Medication-induced hair loss

July 28, 2020

Medication is designed to treat a variety of health conditions, but sometimes they can have unwanted side effects - including changes to your hair. Certain medicines can contribute to excess hair growth, changes in hair color or texture, or even hair loss.

Medication-induced hair loss, like any other type of hair loss, can have a real effect on your self-esteem. The good news is that in most cases, it's reversible once you stop taking the medication.

How do drugs cause hair loss?

Medicines cause hair loss by interfering with the normal cycle of hair growth. This growth cycle has three phases:

During the anagen phase, which lasts for around three to four years, the hair grows.
During the catagen (transitional) phase, which lasts two to three weeks, the hair prepares for the telogen phase.
During the telogen phase, which lasts about three months, the hair rests and older hairs are shed and replaced by newer hairs.

Medications can lead to two types of hair loss: Telogen effluvium is the most common form of medication-induced hair loss. It usually appears within two to four months after taking the medication. This condition causes the hair follicles to go into their resting phase (telogen) and fall out too early. People with telogen effluvium usually shed between 100 and 150 hairs a day. Anagen effluvium is hair loss that occurs during the anagen phase of the hair cycle when the hairs are actively growing. It prevents the matrix cells, which produce new hairs, from dividing normally. This type of hair loss usually occurs within a few days to weeks after taking the medication. It's most common in people who are taking chemotherapy medications and is often severe, causing people to lose most or all of the hair on their head, as well as their eyebrows, eyelashes and other body hairs. The severity of medication-induced hair loss depends on the type of medication and dosage, as well as your sensitivity to that medicine.

What types of medications cause hair loss?

Many different types of medicines are thought to cause hair loss, including some of the following types of medications:

Acne medications
Antibiotics and antifungal medications
Antidepressants
Oral contraceptives
Blood thinners (anticoagulants)
Cholesterol-lowering medications
Immunosuppressant medications
Chemotherapy medications
Epilepsy medications (anticonvulsants)
High blood pressure medications (anti-hypertensives)
Hormone replacement therapy - estrogen or progesterone for women, androgens and testosterone for men
Interferons
Mood stabilizers
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications ( NSAIDs)
Parkinson's disease medications
Steroids
Thyroid medications

Chemotherapy medications often lead to the anagen effluvium type of hair loss. As these kill cancer cells throughout the body, they can also damage healthy cells, including hair matrix cells. The hair typically starts to fall out after the second cycle of chemotherapy. Hair loss is more common and severe in patients taking combinations of chemotherapy medications than in those who take just one medication.

This is an excerpt from our CysterWigs Knowledge Base. Check it out on our private site to see over 500 articles all about our store, wigs, and how to wear the hair!

Also in CysterWigs Official Blog

I have items I'm saving in my cart, why do they keep disappearing?

December 01, 2020

When shopping online, although you have an item placed in your cart, unless you have paid for it, these items can still go out of stock. Meaning if there is only 1 wig in stock for a certain style and someone else adds it to their cart and completes the purchase before you do, this item will be removed from your cart and register out of stock. Unfortunately, the shopping cart does not secure the item, the purchase is what secures the item.

How Do I Do a Color Search on WigCloseouts?

November 25, 2020

1. Click on Color in the blue bar at the top of the page and this will expand the searchable color options. 2. Click on the color you would like to search for, in this case we'll search for red shades.

Can I Cut the Extended Nape Off of My Wig?

November 24, 2020

We normally do not recommend cutting the extended nape off of a wig because it was made specifically for the style, but that's not saying you can't do so. We have had clients write in stating that they have cut the nape felt off completely with enough space for the adjusters and they said the wig fit much better in the back.