april 10 2011151 everyone loses hair it happens during your morning shower while youre blowing it dry or when you give it a quick brushand thats normal on average we lose fifty to a hundred hairs a day says francesca fusco md a new york city dermatologist who specializes in hair loss thats just hair going through its cycles and there will be a new one to replace it but hair loss may be a sign of a more serious medical condition that needs an evaluation by a dermatologist and possible treatment here are nine causes of hair loss and how to deal with them telogen effluvium telogen effluvium is a phenomenon that occurs after pregnancy major surgery drastic weight loss or extreme stress in which you shed large amounts of hair every day usually when shampooing styling or brushing it can also be a side effect of certain medications such as antidepressants betablockers and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs during telogen effluvium hair shifts faster than normal from its growing phase into the resting phase before moving quickly into the shedding or telogen phase the symptoms women with telogen effluvium typically notice hair loss 6 weeks to 3 months after a stressful event at its peak you may lose handfuls of hair the tests there are no tests for telogen effluvium but your doctor may ask you about recent life events and look for small club shaped bulbs on the fallen hairs roots the bulbs mean the hair has gone through a complete cycle of growth suggesting that the cycle may have sped up due to stress what you can do in some cases such as pregnancy or major surgery you may have to bide your time until the hair loss slows if medication is the culprit talk to your doctor about lowering your dosage or switching drugs if its stressrelated do your best to reduce anxiety hereditary hair loss hair loss that is genetic is known as androgenetic alopecia and according to the american academy of dermatology is the most common cause of hair loss the gene can be inherited from either your mothers or fathers side of the family though youre more likely to have it if both of your parents had hair loss the symptoms women with this trait tend to develop thinning at the hairline behind the bangs says pamela jakubowicz md a dermatologist at montefiore medical center in new york city the condition develops slowly and may start as early as your 20s you may be vulnerable if your mother also has this pattern of thinning in some cases the hair loss may be diffuse meaning its spread across the entire scalp the tests your dermatologist will examine the pattern of hair loss to determine if its hereditary and may order blood work to rule out other causes dr jakubowicz says a biopsy of your scalp is sometimes done to see if the hair follicles have been replaced with miniaturized follicles a surefire sign of