Markham · North York · Ontario, Canada

Hair Loss: Signs, Types and Causes

Most people notice something is changing long before they know what it is. This page helps you work out whether what you are seeing is normal shedding or something worth having looked at — and which type of hair loss it is most likely to be.

It is written by our clinical team at DrHairs, where we assess hair loss in men and women at two Ontario clinics:
Markham (on Warden Avenue just north of Steeles) and
North York (inside Centerpoint Mall at Yonge and Steeles).

No treatment is sold on this page. If you already know what is happening and want to compare your options, go to our
hair restoration guide instead.

Is my shedding normal?
When to see someone

50–100 Hairs
Lost daily is normal
Free Assessment
Hair & scalp check
No Referral Needed
Direct appointment
2 Ontario Clinics
Markham & North York

Start here

How much hair loss is normal in a day?

Losing roughly 50 to 100 hairs a day is normal. It sounds like a lot until you consider that a typical scalp carries around 100,000 hair follicles — so a hundred hairs is about a tenth of one percent of what is on your head.

50–100Hairs shed on a normal day
~100,000Follicles on a typical scalp
~10%Of follicles resting at any time

Hair grows in cycles rather than all at once. At any given moment most of your follicles are actively growing and around a tenth are resting or preparing to shed. That is why some daily shedding is not just normal but necessary — old hairs have to release before new ones come through.

Why it can look like more than it is

Two things exaggerate what you see. Longer hair is far more visible in a drain or on a pillow than short hair, even when the count is identical. And if you wash your hair every few days rather than daily, several days of already-loose hairs come out at once — which looks alarming and is not.

The number that matters is not the count on any one day. It is whether it has changed. A handful in the shower that has always been a handful is normal. A handful where there used to be three or four strands is worth paying attention to.

Check it yourself

How can I tell if I am losing hair?

There are four things you can check at home in about ten minutes. None of them is a diagnosis, but together they tell you whether what you are seeing is worth having assessed.

1. The gentle pull test

   On dry, clean hair that has not been washed for a day, take a small section — roughly forty to sixty strands — between your thumb and fingers close to the scalp, and pull gently and steadily along the length. Two or three hairs coming away is normal. Consistently getting more than about six, from several different areas of the scalp, suggests active shedding worth assessing. Repeat at the front, the crown and the sides, because where it comes away matters as much as how much.

2. The part-width check

   Part your hair in the same place, in the same light, and photograph it straight down from above. Repeat once a month. A part that is visibly widening over three to six months is one of the earliest reliable signs of pattern thinning, particularly in women — and it is far easier to see in two photographs side by side than in the mirror day to day.

3. The old photograph comparison

   Find a photo of yourself from three to five years ago at a similar angle. Hairline changes happen so gradually that they are almost invisible in daily life. This is often the moment people realise how much has changed, and it is genuinely useful information to bring to an assessment.

4. The texture check

   Compare hairs from the thinning area with hairs from the back of your head, near the nape. If the ones at the front or crown are noticeably finer, shorter or lighter in colour, that suggests miniaturisation — follicles producing progressively weaker hairs. This is the hallmark of pattern hair loss, and it can be present before any bald area appears.

What these checks cannot tell you

They cannot distinguish between the different causes, and several types of hair loss look similar in the early stages while needing completely different responses. They are a reason to get assessed, not a substitute for it. Our hair and scalp assessment is free at both clinics.

The distinction that matters

What is the difference between hair shedding and hair loss?

Shedding means hairs are falling out but the follicles are still producing replacements. Hair loss means the follicles have stopped producing, or are producing progressively weaker hairs. Shedding often resolves. Loss usually does not, without intervention.

The distinction matters because the two need opposite responses. Excessive shedding usually points to a trigger — illness, stress, a medication change, childbirth, an iron or thyroid problem — which is worth identifying and often correctable. Pattern loss is a gradual, progressive process that does not resolve on its own.

If your shedding started fairly suddenly and you can point to something that happened two or three months earlier, that timing is one of the most useful pieces of information you can bring to an assessment.

Recognising the signs

What are the signs of hair loss?

Seven changes are worth paying attention to. Some point toward pattern hair loss, others toward something that needs medical assessment rather than cosmetic treatment.

Receding hairline or temple recession

A hairline that gradually moves back, usually deeper at the corners. Commonly associated with male pattern hair loss, though a maturing hairline can look similar — see below.

Crown thinning

Reduced density at the vertex, often starting as a small area that widens. Can occur on its own or alongside a receding hairline.

A widening part

More scalp visible along the parting, or across the top. Frequently the first sign of female pattern hair loss, and the easiest one to track with monthly photographs.

