There are many factors that lead to hair loss, among these are hormones, stress, heredity, diet, and illness. Some of these like stress, diet and illness are of a more temporary nature and once conditions improve you will see that your hair is growing normally once again.

Hormones and heredity are of a different matter. With heredity, the condition is irreversible. Being a product of your parents is something I am sure you have heard before, and with hair loss, it is often inherited. Now with hormones the effects will usually differ form person to person.

With males, testosterone is produced in abundance. There are enzymes that alter testosterone, this in turn produces something called DHT. DHT is known to be present in the blood and also it can cause other conditions, the shrinking of the hair follicles is one of these. If a hair follicle shrinks, enough it will be unable to grow or produce new hair. With the old hair dying constantly falling, it will not be replaced as is normally the case.

Now with women you will find that a hormonal imbalance can be a cause of hair loss. Menopause, pregnancy, and childbirth can all cause hormonal changes that can lead to both mental and physical effects. They may also lead to hair loss of either a temporary or a permanent nature.

Products used for hair regrowth and hair loss have been used for centuries. In the ancient times, many different herbal and oil based remedies were made by the American Indians, Aztecs, Mayans and Egyptians, all with varying degrees of effectiveness.

For the most part, medical research has been focusing on ways to help to reopen and stimulate the hair follicles that are “dead”. The hair would then grow as it would normally and also helps to avoid damaging the still healthy hair follicles. This has lead to a number of products being available both over the counter and also by prescription.

There is one ingredient in particular that many hair loss products include and that is minoxidil. It has been shown in research studies that this helps about 80% of the time to slow hair loss and in some actually helps to re grow hair. The most well known of these would have to be Rogaine.

Another product that contains minoxidil is Provillus, and it has also proven very effective in studies. The primary different between this and other products that are similar, is that they have added Azelaic Acid, this appears to enhance the repair of the hair follicle in both men and women.