Every human hair goes through three different stages in its development cycle. These are anagen (growth phase), catagen (transition phase) and telogen (resting phase). About 10-15% of the hair on the head is in the telogen phase and - remaining in the skin for some more time - eventually falls out. This is not to be confused with baldness - as typically the hair that a person loses is replaced by new hair.

How much hair does a person lose per day? In practice, however, the average daily hair loss is between 50 and 100 hairs. Some people lose less hair, others more - this is influenced by many different factors. It is noticeable that more hair is lost by people who undertake styling - a slight increase in hair loss can even be the result of simply brushing their hair.

But what about people who lose more than 100 hairs a day - should this be a cause for concern? Not necessarily - the fact that a person periodically loses more hair than usual can be related to definitely harmless phenomena. For example, this may be due to changes in hormone levels in the body - for example, women who stop taking hormonal contraceptives may notice more hair falling out of their hairbrushes, and sometimes also after giving birth. Other possible causes of increased hair loss include:

• significant stress,
• infection with high fever,
• significant weight loss,
• having undergone some kind of operation.

Thus, the mere observation of increased hair loss does not have to worry - as long as new hair grows in place of the lost hair, there is nothing to worry about. It is different, however, when the patient notices that he or she has started to go bald - then it is definitely worth looking for the cause of the problem.