Hair Loss - Some Basic Information

Hair Loss - Some Basic Information by Van Whitsett

The normal cycle for hair to grow is between 2 and 6 years and each hair will grow approximately 1cm (less than 1/2") each month during this period of hair growth. Around about 90% of the hair on a person's head is growing at any one time and the other 10% is in the resting phase. Normally after about 2 to 3 months the resting hair will fall out and new hair will then start to grow in its place. During this time it is normal for us to shed some hair each day as part of this process. But unfortunately there are some people who may experience more excessive hair loss than is normal and unfortunately it is not exclusively a problem for men it can also affect women and children as well.

However, hair loss or baldness is typically only something that an adult needs to worry about but there have been a few cases where teenagers have loss their hair also. But in some cases this may be down to some other underlying cause. It may mean that the teen is sick or that they are not eating correctly it may be because of some type of medication or medical treatment they are having is causing the problem. One of the biggest reasons why a teenager may lose their hair is because they are being treated for cancer with chemotherapy. Also if a person wears their hair in a particular way for a long time which pulls on it can also cause hair loss.

Unfortunately for many hair loss can be extremely stressful especially as we live in a society today where appearance really matters. But the good news for many teenagers is that hair loss during their teen years is often only temporary and normally once the problem that has caused it has been corrected then their hair will usually grow back.

Normally a person will lose between 50 and 100 hairs on their head each day and as they are lost they are replaced with new hairs which grow back in the same follicle. Certainly this amount of hair loss in anyone is completely normal and is no cause for worry. However, if you are someone who finds that they are losing more than this they there may be something wrong. As soon as you notice an excessive amount of hair loss it is advisable that you visit your doctor and they may well decide to either treat the problem themselves or send you to a specialist instead.