While we often see commercials and advertisements that deal with men’s hair loss, women can lose or have thinning hair too. For women, the stigma around hair loss can cause embarrassment and anxiety. Women are used to being able to have their hair and hair style reflect their mood and personality. Hair loss among women is more common that you might think: about one in three women will suffer hair loss or reduced volume in their lifetime. Here are 4 reasons women lose their hair.
Androgenic Alopecia or Female Pattern Baldness
Androgenic Alopecia is the technical term for what many people call male pattern baldness (MPB). The common name is misleading because this type of alopecia can affect both men and women. This genetic condition accounts for about 95% of all hair loss. Female pattern baldness can be the result of an increase of hormones that produce DHT. DHT causes hair follicles to shrink, which minimizes the appearance of hair. The final stage causes the follicles to shrink so much that the hair falls out and does not grow back. While men experience hair loss on the crown of the head, women usually experience loss along their part and a general thinning of the hair. Without intervention, this type of hair loss is permanent without intervention.
Hormonal Imbalances
Women experience hormonal imbalances as a part of everyday life, and especially as a part of aging. Female hormones help regulate the growth cycles of hair, keeping hair long and thick. An imbalance of those hormones can cause hair thinning and loss. The presence of male hormones, due to ovarian cysts or endocrine disorder for example, can cause hair loss and thinning much in the same way that female pattern baldness does. Stress can also cause these hormonal imbalances. Again, an increase in male hormones in a woman can cause not only hair loss, but dandruff and digestive issues, which can also contribute to unhealthy hair. These types of hair loss can be temporary, and may only require temporary solutions.
Age
Menopause: it’s something women usually don’t want to talk about, but can have huge impacts on the body. As people age, our hair gets thinner as a part of the aging process. For women leading up to menopause, hair can stop growing, become thinner, and even fall out more rapidly. This is a natural process, but it can still be frustrating for women and cause them to lose confidence in their appearance. However, there are solutions for this type of hair thinning. Some women choose to starting wearing wigs to eliminate the appearance of thinner hair.
Medications
Chemotherapy is a medication that is very well-known to cause hair loss in people of all ages. About four in ten women will develop a form of cancer during their lifetime, and breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States among men and women. Chemotherapy damages fast-growing cells, including hair follicles. This causes hair to fall out. The effects are usually temporary, but many patients feel that the loss can drawn unwanted attention to their illness. A host of other medications can also cause hair loss, including anticoagulants, high blood pressure medications like beta-blockers and ACE-inhibitors, birth control pills, thyroid medications, diabetes medications, and antidepressants. Wigs are a great solution for this type of temporary hair loss.
If you’re experiencing hair loss and want to explore solutions, contact us for a free consultation today. We offer a range of Baltimore hair replacement services at affordable pricing.
