The first thing coming to our mind when it comes to hair loss is about the scalp. However, it is more than hair scalp problems. Especially men also suffer from having thicker and denser body hair. It is possible to experience it on one leg or affect both legs simultaneously.
Hair loss is also known as alopecia. For leg hair loss, it is common with age in both men and women until when you notice large amounts of hair falling off your legs, if it happens suddenly or more amount of than expected part of aging, and then it may be time to see your doctor.
In fact, leg hair loss is kind of a common cause is poor circulation. Also, it might be related to illness, medications, follicular damage, skin problems, hormone disorders, peripheral artery diseases, and friction are other known causes.
You are on the right page now to learn the reasons for hair loss on legs and what kind of treatment you will need when you suffer from leg hair loss.
What are the Reasons for Hair Loss on Legs?
1.Medications
There are some certain medications that can end with hair loss by preventing hair growth For example, chemotherapy drugs target rapidly growing cancer cells.
As a result of this, hair cells grow rapidly, and you must see some people in the streets with cancer may lose not only the hair on their heads but eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair on other parts of the body.
Also, other medications such as birth control pills, blood thinners, anabolic steroids, high dose vitamin A, and drugs used are the reasons to treat high blood pressure, depression, gout and heart problems leading hair loss on legs.
2.Medical Conditions
It is common in middle-aged and elderly men. This alopecia areata problem is an autoimmune disease which might cause round patches of hair loss. It might even affect the size of a quarter anywhere on the body.
The other diseases resulting in hair loss on legs can be listed as thyroid disorders, and severe malnutrition caused by illness or eating disorders.
3.Poor Circulation
When in the legs there is peripheral artery disease (PAD), it might cause hair loss. PAD refers to the poor circulation caused by the buildup of plaque.
It narrows of the arteries that supply blood to the legs and feet and cause hair loss since the impaired blood supply is not able to provide optimal nutrients for hair growth.
It is said that 12 to 20 percent of adults over the age of 60 have PAD. This condition is more common in smokers, and in people with diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
The physical symptoms of PAD are associated with smooth, shiny skin and cooler skin temperature. In short, it is about the fact that nutrients and oxygen are delivered in the blood by the arteries.
PAD refers to some certain risk factors such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Your doctors should check those factors when you go to take some recommendation from them to prevent any possible risk in the future.
4. Fungal Infections Of Leg
When you have skin fungus may, it might also affect the hair in the infected area. It is possible to cause a red ring-like rash. That is why sometimes it is known as a ringworm.
Of course, is not a worm but it means the hair loss may occur in and around this skin rash. You may experience on one or both legs depending on where the fungus has infected the skin.
When you see the symptoms what are itching, dry and peeling skin are some of the other symptoms of a fungal skin infection, you should go to your doctor immediately to prevent a bigger problem for your legs.
5.Change in Hormone Levels
The male sex hormone, testosterone, is the main androgen that contributes to body hair growth. Not only for males, but also for females, there is a certain amount of testosterone ( but of course the levels are higher in males.)
When the level of testosterone has dropped because of any kind of disorder, it might lead to body hair loss. Gonadotropin-deficiency can be about to experience this condition for men.
For both men and women, hypogonadism is problematic when it comes to the level for testosterone affecting the hair loss on legs.
It is also noted that hormonal changing during the pregnancy and menopause might be the reason for leg hair loss. Apart from the causes listed above, hair loss on legs might be related to diabetes as a risk factor for PAD, some chronic rashes from eczema, psoriasis, or other skin conditions.
Hair follicle infections, pituitary gland disorders, nutrition deficiencies, such as iron, zinc, and vitamin D, and high levels of stress can be seen as some samples of numerous reasons for hair loss on legs.
We should be careful a lot to prevent hair loss because there might be even other reasons we can not even predict like wearing tight pants or socks.
Treatments for Hair Loss on Legs
When it comes to the suggestions for treating hair loss on legs, the first thing we need to know is the underlying reason. Whatever the treatment you will try, please know that it might take several weeks to grow back for hair.
- You should take some supplements like Vitamin A and Vitamin D to improve your immune system.
- Dietary adjustments for nutritional deficiencies are such important her. You need to arrange your day according to a healthy diet so that you can take sufficient nutritious food. Especially breakfast is something that you can not skip in any day.
- You need to stop inflammation in order to prevent hair loss on your leg. To provide this as soon as possible, you need to take some corticosteroid injections. I suggest you take some advice from your doctor before corticosteroid injections part.
- Finasteride(Propecia) as one of the prescription drugs is recommended by many doctors. It is an oral tablet for alopecia areata as the brand-name drugs Proscar and Propecia.
