Why Am I Losing My Hair?

Written by the Fix My Hair Editorial Team · Clinician-reviewed by Dr Hisham Band · GMC No. 7550130 · Last reviewed 14 Jan 2026

Most men notice it long before they say it out loud. A photo catches you off guard. The bathroom light seems suddenly harsher.

It usually isn’t random

Around 95% of male hair loss is androgenetic alopecia — “male pattern” loss. It’s driven by a hormone called DHT acting on follicles you inherited a sensitivity to.

What DHT actually does

DHT gradually shrinks sensitive follicles in a process called miniaturisation. Each growth cycle produces a finer, shorter hair, until the follicle stops producing visible hair altogether.

Genetics loads the gun; DHT pulls the trigger. That’s why it tends to follow a family pattern and progress slowly over years.

When it isn’t pattern loss

Not all shedding is androgenetic. Thyroid issues, low ferritin and stress can all cause hair loss — which is why we run a full blood panel before recommending anything.

The most common causes — in order

For most people who come to us, the picture falls into one of a handful of categories — and knowing which one you’re dealing with is the whole game, because the right treatment for one is useless for another.

• Androgenetic alopecia (pattern loss) — by far the most common, affecting roughly half of men by age 50 and a significant share of women after menopause. It’s gradual, and follows the hairline and crown in men or a widening parting in women.
• Telogen effluvium — a temporary, diffuse shed triggered by stress, illness, surgery, childbirth or a crash diet, usually two to three months after the trigger. It almost always recovers once the cause passes.
• Nutritional and hormonal causes — low iron (ferritin), low vitamin D or a thyroid imbalance can thin hair across the whole scalp. These are simple to test for and often simple to correct.
• Autoimmune and scarring causes — less common, but conditions like alopecia areata need a different approach and shouldn’t be self-treated.

How to tell which type you have

Three questions usually point in the right direction. Where is the hair going — a receding hairline and thinning crown suggest pattern loss, while even thinning all over points to a shed or a deficiency. How fast — pattern loss creeps over years; telogen effluvium arrives in weeks. And what changed — a major life event a few months ago is a strong clue toward a temporary shed.

The honest answer, though, is that you can’t reliably diagnose hair loss in a mirror. The patterns overlap, and more than one cause can run at once. That’s why we test before we treat — a blood panel rules the common reversible causes in or out before anyone talks about a plan.

Why acting early matters

Follicles don’t switch off overnight — they miniaturise. Catch that process early and treatments like finasteride and minoxidil can hold, and often partly reverse, the loss. Leave it for a decade and the follicle eventually dies; once it’s gone, only a hair transplant can put hair back. The single biggest predictor of a good outcome is simply how soon you start.

What actually slows or reverses it

For pattern loss, the evidence-backed options are well established: finasteride to lower the DHT that drives miniaturisation, minoxidil to extend the growth phase and improve blood supply to the follicle, and — where loss is advanced — surgical restoration. For reversible causes, fixing the underlying deficiency or removing the trigger is usually enough. What doesn’t reliably work is the shelf of shampoos and supplements promising miracles; a few help at the margins, but none replace a proper diagnosis.

Will it definitely get worse?

Untreated pattern hair loss is progressive — it tends to continue, though the speed varies enormously from person to person. Family history gives a rough guide to where you might end up, but it isn’t destiny. What you do next matters more than your genes: starting treatment while you still have hair to protect changes the trajectory in a way that waiting never can.

When to see a specialist

Book an assessment if your hair loss is sudden or patchy, if it comes with itching, redness or scaling, if it’s affecting how you feel day to day, or simply if you want to know exactly what’s happening before it progresses. A consultation costs nothing and replaces guesswork with a clear answer.

Men and women: the same hormone, different patterns

Androgenetic loss is driven by DHT in both sexes, but it shows up differently. Men typically lose along the hairline and crown, following the recognisable Norwood pattern. Women far more often see diffuse thinning across the top with a widening parting, while keeping the frontal hairline — which is exactly why female hair loss is so often misread, including by GPs. Women are also more likely to have a hormonal or nutritional driver layered on top, so testing matters even more.

Common questions

Is it normal to lose some hair every day? Yes — shedding 50 to 100 hairs a day is completely normal. It only signals a problem when the hair growing back is thinner than what fell out, or when you’re shedding noticeably more than usual.

Can stress alone make my hair fall out? It can, through telogen effluvium, but stress-driven shedding is usually temporary and recovers. If thinning persists for more than six months, an underlying cause is more likely.

If it runs in my family, is it inevitable? A genetic tendency makes pattern loss likely, but how far it progresses — and how fast — is heavily influenced by when you start treatment. Acting early is the one lever that consistently changes the outcome.

The Norwood Scale Explained

Female Hair Loss — Why It’s Different

Can Stress Cause Hair Loss?