Help my hair is falling out!

[christeneraquel]

I'm twenty years old  and I've been losing a lot of hair, I find it on my pillow, on the floor in the shower I'm afraid to brush because of the amount of hair that seems to fall out. There has been less thickness and I'm sure my hair is thinning. I have pretty long hair to my waist but I dont know if its because my hair is too long that I'm losing so much. I recently went to a doctor and they told me I wasn't anemic but I'm scared at the rate of which I'm losing hair that I may end up losing it over the course of a year. I'm not sure if weight loss has done to play a part in it because I lost a few pounds, or because I need to cut something out of my diet. What can I do to reverse these affects and is there something I can do to decrease the amount of hair falling out?


This discussion is related to Anemia or Stress related hair loss?.

[Rowena Santos, MD]

Hi,

Hair loss may be due to: stress, hormonal problems, certain medications, infection, and underlying disease, such as lupus or diabetes. Normally, we shed 50 to 100 hairs a day. However, hair loss may be a concern 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. Telogen effluvium occurs due to a change in the normal hair cycle. It may occur when some type of emotional or physical stress causes hair roots to be pushed prematurely into the resting state. The affected growing hairs from these hair roots fall out. In a month or two, the hair follicles become active again and new hair starts to grow.  On the other hand, traction alopecia, occurs when excessive hairstyling or hairstyles  pull your hair too tightly.  Have this evaluated further by your doctor for proper management.  Direct clinical examination is important for proper diagnosis.

Take care and keep us posted.