Did you know that about 30 million women in the U.S. suffer from hair loss? So if you find your hairbrush full of hair, you are not alone. Fifty-five percent of women lose some hair as they age with a quarter of all women reporting significant hair loss. There are many reasons for female pattern hair loss (FPHL) including genetic and medication causes. One common trait among female sufferers of FPHL is the loss of a sense of attractiveness.

"Hair loss not only robs a woman of her sense of style, but oftentimes her sense of self-esteem and her security -- it can be very devastating," says Michael Reed, MD, a New York University Medical Center dermatologist who specializes in female pattern hair loss.

Because of this, depression, stress and anxiety often accompany hair loss. But doctors and other experts agree that stress is one factor that can cause you to lose hair, causing you more distress. This can lead to a vicious cycle. So the advice of one columnist to ”allow yourself to feel bad about feeling bad” is a good one. The less stress in your life, the better. Feeling bad isn’t the worst thing in the world as long as you don’t sit in it too long.

Hair Composition

Hair is made of a very tough protein, keratin. Hair follicles, which originate beneath the skin, anchor the hair. At the base of the follicle is the hair bulb. In this bulb, hair cells divide and grow to create the hair shaft. Blood vessels that connect to the hair bulb provide nourishment to the hair as well as hormones that modify growth and structure at appropriate times in the hair cycle. On average, a scalp contains about 110,000 hair follicles. If your hair is falling out faster than 100 scalp hairs a day, you may want to see a professional. There may be genetic, environmental or medical causes for the hair loss, and the sooner you find the reasons, the faster you can remedy the situation.