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Hair loss
Category: Skin, Hair & Nails · All skin symptoms
What it can feel like
Hair loss covers several distinct patterns: gradual thinning over the crown or temples, round bald patches, heavy shedding after illness or childbirth, and hair loss with scalp inflammation or scarring. Identifying the pattern identifies the mechanism — follicles miniaturising, shedding in unison, being attacked by the immune system, or being destroyed.
Possible causes
A symptom can have many causes, and most are not serious. The lists below group conditions this symptom can be associated with — common causes first. They are possibilities to discuss with a clinician, not a diagnosis.
Common causes
Hair loss can be associated with male- and female-pattern thinning (hereditary, hormonal), shedding two to three months after childbirth, fever, surgery or crash dieting (telogen effluvium), and traction from tight hairstyles.
Other possible causes
Patchy loss can be associated with alopecia areata (autoimmune), ringworm of the scalp in children, and thyroid or iron problems. Loss with scaling, pustules or scarring can permanently destroy follicles and needs prompt dermatology.
Red flags — when to seek help promptly
- Bald patches in a child, with scaling or broken hairs (possible ringworm)
- Hair loss with redness, scaling, pain or smooth shiny scarring of the scalp — prompt review
- Hair loss with other symptoms — fatigue, weight change, heavy periods (iron or thyroid)
- Rapid, widespread shedding that continues beyond six months
- Eyebrow or eyelash loss joining scalp loss
What a clinician may do
A clinician will examine the pattern, scalp surface, and pull-test shedding, and ask about recent illness, childbirth, dieting, medicines and family history. Blood tests usually include iron stores, thyroid and sometimes vitamin D; scarring or uncertain patterns are referred and may be biopsied.
Watch: related videos
Examination and clinical videos from the MedicalVideos.com library relevant to this symptom. Some clinical footage is graphic — that is the nature of a medical video library.
Related guides on MedicalVideos.com
Frequently asked questions
Why did my hair fall out three months after I was ill?
Severe stress — fever, childbirth, surgery, rapid weight loss — pushes many follicles into the resting phase together. They shed in unison about three months later (telogen effluvium), which alarms people precisely because the trigger is forgotten. Regrowth follows over six to twelve months in most cases.
Can hair loss be reversed?
It depends on the pattern: shedding (effluvium) regrows; pattern thinning can be slowed and partly reversed with treatment started early; scarring loss cannot regrow, which is why inflamed, scarring scalps are treated as urgent. Matching the treatment to the pattern is the whole game.
Related symptoms — Skin, Hair & Nails
Browse the H section of the A–Z list or return to the Symptoms A–Z hub.