Diffuse thinning

Density falling across a broad area rather than in a defined patch. More often linked to hormonal, medical, nutritional or stress-related factors than to genetics alone.

Increased shedding

Noticeably more hair in the shower, on the pillow or in a brush than is usual for you. The change from your own normal matters more than the count.

Patchy loss

Round, oval or irregular bald areas appearing over weeks. This warrants medical assessment before any cosmetic treatment is considered.

Scalp symptoms

Hair loss with redness, scale, itching, burning, tenderness or visible scarring. These need medical evaluation — see the section on when to seek help.

Men

What is the Norwood scale?

The Norwood scale is the standard seven-stage classification used to describe how male pattern hair loss progresses. It tracks two areas separately: the frontal zone at the temples and hairline, and the vertex at the crown.

It is a description, not a prediction. Plenty of men lose a little at the temples and stop there permanently, and not everyone moves through every stage. What the scale is genuinely useful for is giving you and a clinician the same vocabulary, and giving you a baseline to measure against later.

Your stage is less important than your direction of travel. A stable man at stage 4 and a man moving quickly from 2 to 3 in eighteen months are in very different situations, and the second one is the more urgent conversation.

Women

What is the Ludwig scale?

The Ludwig scale describes female pattern hair loss in three stages, based on how much density has been lost across the top of the scalp. Unlike the Norwood scale it does not track a receding hairline, because in women the frontal hairline usually stays in place while density thins behind it.

Female pattern hair loss is diffuse rather than patterned in the way male loss is, which is why the widening part is such a reliable early marker and why photographs taken from directly above are so much more useful than the mirror.

One important difference: female pattern hair loss more often has a contributing factor that can be found and treated — thyroid function, iron stores, or a hormonal shift such as postpartum, PCOS or menopause. That is why assessment matters more here, and why a widening part deserves investigation rather than resignation.

A common confusion

Is my hairline receding, or just maturing?

Most men’s hairlines move back slightly between their late teens and mid-twenties. This is called a maturing hairline, it happens to the majority of men, and it is not hair loss. Telling it apart from early pattern recession is the question we are asked more than any other by younger patients.

Usually a maturing hairline

The whole hairline moves back a small, even amount — roughly a centimetre or so — keeping a fairly straight shape. It happens once, over a couple of years in your late teens or early twenties, and then stops. Density behind the hairline stays full, and the hairs at the hairline are the same thickness as the rest.

More likely early recession

The corners move back further and faster than the centre, creating a deepening M shape. It keeps going rather than settling. The hairs along the new hairline are finer, shorter or wispier than the hair behind them, and there may be thinning at the crown as well.

The single most useful thing you can do is take a photograph now and another in six months, from the same angle in the same light. A maturing hairline will look the same. Recession will not.

The texture check described earlier applies here too: if the hairs at your hairline are visibly finer than those at the back of your head, that points to miniaturisation rather than maturation — and that is worth having assessed rather than waiting out.

Classification

What are the main types of hair loss?

Hair loss is not one condition. The type determines whether the right next step is monitoring, medical evaluation or a discussion about restoration — and some of these need a doctor before anything cosmetic is considered.

The two broad categories are non-scarring, where the follicle survives and regrowth remains possible, and scarring, where the follicle is progressively destroyed and lost hair cannot return. That distinction matters more than any other on this page.

Androgenetic alopecia

Hereditary pattern hair loss, and by a wide margin the most common type in both men and women. Genetically susceptible follicles react to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by shortening their growth cycle, producing progressively finer and shorter hairs — a process called miniaturisation. Non-scarring, gradual, and progressive without intervention.

Male pattern hair loss

Androgenetic alopecia following the Norwood pattern: temple recession, a receding hairline, crown thinning, or loss across the top. It can begin as early as the late teens, and where it starts young the extent by the mid-thirties is often considerable.

Female pattern hair loss

Diffuse thinning and reduced density across the top, following the Ludwig pattern, with the frontal hairline usually preserved. More often has a contributing hormonal, nutritional or medical factor alongside genetics, which is why assessment matters before treatment.

Telogen effluvium

Increased shedding that typically appears two to three months after a trigger — illness, high fever, surgery, childbirth, significant stress, a medication change or a nutritional problem. Non-scarring, and it frequently resolves once the trigger passes. Persistent shedding should be assessed to identify what is driving it.

Alopecia areata

An autoimmune condition producing round or oval patches of loss, sometimes appearing over a matter of weeks. It can affect the scalp, beard, eyebrows or other areas. Non-scarring, so regrowth is possible — but it needs assessment by an appropriately qualified medical professional, not a cosmetic procedure.

Traction alopecia

Caused by sustained tension on the follicles from tight braids, ponytails, weaves, extensions or hair-system attachments. Recognised early it is often reversible. Left for years, the tension can destroy follicles permanently, at which point it becomes scarring. Early recognition genuinely changes the outcome.

