Some people may experience a great deal of stress when they realize that they are starting to lose their hair.  To deal with this stress it is important to remove some of the uncertainty around the process of hair loss and also to realize that there are ways to stop thinning hair.If you understand the biology of hair you will know what makes hair fall out.

There are essentially two components of hair.   The follicle and the hair shaft.Hair loss is affected by the follicle.  The follicle is located within the skin just below the scalp.The hair root is within the follicle and at the base of the root is the dermal papilla.New hair production in the dermal papilla is promoted by nourishment from the bloodstream. Most programs to stop thinning hair are directed at maintaining or correcting how the dermal papilla functions.   This is why some programs provide a hair loss supplement as part of the treatment.

What is the dermal papilla’s importance to hair growth?  The reason is that it contains receptors for male hormones and androgens.  Androgens  are hormones that regulate hair growth and they can cause the hair follicle to become increasingly smaller and in turn, the hairs that are produced become finer.Genetic predisposition to this problem is more common in some people.Hair growth is eventually cut off completely as the follicle grows smaller.

Sebum is basically a natural conditioner produced by the hair follicle.  More sebum is produced after puberty and production decreases as life goes on.Women experience more of a sebum production decrease than men.Sebum production is an important consideration, because some treatments require a hair regrowth shampoo that cleans sebum from the scalp.

There is a growth cycle that the hair follicles go through.The three phases of the cyle are
1. Anagen
2. Catagen
3. Telogen
Anagen is the growth phase.Hair is pushed up past the scalp in this, the active phase.Hair growth is about 10 cm. per year and this phase lasts from two to six years.When the Anagen phase ends the follicle starts a transitional phase, the Catagen phase.The hair follicle shrinks in this phase which lasts about one or two weeks.In this phase there is approximately three percent of all hair at any given time.  The lower part of the follicle is destroyed and the hair no longer grows.At this point the hair is basically just attached to the root and is sometimes called a club hair.The next phase is the resting phase, the Telogen phase which lasts about five or six weeks.The amount of hair in this phase is ten to fifteen percent.In this phase the follicle is completely at rest and you can expect 25 to 100 hairs to fall out each day.

After the Telogen phase, the hair follicle starts the Anagen phase again.This is the point where a new hair begins to grow and if the old hair has not yet fallen out, the new one will push it out.  A problem develops if the hair follicle is affected by the androgens or hormones.  The hair follicle may have been affected so much by these compounds that it may have shrunk too much to be able to produce new hairs. Sebum may have been caused to harden by the hormones and this will block new hair growth. 

It is important to understand this biology of hair growth when trying to stop thinning hair.  Any course of action that can be taken, with the exception of surgical procedures, will act upon the biology of the hair follicle and try to either stimulate new hair growth or at least maintain the follicle so that natural hair regrowth will continue.As more follicles become completely dormant there is less chance of regrowth, so it is important to start a course of treatment quickly.