Your information on female hair loss was helpful, but the information on teenage female hair loss was not as informative. I’m fifteen, and I feel I need more information. When I was a child, I had thick hair. When I was around seven, I cut it short. It was still thick then. Around seventh grade I decided to grow it back out, but still, it was thick then. When I started my freshman year in high school, though, mid-year, it began to thin. It has shown no sign of stopping, and it does worry me. My ponytail has significantly gone down in size. I can’t wear my hair down without having loose strands cover my back – which is not popular at school. Plus, I lose an extreme amount of hair each time I shower – at least fifty strands. My hair is also lackluster in shine, and crooked and crinkled when it falls out. My mother took me to a doctor, who told me it was not my thyroid level. A week or two ago, my father told me to start taking vitamins and trying to eat better – the latter of which is hard, when you go to high school. Personally, though, I’m not sure that I believe this is a diet issue. If it was, why wouldn’t it affect more teenage girls at my school? I wish to know if there are medical conditions that I might have that give a symptom of hair loss, and possibly also slight depression – I have noticed that my mood seems to be getting worse and worse. I am also on birth control, which I noticed you said might cause problems… but it shouldn’t, because I have been having hair loss much longer than I’ve been on birth control. I just want to know what I could have, and how I can get this to stop.
You need to have a good doctor do a thorough work-up on you. There is no way I can help you without getting a full opportunity to get a good history (including detailed dietary history) and a full examination of your scalp and hair for miniaturization. This will determine the health of your hair and your overall health. There are no shortcuts and no internet site that can get you what you want, because what you need is a good doctor (one who is interested in this field) first. Also, look through the Female Hair Loss category, as there are many posts that discuss the various conditions and tests that are part of what a good doctor will be able to perform on you.