Here’s My Stats — Why Is My Hair Falling Out?

Dr. Rassman,

1. 18 Year old male
2. Hair loss started around the age of 13
3. This was when i first started geling my hair
4. This occured with dandruff
5. After a while this stopped, although hair remained very thin and became see through when wet
6. About 1 month ago, started to loose about 20 to 30 hairs every time i shampooed or brushed my hair (no dandruff)
7. Individual hairs can be pulled out fairly easily
8. Started using a new hair gel a few weeks before the problem started
9. During the period between my previous hair loss and now, i used gel in small amounts but these did not have any effect
10. My hair gets very oily and weak when my nails grow for more than a week without trimming
11. I had a blood test done and this only showed a very mild iron deficiency which the doctor said was not enough to make the hair fall out
12. I had a very high fever about 4 months ago (New Year’s Eve)
13. No history of hair loss in the family

Can you think of any reason why this is occuring and if so, is it treatable?

1. At 18 years old you may have the beginning of male pattern hair loss
2. At 13 years old, as your puperty hit, you may have had some juvenile hair loss or a change in your hair character which is normal (not male pattern hair loss)
3. Using a hair product, such as gel, does not cause or accelerate hair loss
4. Dandruff is not associated with male pattern hair loss
5. 20 to 30 hair loss during a shower is normal (we lose about 100 hair a day)
6. Stop pulling at your hair, it will cause permanent hair loss
7. Again, using hair styling products does not cause hair loss
8. Oily hair is not related to hair loss (you can try using shampoo for oily hair)
9. Your doctor was right — mild iron deficiency does not generally cause hair loss and it is easy to correct
10. High fever on New Year’s Eve won’t generally cause hair loss. Any one day is no worse than any other day
11. No, family history does not necessarily mean you will not have male pattern hair loss (there is no absolute rule)

If you had a complete medical workup and you are still concerned about hair loss, you should make an appointment with a hair doctor (a good dermatologist) to map your scalp hair with a densitometer to look for miniaturization and pattern of hair loss.