Take control of hair loss
Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss and baldness
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Although we would suggest that you purchase new hair, we also understand the inherent value of maintaining your current hair addition, so that you can get full wear with the highest enjoyment. However, using hair sourced through us is the only way we can guarantee the best quality and wear.
Please contact us if you are in need of any of these services:
- Cap adjustments
- Repair torn caps (restitch or mend torn base materials) correct a mistake or a poor haircut
- Filling in the bang area
- Extending length of hair
- Peek-a-boo high or low lights
- Add hair to bald patches or thinning areas
- Color as needed: change color, re-coloring, rooted color, ombre, hi- or low-light, etc.
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- Convert a full wig to a topper, a band fall, a hat fall, jogging cap, Clip in Extensions
- And much more!
Frequently asked questions about alopecia, hair loss, and baldness
The following is not intended to reflect or explain all forms of alopecia, but cover only the most common types. Some are included based on the fact that we are seeing an increase in clients having that specific type of alopecia at The World Hair Institute. Other types are included because of our specialization in coverage for specific types of alopecia.
Alopecia areata is considered an autoimmune disorder. The autoimmune system is designed to protect our body from foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria. For people with alopecia areata, the immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles (the tiny cup-shaped structures from which hairs grow) believing they are a virus or bacteria. Thus, it can lead to hair loss on the scalp. In most cases, the hair sheds in round, smooth patches.
For some people, hair loss due to alopecia is extensive and causes total loss of hair on the scalp. This referred to as alopecia areata totalis and is the second most common form of alopecia. Sometimes, it causes a complete loss of body hair. This is called alopecia areata universalis and it is the third most common form of alopecia.
No form of alopecia is life-threatening in itself, but a person’s self-esteem can easily be affected. Low self-esteem may cause stress to one’s system that can psychologically increase hair loss.
The “average” head has approximately 100,000 hair follicles. Each follicle, or strand, remains intact and healthy for about 4.5 years. The hair grows about half an inch every month. When the individual hair dies, it will fall out. Under normal circumstances, a new hair will replace the “fall out hair” within the following six months. Baldness, or hair loss, is not a result of hair falling out; it is the result of new hair not growing back to replace it.
Normal shedding is losing between 75 to 150 hair strands a day, and these are replaced in the next growth phase. Legitimate concerns arise when there is noticeable thinning or baldness. When the hair strand does not grow back, or when daily hair shedding seriously exceeds the earlier mentioned level—you should then consult an expert about your hair loss. The defining factors determining this type of hair loss can range from genetic predisposition to a particular vitamin and/or mineral deficiency. Other causes of hair loss may include prescription drug therapies, skin disorders, autoimmunity, severe stress, diet, scalp radiation, cancer treatment, pregnancy, diseases, bacterial infections, excessive androgen production, and over-processed hair. Genetic predisposition remains the greatest determinant in the balding of hair, at some 95 percent of both males and females.
In alopecia areata, immune system cells (white blood cells) attack the rapidly growing cells in the hair follicles that create the hair. The affected hair follicles become small and drastically slow down hair production. Fortunately, the stem cells that continually supply the follicle with new cells do not seem to be targeted. Consequently, the follicle always has the potential of re-growing hair. Alopecia areata tends to affect younger individuals, both male and female.
The factors that activate alopecia areata and the mechanisms of its development are not fully understood. Scientists do not know exactly why the hair follicles undergo these changes, but they suspect that a combination of genes may predispose some people to the disease. In those individuals who are genetically predisposed, some type of trigger is normally the cause. Perhaps a virus, something in the person’s environment, or high-stress factors, can be the reason which brings on the attack against the hair follicles.
Since the hair follicle is still intact, hair may regrow even many years later. Unfortunately and very devastating to the person affected, the hair can suddenly start falling out again. Sadly, there is no known cure for these immune disorders.
Other forms of Alopecia are cicatricial alopecia or scarring alopecia. It is a more rare disorder that destroys hair follicles by turning the follicles into scar tissue. The scars are not visual to the eye since the scarring happens below the skin. The scars do cause permanent hair loss. It can be extremely painful for the person when the inflammation is active. Some people with cicatricial alopecia can also experience loss of eyebrows. Cicatricial alopecia is not contagious, and it occurs worldwide in otherwise healthy men and women. It affects all ages and seldom children.
Common frontal fibrosing alopecia is a condition when a person’s hair is receding in a band-like pattern, either from temple to temple or sideburn to sideburn. Unfortunately, we seldom see this hair return.
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