Hair Loss Talk 101

The majority of individuals regularly lose between 70 and 150 hairs from their scalp every day, mostly through washing, brushing, and combing. Scalp hair begins to thin when more hairs are lost during normal shedding than the scalp is able to renovate. About 40% of the thickness of scalp hair is supposed to be lost before thinning of the hair becomes in plain sight. Baldness or hair loss is typically something only adults need to worry about. But in some cases, teens lose their hair, too and it might be a sign that something's wrong.

The standard cycle of hair growth lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each hair grows about half an inch per month during this phase. Approximately 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is growing at any one time. About 10 percent of the hair on your scalp, at any one time, is in a sleeping phase. After 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair begins to grow in its place. It is a normal thing to shed some hair each day as part of this cycle. On the other hand, some individuals might go through extreme hair loss. This kind of hair loss could affect men, women and children.