Causes of Hair Loss
Find out how to avoid excessive hair loss

Hair growth has a normal cycle that lasts from two to six years. Hair typically grows a centimeter a month per phase. 90 percent of your hair is growing, while 10 percent of your hair is resting. Your resting hair falls out after two to three months. Although it is normal to shed hair on a daily basis, some people might experience excessive hair loss.
What can cause excessive hair loss?
Many factors contribute to excessive hair loss. For example, major stress related to illness or surgery may make you suffer from excessive hair loss. This kind of hair loss is usually temporary.
Excessive hair loss can occur when male or female hormones, otherwise known as androgens and estrogens, are out of sync or off-balance in your body. Additionally, an overactive or underactive thyroid gland may cause your hair to fall out. You can combat this kind of hair loss through corrective hormonal therapy.
Many women experience hair loss a few months after having a baby. This is also a hormone-related hair loss. In the middle of pregnancy, certain hormones cause the body to keep hair that normally falls out. As hormones return to normal levels, that hair falls out. Again, this is another temporary form of hair loss.
Many medicines may cause hair loss. Stop taking the medicine to improve this type of hair loss. Medicines that may induce loss include anticoagulants (blood thinners), chemotherapy medicines, vitamin A (an excessive amount), birth control pills, and antidepressants.
Infections can also cause hair loss. Fungal infections that occur in the scalp may cause hair loss. This can be easily treated with antifungal medications.
Finally, a serious disease, such as diabetes or lupus, may cause hair loss to occur. If you suspect this is the case, it is important to find the cause of your hair loss so the disease can be diagnosed and treated.
Is my improper hair care causing hair loss?
Perhaps. A common type of hair loss called traction alopecia is caused by wearing tight pigtails, cornrows, or using tight hair rollers. These methods of handling hair pull on the hair and cause scarring of the scalp. If you pull on your hair with these methods enough to scar your scalp, you might suffer from permanent hair loss. Hot oil treatments can also cause hair loss—it causes inflammation of the hair follicle, which in turn can result in scarring of the scalp and hair loss.
Common baldness
This term refers to male-pattern baldness, otherwise known as permanent pattern baldness. This is the most common (and, unfortunately, least treatable) form of hair loss in men. This is an inherited trait passed down from the maternal side.