Men find it very difficult to come to terms with their falling hair but we can easily imagine how much more difficult it would be for a woman to come to terms with hair loss.
Yet, women also suffer from hair loss, though the hair fall patterns are different from those of men. But it is a fact that women do suffer from hair loss. We will examine here the causes of hair loss in women and its possible treatments.
One of the most common forms of hair loss in women is a general thinning of hair all around the scalp. This condition, which may arise as a reaction to some medicines or due to extreme stress on the body, is called telogen effluvian. This condition arises quite suddenly and there is a general shedding of hair. Generally it gets better on its own, but for some women, it may become a chronic problem.
The hair loss due to telogen effluvian is due to the disturbance of growth cycles of hair. The hair growth passes through two stages - the growth phase and the resting phase. The telogen elluvian arises due to the prolongation of the resting phase. Due to extreme stress or prolonged illness, a large number of hairs may remain in the resting phase. When new hairs start growing they push out the old hair and one witnesses a falling of hair. However, new hairs grow back in three or four months' time and again there will be a thickening of hair. So this is not a permanent disorder and almost everyone witnesses this phenomenon some time or the other in his or her lifetime.
Another kind of condition relating to hair loss in women is called androgenetic alopecia. This is seen in those women who are genetically pre-disposed to the falling of hair. This is the most common cause of hair fall in men - around 50 percent of the men are prone to hair fall due to this reason alone. Not many women are pre-disposed to hair fall due to this reason, but the ratio increases with age. Around 40% women are affected by androgenetic alopecia over the age of 40. It is also seen that this condition increases in women after the menopause.
Hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia is in fact related to hormonal levels in the body and affects people with high levels of dihydrotestosterone, or DHT as it is more commonly known. DHT causes hair follicles to make gradually thinning hair, which ultimately stops growing altogether. Here too, the pattern of falling hair is different in men and women. In men, the hair loss results in a receding hairline and balding of crown, while in women, there is an all round thinning of hair.
Another cause of falling hair in women is caused by a condition known as alopecia areata. Here white blood cells start attacking hair follicles, which then start getting smaller and smaller. After a few months of the onset of this condition, the hairs stop growing completely. This condition often cures itself and one may witness growing back of hair after some time.
Possible treatments of hair loss include a drug called minoxidil, which comes in the form of a lotion which is applied to the scalp.
This is not a permanent cure and one has to keep on applying it to sustain its results.
Another possible treatment, though somewhat costly, is surgery, which one can resort to if everything else fails. Though this is an option to be considered, one should think over it carefully as this technique is far from perfected at this time.
Hair LossMichael Russell
Your Independent guide to Hair Loss