Hair loss is something many people are afraid of happening to them. It is also something that millions of people suffer with everyday. It can cause you to lose your self-esteem, which can hinder every area of your life from work and even your relationships. Today though, there are many treatments for hair loss. The trick to treating hair loss though is to figure out what causes hair loss. This is different for every person. It may even be more than one issue that is causing the problem.

Genetics are the most common reason people lose their hair. Androgenic alopecia is a hereditary hair loss problem many people know as male pattern baldness or female pattern baldness. Everyone has testosterone in his or her body and this condition makes the testosterone turn into DHT. DHT is sort of the opposite of testosterone. Where testosterone causes hair to grow all over your body, including your scalp, DHT attacks the hair and causes it to become weak and thin. This can make it fall out before it is supposed to and even harms the follicle to the point of killing it. When the follicle is dead, no hair can grow there. Androgenic alopecia is different in the way it makes men and women bald. For men, their hairline just recedes until it has covered the top of their head. It usually does not affect the back or sides of a man's head. In women however, it causes their hair to thin all over and it continually grows thin until they are bald or have very little hair left. The good thing with this type of baldness is that there are tests that can show if you have the gene that causes this. Also, most hair loss drugs are designed to help this by blocking the DHT in your body.

Some other causes of hair loss come from medical conditions. Autoimmune disorders such as alopecia areata cause your immune system to attack your hair follicles causing them to fall out. This usually causes patchy hair loss. Thyroid problems and even diabetes can cause you to lose your hair. Also any major illness, such as a high fever for a long period of time or even major surgery can cause your hair to fall out. Even hormonal imbalances such as with pregnancy and menopause can cause balding, though once your hormones level out the hair loss should dissipate on its own. Even medications can cause hair loss. Most people only think of chemotherapy drugs as causing hair loss. And while yes they do, other drugs such as certain bipolar medications and even some birth control pills can cause your hair loss problems.

Knowing the causes of hair loss is the first step to treating your hair loss. Your doctor can do a number of tests to see what the issue or issues are that are causing the problem and help you formulate a treatment plan to give you back the thick beautiful hair you once had.