Six Questions to Work Out What to Do Next

No, and it is not designed to be. It points you towards the kind of problem your answers suggest and tells you what to do next. Hair loss is diagnosed by examining a scalp, taking a history and sometimes running blood tests, none of which a webpage can do.

No. Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is transmitted to us, nothing is saved, and you do not need to enter any personal details to use it. Closing the page discards it.

Because timing is often the most useful diagnostic clue available. Shedding that began a few months after a birth, an illness, surgery, a crash diet or a period of severe stress points somewhere quite different from a hairline that has receded gradually over five years.

Because well-defined patches of complete hair loss suggest something other than pattern baldness, and the distinction changes everything that follows. It is also the presentation where being sold a hair transplant does real harm.

That depends on your history and examination, which is why the tool does not list them. Iron studies and thyroid function come up frequently, with hormonal and other tests where indicated. What is worth checking in your case is decided at the consultation.

Not nothing — get it assessed. Some shedding does recover, particularly after pregnancy, illness or a major stressor. But it is worth confirming that is what is happening and checking for anything else contributing, rather than assuming and losing months.

Get it confirmed by examination, because other things can look similar, and start treatment early if that is the diagnosis. Pattern hair loss is progressive, and the hair you keep is easier to hold onto than the hair you have already lost is to get back.

Yes, and the routing differs, because female hair loss has a wider differential and more frequently has a treatable cause. If you are a woman, the follow-on reading is women's hair loss treatment rather than the general pages.

Shedding some hair daily is normal and varies between people. What matters more than counting is change — noticeably more than usual for you, over a defined period, or a visible change in your parting, hairline or density.

Test before you take. Supplements correct a deficiency if you have one and do very little if you do not, and some things are harmful in excess. Taking them before testing can also make a deficiency harder to interpret later.

Certain combinations — a painful, inflamed or scarring scalp, or sudden extensive loss — warrant prompt assessment rather than a booking in a few months. Some scalp conditions permanently destroy follicles if left, and time matters with those.

No. It is a way of arriving at a consultation better prepared, with a clearer sense of what to ask and what information to bring. It replaces guesswork, not examination.

A list of every medicine and supplement you take, any recent blood results, photographs showing how your hair looked before, and the dates — when it started and what else was happening around then.

Then the tool is not describing your situation, which is a limitation of any questionnaire rather than a sign that nothing is wrong. Book an assessment and describe it in your own words.