How can I tell if my hair loss is pathological?

If more than 80-100 hairs fall out every day for several weeks, it can be classed as pathological hair loss.

Something needs to be done at this stage because once hair has fallen out, it will not grow back. The remaining hair must be maintained as much as possible by taking medication or nutritional supplements with as few side effects as possible. Other than the mostly chemical products, there are some natural preparations that do not have any side effects.

There are two basic types of hair loss - Effluvium and Alopecia:

  1. Effluvium is above average hair loss. This does not necessarily lead to alopecia as it could be a temporary problem.
  2. Alopecia describes visible thinning of hair in general. This means thin areas on the head, known as bald spots.

How do you differentiate between effluvium and alopecia?

On average, people lose 80-100 hairs per day, making the term hair loss relative. The transition from non-hair reducing hair loss to pathological hair loss is smooth, depending on how thin hair is, how many hairs fall out and from which areas this occurs. As a rule of thumb, losing up to 100 hairs per day is normal. This may be true, but only applies if the hair loss is evenly spread out over the whole head. If it is concentrated on individual hair areas (spot baldness, alopecia areata) or only on the top of the head (androgenic hereditary hair loss) this is more likely to be a reason for concern and must be treated urgently in order to protect the rest of the hair and possibly stimulate new growth.

 

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