Samuel E Steinmetz, MD

Hair Loss Facts

There are many types of hair loss the most common is pattern hair loss, or androgenic alopecia, is the hair thinning that occurs commonly with age. Direct result of a medical issue (most commonly thyroid, anemia, and hormone) can be either sudden or insidious and presents as increased hair shedding often leaving generalized thinning over the entire scalp. Stress-related hair loss, or telogen effluvium, oftentimes presents after giving birth, but any significant stress on the body can induce this reaction. Autoimmune hair loss, or alopecia areata, is the most unique presentation of hair loss with the often sudden appearance of round or coin-shaped patches of baldness anywhere on the scalp (or less often in the eyebrow or beard areas). Traction alopecia is a type of hair loss that occurs from a chronic tension on the hair follicle from a tight hairstyle worn over many years.