How Puberty Can Affect Hair Loss

There is a fact that to anyone of any age, hair loss in daily life is irritating. It can result in lowered self-confidence and self-esteem especially when the hair loss condition gets out of control. Although an adult is more likely to have pattern baldness or alopecia, hair loss in teens can also happen and in fact, the loss of hair conditions in puberty can even get harder to deal with than hair loss in grown-ups. However, there are many possible causes of hair loss, hence various ways to deal with them including scalp micropigmentation services with guaranteed results with few possible side effects of scalp micropigmentation.

Hormone levels change

Any parent would see their teenage girls and boys go through a lot of changes during their puberty as the hormonal changes in their bodies get intense. The appearance of dihydrotestosterone superabundance (DHT) in teenagers during their puberty can pose threats to healthy hair regeneration and cause them to lose hair. Although men have more DHT than their counterparts women also have specific amounts of DHT in their bodies. So if you are hitting puberty and find your hair strands falling in large chunks regularly, the reasons might come from your hormones changes. In this case, you should have your hormone levels checked by a specialist to help capture the problem.

Messed up sleep cycle

Everything including sleep rhythms seems to be thrown up when a teen hits puberty. Teenage girls and boys will experience significant shifts in their circadian rhythms which largely affect their sleep. While children tend to go to sleep quite early between 8h00 and 9h00 pm, at the commencement of puberty, teenagers will experience a couple-of-hour-later shift in their bedtime (around 10-11h00 p.m). To react to this new pattern, many of them will have insomnia before completely adapting to a new sleep schedule. What should be done is to go to bed on time and guarantee that the body still gets at least 8 hours of sleep at night.

Not sleeping enough might be one of the most common reasons for teens to lose hair. In modern life with all the possible distractions that can draw youngsters away from his or her sleep, teenage girls and boys might find it hard to sustain enough sleeping hours to have enough energy for a day. Chatting with their friends, being on the internet, doing homework,… can make them stay up later than they should. The consequence is the form of an unstable and disrupted sleep schedule instead of a healthy one.

Lack of sleep and hair loss

Not getting enough sleep is one of the main causes that lead to stress. This cause of hair loss is also related to hormone imbalance. As they are badly affected when the tension and stress grows, teenagers happen to experience hair loss. In fact, there have been more and more proofs showing the connection between stress and male pattern baldness and other similar conditions. Being stressed for a long time can impose negative impacts on your skin and harm your hair follicles. They need to be healthy to strengthen the hair shafts and help new hair to grow so the bad effects on them can result in severe hair loss.

What to do about it

To have enough and quality sleeps. Here are what you should do:

• Limit using your smartphones, watching TV as their blue light is detrimental to your eyes as well as your sleep.
• Follow a strict and beneficial sleep cycle. Try to go to bed early and wake up early.
• Take time to rest and relax after work by doing meditation, having a walk, or simply just closing your eyes for a few minutes.
• Consult your doctor if you have prolonged insomnia.

Harmful habits that may cause hair loss

Many bad habits can cause baldness. Try to stay away from them to prevent losing your hair and keep a healthy scalp.

1. Too much hairstyling

This is a problem that most teenage girls would face. They love trying different braided hairstyles, hair pull-ups, buns,… These tight hairstyles put a lot of pressure on hair roots because the tresses are being pulled back constantly that would cause hair to fall in large amounts, resulting in bald patches and hair growth inhibitions. The condition is called traction alopecia. Besides, the overuse of heated hairstyling methods like hair perms, hair straightening, or using the blow dryer too much at a high heat level can cause hair damage. Chemical-laden products like hair dyes also cause hair loss in teens.

So make sure that you are not causing hair loss by tightening your hair and dye hair too often. Consider some hair loss treatments after noticing the tension on your scalp. You should choose suitable hair care products and limit pulling your locks too tight.

2. Hair-pulling disorder

Some teen girls and boys can have Trichotillomania-the syndrome results in compulsive behaviors of pull out their own hairs. Any person having this needs to have an immediate consultation from a therapist.

3. Medications or medical conditions

The root cause for losing tresses in some teenagers might be that they are taking some medication with hair fall as a side effect. Birth control pills are spotted being used by many girls of this age and in some cases, these pills are responsible for hormonal imbalances. Therefore, girls might start to lose their hair when their hormones get altered by the medication.

A medical condition is another possible reason for hair loss in teenagers. If you are losing unusual amounts of tresses over a long time, you may need a consultation from a specialist and have some checks to figure out the right hair loss solutions for you or even the solutions for your health problems.

4. Dysfunctional diet

Not only teens but people of all ages today are facing the difficulty of building a proper nutrition regime for their healthy lives. Poor nutrition and vitamin deficiencies coming from unhealthy eating habits or eating disorders leave tresses lacking in essential nutrition for hair strength. Cutting out red meat suddenly from the meals is also known as a factor that causes hair loss. The results are the hairs being brittle and dry and easy to fall. This can make hair follicles inflamed and stop restarting their hair growth cycle.

5. Emotional distress

The imbalance of hormones in teens can simulate negative feelings and emotional breakdowns which are adverse against healthy cells in the body and the hair follicles.

Alopecia areata in teenaged males

Baldness is often considered popular in men than women. Likewise, receding hairlines and alopecia areata are quite common hair loss conditions in young men who are going through their puberty. In the early-20s men or a few cases in mid-teen males, receding hairlines start manifesting themselves when the hairlines gradually move back to the back of the head leaving the larger-than-usual forehead. Alopecia is attributed to bald spots.

Bottom line

Above is an overview of possible factors leading to sparser hair amount during puberty. Please see our recent posts to have other information on related subjects. Thank you!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is it normal for a teenager to lose hair?

According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, shedding 50 to 100 hairs in a day is normal. However, if the hair loss is getting out of control, it should be taken into consideration. If the problem is from the diet and some detrimental habits against hair, then everything will be okay again once you have a well-balanced diet, stop changing hairstyles too many times, or learn to manage your stress. But if you are dealing with trichotillomania, and face some serious trauma, or suspects it’s some signs of a medical condition, please get a consultation from a therapist.

Why would a 12-year old lose hair?

It mostly would come from the alteration in hormones and imbalances started in puberty regarding sleep, diet, emotions as mentioned in the posts categories. If the hair loss is serious, the problem should be determined by a doctor.

Why does my hair fall out at 13?

When starting puberty, many changes in hormones, sleeping, eating habits can result in hair loss. If the hair loss gets out of control, consulting a doctor is needed to have a relevant hair loss treatment

How much hair loss is normal for a teenage girl?

According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, shedding 50 to 100 hairs in a day is normal.

At what age does hair loss start?

Hair loss is often spotted starting in men and women in their early 20s. But some people experience their hair loss in their mid-teens.