CAUSES OF HAIR LOSS

The best way to think of the way hair grows is to picture a garden. How well it grows is completely a result of what is happening “underground.”

“Like a garden,a normal hair cycle should lead to a product, which is the hair,” says Wendy Roberts, MD, a dermatologist at a private practice in Rancho Mirage, Calif. “Growth cycles are important because when they go awry, that is one of the reasons we have hair loss.”

And things that interfere with the cycle -- like medication, illness, infection, or chemicals -- have the potential to stop hair from being formed properly.

"It’s a very dynamic place and anything that can get the cycle off can cause hair loss,” Roberts says.