Female Hair Loss

Statistics show that it is not just men who suffer from hair loss but women also. In fact by the time the reach the age of 50 roughly about half of all women have reported some kind of hair loss. Hair loss may be doubly worrying in women as they are not sure when it is going to stop and whether it is just temporary. In women hair loss often occurs with life stress such as menopause and excess worrying. The lack of hair in a women will affect the way she percieves herself and may undermine her confidence and well being.

An experienced Dermatologist who spoke at the AGM of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) discussed commonest forms of hair loss for females and said that a woman is less likely than a man to know why she is losing hair and some go online to try and find treatment, which are often bogus due to the lack of regulation on the Internet.

The most important step for a women who thinks she is suffering from hair loss is to visit a dermatologist. A good dermatologist will diagnose the reason and hopefully a cure for hair loss. An experienced dermatologist is essential as different racial groups suffer from different types of hair loss, for example caucasian females tend to suffer from telogen effluvium which causes loss of hair all over the head.

In this case hair is lost during the brushing or shampooing of the hair and it is a result of thyroid problems, hormones, poor nutrition, adverse medication or just simply age. This form of hair loss is also evident in women following pregnancy. Dermatologists say that the treatment for telogen effluvium must be connected with finding the root cause of the thing that started the hair loss in the first place.

Caucasian females also suffer from female pattern hair loss. This rare condition may start with teenagers and takes the form of hair loss on the top of the head. These hairs become thinner and the overall hair volume is much reduced. Some of the females who have female pattern hair loss suffer from hirsutism that is when women get hair on their face, severe acne and irregular menstruation.

Female pattern hair loss is often the result of androgen sensitivity and should have blood tests to check the androgen level in the blood. If there are irregular hormonal levels then this needs to be dealt with first.

Minoxidil applied to the scalp can be used for female pattern hair loss and like with men it requires many months and patience before results set in. Female pattern hair loss is curable on the whole except in a few rare cases, and the earlier you deal with the problem the better.