People can experience hair loss at any time of their life. It is quite common for babies and pregnant women to experience hair loss to some degree, for example. In this instance, the hair loss is due to hormonal changes. When the hormones return to normal, the hair returns, although there will be a lag as hair takes a while to grow.

Both men and women tend to experience thinning of their hair as they get older as well. In women, it is more likely following the menopause. Around two-thirds of men are affected by bald patches or receding hairlines by the age of 60.

In addition to this, there are also lifestyle factors that can cause or exacerbate hair loss. Emotional or physical stress is a common cause, but malnutrition is less well-known. Certain hair styling treatments can also lead to hair loss, including hair extensions and chemical hair treatments.

If you do think that you are losing hair, go and see your GP who will either diagnose the problem or refer you to a dermatologist to do so. When you know the cause of your hair loss, you can then hopefully address the problem.

Perhaps because it is little-known, the figures for the numbers of people thought to be suffering from trichotillomania are surprisingly high.

Trichotillomania is the compulsion to pull out your own hair. It is more common in women than men, but it is thought that around two to four per cent of people suffer from it to some degree. It might be a mild compulsion or it could be more severe, with some sufferers unable to stop themselves and going so far as to pull out huge patches of hair or even plucking their entire scalp.

A trichotillomania sufferer will tend to suffer a mild endorphin rush when a hair is pulled. This is triggered by the slight sensation of pain and can effectively become addictive. Sufferers report feeling calmed by pulling out hairs. However, as hairs desensitise after several pluckings, the person is likely to expand the area they pluck in search of the same feeling as they no longer get the same feeling of relief.

Many people suffering from trichotillomania believe that they are alone, but the figure given above indicates that is far from the case.

Perhaps the most famous sufferer of alopecia areata, Gail Porter, recently appeared on British TV sporting a full head of her own hair. This is despite having spent five years with no hair whatsoever, to the extent that at one point, she lost her eyebrows and eyelashes.

This goes to show that it is quite possible that alopecia areata sufferers will recover. Although the effects of the disorder are devastating, all that is actually happening is that the hairs are entering the rest phase of their growth cycle, something which all hairs enter intermittently anyway. The effect is created by the fact that all hairs enter this phase simultaneously and remain in it, meaning no new hair grows.

However, as the hair follicles remain undamaged, it is quite possible that they can grow hairs again. Porter initially started seeing new hair growth as long ago as 2006, but it has taken until now for her to fully recover as the progress of alopecia areata is unpredictable. She believes that recent improvements have been down to a reduction in stress through finding love.

If you experience hair loss, do not assume that is alopecia areata. Pay a visit to your doctor or a dermatologist who can correctly diagnose you.

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Alopecia causes hair loss in different parts of the body and it does so in different ways. Here we explain the difference between alopecia androgenetic and alopecia areata.

Alopecia androgenetic
This is a relatively common condition in both men and women, often referred to as ‘pattern baldness’. It can lead to complete baldness in men, but this is much less likely in women who will ordinarily experience general hair thinning over their entire head.

Alopecia androgenetic in men can be caused by coronary heart disease or enlargement of the prostate, while in women, a hormonal imbalance known as polycystic ovary syndrome is often the cause.

Alopecia areata
This condition tends to manifest itself in patches of hair loss. They are generally round and ordinarily on the head, although they can appear in other parts of the body.

Alopecia areata is an auto-immune disorder, which means that your body’s immune system is treating your hair follicles as if they are foreign bodies, attacking them. It does not kill the hair follicles however, merely hampering hair growth, so hair can grow back eventually.

There are many different ploys you can use to camouflage lost or thinning hair. What you choose depends on the degree of hair loss and how it is manifesting.

Scalp make-up
This is a common way of camouflaging bald patches. It involves spraying the scalp the colour to suit a person’s hair. This is only really suitable for mild, patchy hair loss and is unsuitable for masking greater hair loss for obvious reasons.

Medi connect
This is another way of covering patches of scalp where hair loss has taken place, but it is a bit more sophisticated than scalp make-up. It is similar to hair extensions and thickens up patches where hair is thinning.

Synthetic hair
Another option is synthetic hair which can be woven into real hair for added thickness. It is actually a fibrous plastic that is often used in wigs and also for hair extensions. Human hair extensions are also available for a similar purpose.

The above treatments are unsuitable for greater hair loss for which more comprehensive options are also available. Hair loss consultants will be able to advise you as to what would be best for you.

Trichotillomania is the compulsion to pull out the hairs on one’s body. The Daily Mail recently interviewed Laura Forbes who highlights a problem that many people who suffer with the disorder experience; that it can take years before they eventually seek help:

“I had been pulling my hair for about a year by the time my parents realised that I needed help.”

Laura took the right first step by going to see her GP, although he seemed unaware of trichotillomania. If you experience a similar thing, you can arrange to see a qualified dermatologist privately.

The doctor had simply advised Laura to stop pulling out her hair. She points out:

“Now, 14 years later, I know it’s not that simple. It was an unconscious habit – my hand would wander up to my hair, my brain would zone out and, before I knew it, there would be huge bunches of hair around me.”

Laura pulled her hair out to such an extent that she created bald patches. Styling her hair hid the problem initially, but she moved from hairbands to headscarves as the problem developed.

“My head was always covered in clips. Getting ready to leave the house took longer and longer and became more and more stressful.”

Laura intitially used the Intralace system to hide the effects of hair loss, but has since treated the cause through hypnotherapy and habit reversal training and has seen considerable improvement.