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Can Sleep Apnea Cause Hair Loss?
The key to successfully treating hair loss is to truly comprehend what causes thinning hair, bald spots, and receding hairlines. Genetics, stress, and head trauma are common causes for hair loss in both men and women. But there may be another reason that your once luscious locks have turned thin. Recent studies show that sleep apnea, a condition related to snoring, may have a profound effect on hair loss. Since sleep apnea is a common condition that goes widely unnoticed by those who have it, it may be a breakthrough for people that suffer from hair loss but just can’t figure out why.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder characterized by difficulty breathing. During sleep, the airway can become obstructed. This is most commonly caused by the throat’s natural tendency to collapse while sleeping, but airways can also become blocked by the tongue or upper respiratory infections. Obese people are more prone to sleep apnea due to low muscle tone and excess weight around their vital breathing organs.
Once their airway is blocked, a person will begin experiencing breathing abnormalities. These pauses or periods of reduced breathing are called hypopnea. A person with sleep apnea can have hundreds of hypopneas per hour, without ever knowing it. That’s another characterization of sleep apnea: most people are oblivious to the fact that they may have a serious sleep disorder. Chronic sleep apnea drains oxygen supply to the brain and other parts of the body.
What Does Sleep Apnea Have to Do With Hair Loss?
Blood circulation. Sleep apnea can lead to physical problems, like migraines, fatigue, sore throat, and high blood pressure. Similarly, sleep apnea can wreak some major havoc on the body’s ability to carry blood through the blood vessels. Since blood circulation is essential to healthy hair growth, and when there isn’t enough oxygen that process gets disturbed. Scalp capillaries can become permanently damaged by sleep apnea, so hair loss may occur even after the disorder is treated. The increase in blood pressure can also be detrimental to hair growth.
Melatonin. Sleep apnea can indirectly affect the body’s production of the hormone melatonin. Because sleep apnea causes sleep deprivation, it can also lead to substantially heightened stress. When the body is chronically stressed, as many people with sleep apnea are, it can interrupt hormone production. Melatonin is an essential component of healthy hair growth.
Preventing Sleep Apnea-Induced Hair Loss
If you think you may have sleep apnea, the first step to getting treatment is to get diagnosed. Doctors can run a polysomnogram, or a sleep study, to determine if you have sleep apnea and moreover, what type you may have. From there, you will be prescribed treatment. Treatment can include behavioral therapy, a airway-clearing device, sleep medication, and as a last resort, surgery.
But when it comes to hair loss related to sleep apnea, the problem is that even after sleep apnea is cured a person can still suffer from hair loss. Damaged blood vessels can’t necessarily be reversed. The only way to permanently replace lost hair is hair transplant surgery. This procedure will fill in bald spots, thicken the appearance of thinning hair, and grow hair that someone with broke blood vessels just can’t.
Scheduling Your Hair Transplant Surgery Consultation
Hair transplant surgery is a permanent solution to hair loss. If you’d like to learn more about hair transplant surgery or to find out if you’re a candidate, the best thing you can do is visit a hair transplant surgeon for a consultation. Hair Loss Specialists is devoted to finding a reputable hair loss surgeon near you . Contact our representatives today!
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