Scarring (cicatricial) alopecias

A group of inflammatory conditions in which the follicle is progressively destroyed and replaced with scar tissue, meaning lost hair cannot regrow. Warning signs include pain, burning, itching, redness, scale, pustules or a smooth shiny area with no visible follicle openings. These require prompt medical evaluation — treatment aims to stop progression, and time matters.

CCCA

Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia is a scarring type that begins at the crown and spreads outward. It affects women of African descent disproportionately and is frequently mistaken for ordinary thinning for years before it is diagnosed. Because it is scarring, early medical assessment matters a great deal — anyone noticing crown thinning with tenderness, itching or a smooth patch should have it looked at rather than treated cosmetically.

The American Academy of Dermatology publishes further information on the different types and why accurate diagnosis matters.

Contributing factors

What causes hair loss?

There is no single cause. Genetics, hormones, medical conditions, medication, nutrition, stress and how you treat your hair can all affect the growth cycle — and in a lot of people more than one is involved at the same time.

Genetics and hormones

Inherited sensitivity to DHT is the most common driver of progressive pattern hair loss, and it can come from either side of the family. Hormonal changes around pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, thyroid conditions or PCOS can also affect the growth cycle, particularly in women.

Medical conditions and medication

Autoimmune, endocrine, dermatological and other health conditions can contribute. So can a range of medications. If your shedding started within a few months of a new prescription or a change in dose, that connection is worth raising with the prescribing doctor rather than assuming it is unrelated.

Stress, illness and surgery

Significant physical or emotional stress, a high fever, serious illness or an operation can trigger increased shedding — typically two to three months afterwards, which is long enough that most people do not connect the two. That delay is characteristic, and recognising it often explains the whole picture.

Nutrition

Inadequate intake or absorption of certain nutrients can affect hair growth, particularly after rapid weight loss, restrictive eating or a gastrointestinal condition. Supplements are not a general solution, though: taking more of something you are not short of does not help, and some nutrients cause problems in excess rather than deficiency. Testing before supplementing is the sensible order.

Scalp conditions

Inflammation, infection, irritation and other scalp conditions affect the environment around the follicle. The underlying condition needs identifying and treating before any cosmetic decision is made.

Hair-care practices

Tight hairstyles, repeated tension, extensions, excessive heat and chemical processing contribute to breakage and traction-related loss. Unlike genetic loss, this category is largely preventable — and reversible if caught before the follicles are permanently damaged.

The science

How does the hair growth cycle work?

Every follicle moves through a repeating four-phase cycle independently of its neighbours. That independence is why you shed a little every day rather than losing everything at once, and why disruptions to the cycle show up as shedding months after the event that caused them.

1. Anagen — the growth phase

   The follicle actively produces a hair. Most follicles are in this phase at any given time, and it can last several years. How long your anagen phase runs is largely what determines how long your hair can grow.

2. Catagen — the transition phase

   A short phase of a few weeks during which growth stops and the follicle begins to shrink and detach from its blood supply.

3. Telogen — the resting phase

   Lasting around three months. The hair stays in place but is no longer growing. Roughly a tenth of your follicles are here at any moment.

4. Exogen — the shedding phase

   The resting hair is released as a new anagen hair begins beneath it. This is the 50 to 100 hairs a day that everybody loses.

Where it goes wrong

In telogen effluvium, a trigger pushes an unusually large number of follicles into the resting phase at once — and because that phase lasts about three months, the shedding appears months after the event. In androgenetic alopecia the problem is different: each anagen phase gets progressively shorter, so hairs grow finer and shorter each cycle until they no longer surface visibly. That is miniaturisation, and it is why pattern hair loss shows up as thinning long before anything looks bald.

A note on safety

When should hair loss be medically assessed?

Most hair loss is not urgent. Some of it is. If any of the following apply to you, speak to a doctor or dermatologist before considering any cosmetic treatment — including ours.

• It came on suddenly or is progressing quickly
• It is appearing in round or irregular patches
• Your scalp is painful, red, scaly, itchy, burning or inflamed
• There are smooth, shiny areas with no visible follicle openings — a possible sign of scarring
• It comes with other physical symptoms such as fatigue, weight change or changes to your cycle
• Your eyebrows, eyelashes or other body hair are affected
• It started after a medication change
• The person affected is a child
• It is causing you significant distress
• It is continuing and you do not know why

The reason this matters is straightforward. Scarring alopecias destroy follicles permanently, and treatment aims to stop progression rather than restore what is gone — so time is the variable that matters most. Alopecia areata, thyroid disease and other conditions need medical management, not a cosmetic procedure. Treating any of these as ordinary thinning delays the care that would actually help.

