Hair loss advice

Alopecia areata With alopecia areata, baldness usually occurs in small, round, smooth patches. You may lose only scalp hair, or you may lose body hair as well.

What causes hair loss?   The most common cause of hair loss is genetics you inherit the tendency to lose hair from either or both of your parents. This is called male pattern or female pattern hair loss, or androgenetic alopecia. (Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss.) About half of all people have this type of hair loss by about 50 years of age.

What is the normal cycle of hair growth and loss? -  At any one time, about 10 percent of the hair on your scalp is in a resting phase. After 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair starts to grow in its place. This growing phase lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each hair grows approximately 1 centimeter per month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is growing at any one time.

Hair Loss Advice and Information

Hair loss may lead to baldness when the rate of shedding exceeds the rate of regrowth, when new hair is thinner than the hair shed or when hair comes out in patches.

Baldness typically refers to excessive hair loss from your scalp and can be the result of heredity, certain medications or an underlying medical condition. Anyone men, women and children can experience hair loss.

What causes alopecia areata -  Alopecia areata is classified as an autoimmune disease, but the cause is unknown. People who develop this type of baldness are generally in good health. Some scientists believe that some people are genetically predisposed to develop alopecia areata and that a trigger, such as a virus or something else in the environment, sets off the condition. A family history of alopecia areata makes you more likely to develop it. With alopecia areata, your hair generally grows back, but you may lose and regrow your hair a number of times.

Is hair loss normal?   Everyone normally has some hair loss every day. In fact, it is normal to lose up to about 100 hairs a day. However, some people can lose a lot of hair early in life because it usually runs in the family, inhereted from a parent or grandparent or because of disease, medications, stress, injury, or damage to the hair.