Female Hair Loss
Causes of Temporary and Permanent Female Hair Loss
Most often the hair loss in women is little more difficult to diagnose than in men. And treatment is there for most of the cases of women hair loss. One of the most common reasons for female hair loss is androgenetic alopecia – which is an inherited sensitivity to the effects of male hormones on hair follicles. Androgenetic alopecia is a term which is used less when women are considered nowadays and as a broader term female pattern hair loss is used. Female pattern hair loss may be caused due to surplus or deficient of testosterone. However, androgenetic alopecia does not develop to total baldness in women as it does in men.
Women and Hair Loss - Causes
More and more women experience hair loss nowadays. The reasons for female hair loss are quite different from what causes balding in men. Female hair loss pattern can begin in the puberty. Precise diagnosis is required and treatment done to prevent permanent hair loss. Some of the common causes of female hair loss are:
Trichotillomania: This is a psychological problem where a woman keeps pulling her hair. Hair loss can be prevented only after addressing the emotional problems of the woman.
Scarring alopecia: This is common in African and Asian women where the hair is tightly braided and pulled back. This causes hair to break from the middle. The roots of such tightly braided hair become weak over a period of time leaving patches of baldness in the scalp.
There is also loss of hair in women due to hormonal or stress related problems. In this phase, the hair sits loosely on the scalp and can be uprooted with a slight tug. This type of female hair loss is known as telogen effluvium where the natural growth system is affected due to childbirth, crash dieting, surgery or emotional distress. This phase can be prevented and shredding stopped with proper medication, psychological help and proper diet.
Some women experience hair loss after parturition. The condition becomes normal when nursing of baby is discontinued.
There is always a big chance that hair loss is hereditary and someone in the family like parents, grandparents suffers from hair loss. Medication like chemotherapy, illness that needs special diet can be other causes of hair loss. Diabetics tend to lose hair because of the reaction of diabetes medicines.
Female hair loss is much more unacceptable than male hair loss. In women, panic may further hasten hair loss. It is always advisable to remain calm and deal with reducing or preventing hair loss with a cool mind. There are millions of women who suffer from hair loss and there are ways to overcome and deal with the problem. |
