The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. Alopecia can be partial, or what is usually referred to as balding, or complete, leaving your head with no hair whatsoever. Whatever you call the condition, you should gather all the facts you can about your hair loss before you act. There is some information you need to know about hair loss so that you can better decide among the possible treatment options. Your chances of stopping your hair loss are much better when you know your options early on.

You may begin to lose hair gradually, or in clumps; all over or just in some parts of the body. It is important to know what category your hair loss falls into, so that you can treat it appropriately. There is so much information about hair loss that focusing on your particular situation can help you deal with it. On the average, the typical healthy person loses about a hundred hairs daily, from a total of about one hundred thousand scalp hairs. Hair on the head grows about an inch a year, and any given hair lasts around four and a half years before it falls out. About half a year later, a new hair grows to take its place, unless genetic hair loss has entered the picture; this is when not enough new hairs are being produced to take the place of hairs that are shed naturally. In addition, excessive loss of hair may also be a factor.

Both men and women tend to lose hair at about the same rate as they get older. Both sexes are likely to suffer thinning hair at about the same rate as well. Men are more likely to inherit pattern baldness, which usually results in a receding hair line and thinning hair near the top of the head. Male pattern baldness is the result of the hormone testosterone, which means that men who have low levels of testosterone for whatever reason won't develop male pattern baldness. About 25% of all men have started to lose hair by the age of 30, and over 66% are either balding or completely bald by the age of 60.

Because there are many different reasons that you may lose your hair, you must carefully consider all potential causes before concluding that your hair loss is due to heredity. Baldness comes most often from aging, testosterone, and heredity. However, there are several less frequent reasons that hair may fall out. Excessive shampooing and blow drying may be at fault, as well as serious illness, parasites, high levels of stress, burns, nervous hair-pulling, or hormone changes.