The average scalp is covered with 100,000 hair follicles.  Hair on the scalp grows about 1 centimeter per month or around 6 inches per year.  Roughly 90% of the hair on your head is in the growth stage and the other 10%  on your scalp is in its transitional or in the resting phase.  Then the resting hair falls out and new hair grows in its place.

It’s normal to lose hair every day as part of the hair cycle.  Most individuals lose between 25 to 100 hairs each day.  However, when individuals consistently loses roughly 150 hairs each day it is called excessive hair loss.

Hair loss can be caused by a number of factors from the environment to genetics.  Some causes are recent major surgery, illness, stress, hormonal problems, recently having a child, reactions to medication, infections, having a major disease, and even how you wear your hair.

However, the most common form of hair loss is also called androgenetic alopecia, which is male or female pattern baldness.  Androgenetic alopecia accounts for more than 95% of hair loss in men.  When a male reaches the age of 35, roughly 66% of men will experience some degree of appreciable hair loss and by the age of 50, approximately 85% of men have significantly thinning hair.  Approximately 25% of men who suffer from male pattern baldness begin the hair loss process by the time they reach 21 years old.  Pattern baldness is usually thought of as a male disease, women actually make up 40% of American hair loss sufferers.  No matter what sex the hair loss sufferer is, it can be absolutely devastating experience for their self-image and emotional well being.  It affects interpersonal relationships as well as the professional lives of the sufferer.

What male pattern baldness sufferers actually genetically inherited the sensitivity to Dihydrotestosterone (DHT).  DHT binds to hair follicle receptors, causing the follicles that are sensitive to DHT to sprout thinner and thinner hairs until nothing re-grows, and the follicles eventually wither away.

There are hair loss products for androgenetic alopecia sufferers that can help stop the hair loss process and also regrow hair.  Minoxidil was the first FDA approved medication for the treatment of pattern baldness.  Rogaine is the most popular and the #1 dermatologist recommended product for hair loss.  Minoxidil is the active ingredient in Rogaine.  Women’s minoxidil products should be no stronger than 2% minoxidil strength while the mens minoxidil formulas go all the way up to 15% but  minoxidil extra strength 5% is the norm.  There are also generic brands of minoxidil which have the same active ingredient of minoxidil that have the same exact affect at more affordable prices for those that don’t mind not using name brands.  The 2nd FDA approved hair loss product is Propecia which is a mens only prescription medication that is taken orally every day.  There are other products as well that we will discuss in future posts, however, these are the two most common hair loss products used.  Click here to purchase quality hair loss products at discounted prices.

If you are experiencing excessive hair loss at the same time as one of the following symptoms then you may have a serious medical condition and should see a doctor:  confusion, constipation, diarrhea, poor appetite, trouble breathing, skin problems, pain, fever, vomiting, or weight loss.