Hair is made up of a protein called keratin. As the hair follicle produces new hair, the old hair is pushed through the surface of the skin. Most people can grow up to six inches of hair per year. The average adult will carry anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 individual pieces of hair on their head at one time. Each hair follicle has its own cycle of life that is affected by health, age, and many other factors. 90% of the hair on your scalp is continuously growing. Although the resting stage, called telogen, is when the hair is shed and a new cycle of hair growth begins.
Loosing hair every day is a commonality that both men and women experience. It is average to loose around 100 strands of hair daily. If baldness runs in the family, men and women may experience more hair loss around the age of 50. Patches of baldness, for men, is very common. Women over 50 may experience thinning of hair on the top of their head and around the hair line. Male or female pattern baldness can come from both sides of the family, many times, passing the trait along to future generations.
The thinning of hair can be a slow process, and you may not even notice until a bald spot appears. Shedding hair comes out in clumps and isn’t normally missed. If you are losing hair all over your head, it is called general hair loss, but if the hair loss is in one place it is called focal hair loss. Men and women really aren’t that different when it comes to the location of their hair loss, the top of the head and hairline; although there are more men who experience hair loss and they lose more of it.
Many times hair loss is temporary, due to a sudden illness, rise in stress levels, even child birth can affect the loss of healthy hair. The hair eventually grows back and there is not too much to worry about. Involutional alopecia is the simple condition of old age affecting the growth rate of hair, while androgenic alopecia affects men in their 20’s and women in their 40’s. Loosing large patches of hair is called alopecia areata and can cause temporary baldness. Seeing more scalp than hair can easily cause someone to feel alarmed, although it may or may not be permanent.
