More than half of men and women in the United States experience hair loss. About 30% of people have hair loss by age 30 years, and about 50% have hair loss by age 50 years. Hair loss is so common that most of the time it is considered a normal variation and not a disease. Other animals closely related to humans, such as the chimpanzee, also lose their hair.

Forms of hair loss are alopecia areata (patchy, usually reversible, hair loss), androgenic alopecia (the most common type of hair loss, also called male pattern baldness), drug-induced alopecia (hair loss caused by one of many medications) and traumatic alopecia (hair loss from hair being torn out).

Hair loss has few medical complications, but several serious conditions can cause it. In addition, there are some psychological effects associated with going bald. People with hair loss may sometimes be more likely to have a negative body image than those without hair loss.

Hair loss symptoms are aside from the thinning hair itself, most people do not have other problems associated with hair loss, you may also find many hairs on your pillow in the morning or in your hairbrush or comb, a woman may notice a decrease in the size of her ponytail and most people notice hair loss when looking at themselves in a mirror.

Physicians diagnose hair loss by looking at hair amount and hair distribution. Women usually have about equal hair loss from all parts of the scalp. Men usually lose hair in an easily recognized pattern.

If hair loss is caused by another illness, treatment of the illness is the best treatment for hair loss. If hair loss is the only problem, then there are many ways to treat it depending on how severe the loss is.

The most important consideration to make when deciding the type of treatment is how much your hair loss bothers you.

Treatment options include grooming techniques, wigs and hairpieces, medications, and surgery.