The shock sets in when you find your shower drain clogged with hair... or your pillow covered with scads of loose hairs.

Could it be that you're losing your hair? It's hard to believe -- that only happens to men, or does it? Although hair loss is not generally associated with women, it's a significant, serious, and widespread female health problem -- one that causes embarrassment, frustration, depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem, even marriage problems. It can make you feel older and more self-conscious, too, plus you tend to worry excessively about how to conceal your hair loss.

If your once-thick hair is falling out in clumps, or if you've got bald patches peeking out from your scalp, you're not alone. More than 20 million women in the United States alone -- 40 percent of them under age forty -- are suffering from hair loss.

If your hair has started to thin out, take heart. You can do something about it. There are more options available than ever before to prevent and treat hair loss. A vast number of prescription medications have been scientifically shown to slow down, even reverse, hair loss. Newer, over-the-counter potions offer hope, too, when before there was none. What's more, huge advances have been made in surgical procedures, such as hair transplantation and scalp reduction, to help restore your hair to its former crowning glory. This is an exciting time in the treatment of hair loss!