron. Protein is for strength, Mineral for shine and moisture and Iron for better growth. By colouring two most important nutrients of hair protein & minerals  are lost from hairs resulting in dry,frizzy,dull & weak hairs and these hairs are prone to fall. 

10) Hair Massage: Oil is very essential for our hair as it keeps our hair & scalp moisturised because dry & frizzy hairs       may cause the hair breakage and this is more in winter. 

                  *HaveGoodHair & LiveGoodLife*