Q:  I am a 26 years old female experiencing excessive hair loss for the past two months. I have oily medium length hair. I have tried some hair loss control shampoos and they have been of little help and in turn now I have dandruff too. Please help.

A:The growth of hair is cyclical. It is divided into three phases - anagen (growing), catagen (dying) and telogen (resting) phase. The length of each phase varies with body region. On scalp the anagen phase is the largest and can be from 2 years to more than 8 years. Therefore, shedding of hair from different parts of the body is a normal phenomenon. On the scalp, a normal individual can loose up to 100 hairs per day. Only if it is more than this, then only we shall be justified in saying that there is excessive hair loss. This can occur in a number of internal disorders, in deficiencies for example of iron, and even in stress. Effective therapy will depend upon correct assessment of the problem and work-up.