The Mayo Clinic recommends seeking medical advice for persistent, sudden or patchy hair loss. If you come to us with any of the signs above, we will tell you the same thing.

What happens next

What happens at a hair and scalp assessment?

The assessment establishes what type of hair loss you have, how far it has progressed and whether anything needs medical attention. It is free at both clinics, takes under an hour, and does not commit you to treatment.

1. Your history

   When you first noticed it, whether it came on gradually or suddenly, which areas are affected, whether shedding is continuing, what you have already tried, and whether hair loss runs in your family.

2. Hair and scalp examination

   Pattern of loss, scalp condition, existing density, hair calibre, areas of reduced coverage, and the state of the donor area where surgery might later be relevant.

3. Health and lifestyle review

   Medical history, current medications and supplements, recent illness or surgery, hormonal changes, stress, nutrition and hair-care practices.

4. Baseline photographs

   Taken from consistent angles so that change can be measured objectively later rather than guessed at.

5. What we found, and what it means

   The likely type and stage, whether further medical evaluation is appropriate, and which categories of treatment may or may not suit you. Not everyone experiencing hair loss is a candidate for every treatment, and some people are not candidates for any of them.

Two things are genuinely useful to bring: a list of your medications and supplements, and a photograph of your hair from a few years ago.

If treatment turns out to be appropriate, you can compare the options on our hair restoration page, which sets out every treatment we offer alongside our published prices.

What we do

Treatments available at DrHairs

Once we know what type of hair loss you have and how far it has progressed, these are the options we can discuss. Which of them suit you depends entirely on what the assessment finds — and for some patients the answer is that none of them are appropriate yet.

Hair transplant

FUE and FUT surgery, for areas where hair no longer grows. Performed by a physician.

PRP therapy

A regenerative treatment prepared from your own blood, for thinning that is still active.

Blood testing and naturopathic care

For shedding that may be driven by thyroid, iron, hormonal or nutritional factors.

Laser therapy

Low-level light therapy used to support follicles that are still producing hair.

TED regeneration

A needle-free scalp treatment delivering topical compounds into the scalp.

Scalp micropigmentation

Pigment that creates the appearance of density. Cosmetic — it grows no hair.

Each of these does a different job, and no single one is better than the others in the abstract. Surgery replaces hair that has already been lost; the non-surgical options support follicles that are still alive; medical assessment addresses causes that sit inside the body rather than on the scalp.

Compare every option, with our published pricing →

Where to find us

Hair loss assessment in Markham and North York

Two clinics in Ontario, both offering the same free hair and scalp assessment. No referral needed.

York Region

DrHairs Markham

7080 Warden Avenue, Unit B3
Markham, Ontario L3R 1S2, Canada

Where: Warden Avenue just north of Steeles Avenue East, near Pacific Mall and First Markham Place
Driving: Minutes from Highway 404 and Highway 407 · free on-site parking
Transit: York Region Transit Warden route · Milliken GO Station nearby
Hours: Mon–Fri 9:00am–6:00pm · Sat 10:00am–4:00pm

(905) 604-0802
Directions

City of Toronto

DrHairs North York

Centerpoint Mall, 6464 Yonge Street, Unit 116
North York, Ontario M2M 3X4, Canada

Where: Inside Centerpoint Mall at Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue West
Driving: Short drive from Highway 401 · free mall parking
Transit: TTC Line 1 to Finch Station, then north on Yonge · YRT stops outside
Hours: Mon–Fri 9:00am–6:00pm · Sat 10:00am–4:00pm

(647) 568-0000
Directions

Patients travel to us from across Markham, Unionville, Milliken, Middlefield, Armadale, Berczy Village and Cornell; from Willowdale, Newtonbrook, Bayview Village, Hillcrest Village and Bathurst Manor in North York; and from Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Vaughan, Scarborough, Agincourt, Aurora, Newmarket, Stouffville, Pickering and Ajax. These are the communities our two Ontario clinics serve, not additional clinic locations.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Next step

Find out what is actually happening

If something has changed and you are not sure what it means, a hair and scalp assessment will tell you the type, the stage, and whether anything needs medical attention. It is free at both clinics, takes under an hour, and does not commit you to treatment.

If the assessment finds nothing that needs treating, we will tell you that too.

Book a free assessment
Markham (905) 604-0802
North York (647) 568-0000

This page provides general educational information about hair loss and does not replace diagnosis or personalised medical advice. Hair loss has many possible causes and several types can appear similar in their early stages while requiring very different care. Sudden, patchy, painful, inflamed or rapidly progressing hair loss should be assessed by a qualified medical professional. Individual circumstances and outcomes vary.