You need to take this tablet by mouth. Generally, it is used in order to treat an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia). Moreover, it is also used for male pattern hair loss.
However, there are some side effects of using Finasteride(Propecia). The more common side effects can include the decreased sex drive, trouble getting or keeping an erection, and skin rash. Also, ejaculation disorder and the increase in breast size and tenderness are the things you need to consider before using it.
Lastly, there are some risky groups for using this medicine. Pregnant women (they should never be used during pregnancy), women who are breastfeeding, and children because of their safety are the warning groups when it comes to Finasteride.
- Hormone replacement treatments are also one of the common treatments. Levothyroxine (Synthroid) for hypothyroidism is one of them.
It is an oral tablet as brand-name drugs, and available in a generic form. Its brand names are known as Levoxyl, Synthroid, and Unitroid. Apart from oral tablet version, there is an oral capsule, and an injectable solution versions, too.
Apart from hypothyroidism, it’s also used to treat goiter and certain types of thyroid cancer since Levothyroxine works by providing the thyroid hormone that your thyroid gland would produce if it were working normally.
It would be good for you when your hair loss goes with some serious symptoms such as rashes, pain, and severe inflammation. Open wounds, numbness, skin that’s cool to the touch, and muscle loss are the other symptoms giving you signal to say that it is time to get worried about your hair loss on legs.
The Loss of Leg Hair in Women
Here are four main reasons for the loss of leg hair in women.
Aging and Menopause
As a result of menopause-related to aging and the resulting hormonal fluctuations, women can experience hair loss on legs.
The reason why they experience thin hair is about the changes in testosterone, which appears as dry skin issues. You should take a good multivitamin so that you can maintain hair health during menopause.
Rapid Weight Loss
Some women can lose weight in a short time. For example, they can have rapid weight loss during an illness or after having weight loss surgery. The problem is that it might cause hair loss on a woman’s legs.
What is more is that this can be a result of the trauma of surgery, besides the lowered nutrition. You should be careful about your diet not to encounter this kind of problem.
Alopecia Areata
It is hard to understand the reason for alopecia areata. In fact, it is a hair loss disease with an unknown cause. some think it is an autoimmune disease. However, some studies have shown that people who develop it are usually in good health otherwise.
For some people, it is because of the trauma stories. Whatever the reason is, you may lose and regrow it numerous times. The good news is that your hair may grow back and regrow.
Medication
Some medications cause for women hair loss on legs for sure. For instance, chemotherapy, radiation, and other medical treatments can make us experience hair loss on legs.
It is important to know that every strong medication can affect skin and hair follicles. Luckily, when the treatment is finished, hair might begin to grow back on a woman’s legs but the risk is that it may be a different texture than it was before treatment.
The Loss of Leg Hair in Men
Here are three main reasons for the loss of leg hair in men.
Poisoning
Sometimes it is possible to experience for men hair with poisoning. We know that is is not one of the common causes of the loss of leg hair at first, but to be honest it is one of the main reasons for hair loss.
hair loss is as a characteristic symptom of thallium poisoning depends on the type of poison in the system. It might be dangerous from time to time because it may occur with various other substances and toxins.
At the same time, there is another possible cause which is sometimes considered to be poisoning. It is related to a condition known as hemochromatosis. It happens when there is a build up of iron in the body.
However, the common one is not that it is usually due to an excessive intake of iron. On the other hand, it is about the fact that the body has a problem with the processing of iron, which leads to accumulation within the body tissues.
Skin Diseases
There are some serious skin diseases that might result in hair loss on the legs for men. Especially when the skin is damaged for any reason, the follicles may be involved. That means this situation will prevent the normal way; the normal hair growth will not be possible for you.
If you encounter some conditions such as psoriasis, contact dermatitis, eczema and fungal infections of the skin, this condition is possible for you.
However, it is clear that in these instances the lack of hair growth is not the only symptom since these are some other symptoms. Those symptoms have the potential to make the skin in the area affected. It may even be visible as a rash.
Hair Follicle Damage
The other main reasons why hair growth is stopped is about hair follicle damage. When the follicles are damaged in any way, hair growth is not possible for men. The good news is that it may either be temporary or it can be permanent although, for the permanent version, hair growth can never be restored.
You should go to your doctor when you realize some hair follicle damage on your legs because the reasons might be serious, too. For instance, some damages to the hair follicles may be as a result of trauma to the legs like an event of burns.
It is sometimes about the complication of certain procedures, like hot waxing or other cosmetic procedures. Not to make permanent damage, you should go to your health care as soon as possible since this kind of hair removal procedures is only done by skilled professionals.