Hair loss can be a life-altering experience, especially for women who identify with luscious hair as a symbol of youth and vitality. If you’re one of the more than 80 million men and women in the United States struggling with hair loss and thinning strands, we’re here to help.
What Is Hair Loss?
When washing or brushing your hair, you might notice a significant amount of hair strands lifting away from the scalp. Don’t panic—that’s likely not hair loss. According to Dr. Dominic Burg, chief scientist and trichologist at évolis professional, it’s completely normal to lose up to 100 hairs a day. “If this sounds like a lot, you have to remember that you have around 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on your head, so this only represents 0.001% of your total hair,” he assures. “After they fall [out] they are generally replaced by a new hair growing in its place,” Dr. Burg adds.
So, what is hair loss? “Hair loss describes the gradual or sudden loss of actively growing hair follicles on the scalp, usually following a change in the hair growth cycle,” explains Dr. Burg. “To truly understand hair loss, we first need to understand how hair grows. The hair on our head is quite unique in the way it grows: It does this over a long, repeating cycle called the hair cycle,” he notes. “The hair cycle is a repeating pattern of growth, rest and fall that happens many times over your life with the average hair cycle being six or seven years in length,” Dr. Burg says. That said, this cycle is not in unison. “The hair cycles asynchronously, with each hair following its own timing and pattern.”
At the center of the hair cycle and hair growth are the hair follicles. “Hair follicles are actually little organs—much like any other organ in your body—and like other organs, are made up of different parts that do different jobs,” says Dr. Burg. “Ultimately, hair follicles are little machines geared up to manufacture hair shafts out of keratin. The follicles have to work extremely hard to do this 24/7, burning a lot of energy in the process,” he notes. “The body’s control over the process is complex, and like anything complex, it can be quite easy to disrupt the balance and for things to go a little awry. This is the root cause of hair loss and thinning,” he explains.
According to Dr. Burg, most forms of hair loss are caused by a shortening of the growth phase during the hair cycle. “When the growth period becomes too short, hair falls out quickly, excess shedding occurs and the regenerating hair comes in finer and is less substantial,” he notes.
The Biggest Culprits
A shortened growth cycle might be the root cause of hair loss, but what messes with the hair cycle to begin with? “Hormones, diet, stress, genetics, aging and [damaging] hairstyles are many of the reasons,” says Dr. Burg. “The causes of hair loss are varied and complex and can be a combination of lifestyle and genetic factors. Common to all of these is a resulting dysfunction in the hair cycle and shortening of the anagen phase [the first phase of the hair growth cycle],” he notes. Read more
