Hair Loss in Females

Hair problem is such a thing to which women also can't help it because as per the survey about 1/3 of female suffers from the hair loss during their reproductive period that's child bearing age. And about 2/3 women suffer from Female Pattern Baldness during menopausal age. 

We can't deny that hair loss does not affect the person both physically & mentally because it does and more especially i female. But it does not affect males as badly as it affects female because males with Male Pattern Baldness somewhat can be accepted socially whereas females very hardly.women also face the same type of hair problems as men like Female Pattern Baldness, Diffuse Hair Loss ,  Spot Baldness or widening of parting line but female never have receding hair line.Alopecia affects the quality of a woman's life. Long hairs, short hairs or bouncy hairs whatever the type of hairs a woman have, it does represent the personality of them. So, when their hairs ate affected, their personality too in affection because all these things affect her socially. 

Statics: As per the studies 12%  women between age group of 20-29 may suffer from hair loss. This hair loss may diffuse hair loss, over all thinning. 

60% women aged 80 yrs may suffer from hair loss due to hormonal imbalance. That is generally age related thinning type hair loss. 

Female Pattern Baldness and Diffuse Hair Loss are the two most featuring type of hair loss that a woman would have in her life under different circumstances.

A) Female Pattern Baldness : Its a Androgenetic Alopecia but it does not affect females in the same manner as it does affect males. It affects males in front to crown area making a 'W' shape appearance which is not in case of female. In females only parietal parting line is affected. Because in women hair line is very rarely affected and they also go bald rarely. There is only one case where we can see the receded hair line in woman but that is not because of thinning. Its due to fibrosis and its called Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia. 

     

B) Diffuse Hair Loss : This is a condition where we lose hairs from all over the scalp with non-scaring form. This is such a hair problem with which most of the women suffer in comparison to Female Pattern Baldness. There are number of reasons for Diffuse Hair Loss starting from nutritional deficiency to medicinal adverse effects. On the mental plane also we find out the reason like Stress is one of reason for Hair Loss.The most common form of Diffuse Hair Loss is Telogen Effluvium due to stress. 

Followings are the circumstances during which a woman would have hair problem either in  form of Female Pattern Baldness or Diffuse Hair Loss 

1) Thyroid & Hair Loss in Woman:

A butterfly shaped like gland located in front of neck called Thyroid Gland. The hyper or hypo secretion of this gland may affect you hair cycle and ultimately you will face Diffuse Hair Loss.

2)PCOS & Hair Loss in Woman: 

PCOS is Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome where there is formation of multiple cysts in female ovaries and resulting in a group of symptoms. Because of this there will be more male hormone formation in female body, which causes the hairs to thin and ultimately Female Pattern Baldness will be the result. It will cause also facial hair growth and irregular menses. 

3)Delivery & Hair Loss in Woman: 

Generally there is hair cycle through which each & every hair has to pass through three different stages namely growth, transitional & falling phase. Each & every hair has this cycle for about 3-4 yrs and each hair repeats this cycle 25 times in its life period.

Pregnancy is a blessing of god to the women. Pregnancy is such a physiological process where there are a lot changes do happen in woman's body both physically & mentally.

During pregnancy the female hormone called oestrogen increases more than a normal level and due to this woman would have fuller & thicker hairs because this hormone prevent the hairs to come to the falling phase. But soon after the delivery this hormonal level is suddenly changed and drops down below the normal ultimately starts falling drastically. But not immediately it falls, it will take 2-3 months and this is called magic 3 months.And kind of hair loss is called Telogen Effluvium.  

4) Pills & Hair Loss in Woman:

Oral contraceptive pills are those medicines that a woman take to prevent the pregnancy as simple as that. We know very well that each & every medicine of Old School of Medicine has some adverse effects and same the OCP pills have like weight gain, pimple on face and bair loss problem once they stop taking the pills. Because of sudden stoppage of pills starts thinning out and resulting in Female Pattern Baldness. 

Even if our ladies change their hormonal pills that also affect their hairs too because this also needs to reach as per your body and this will cause excess shedding of hairs. 

5)Tight Hairstyling & Hair Loss: 

Earlier we did see how mothers were making their daughters hairs to pony tail so tight. They thought it would make hairs stronger & grow faster.That was a myth actually. These kind  of hairstyling will make the scalp irritate and also cause pain in hair roots. Due to this tight pressure hair holding capacity becomes loose enough and hairs fall with slight friction. There is also possibility of scar formation if these kind of hair styling practiced for a long period. 

6)Iron Deficiency & Hair Loss in Woman:

Iron is very essential for female & its deficiency is very common in female. As per a report up to 60% cases of  Diffuse Hair Loss is due to iron deficiency. There are three basic nutrients needed for hair & iron is one of them which is required for the strength of hairs. So, due to less iron in female body hair starts shedding freely like in bunches.That is only reason most of cases of hair loss problems in female improved without any major treatment, just by giving iron supplements. To maintain a healthy hair always we need to take a solid nutritious diet. 

7)Menopause & Hair Loss in Woman:

Menopause is the condition where women reach at a stage where their menstruation completely ends.This is a physiological process during which hormones level are gradually dropping down. Estrogen is the female hormone which actually drops down but at same male hormone getting dominant and makes our lady hairs thinner & thinner  

8)Lupus & Hair Loss in Woman: 

Lupus is an autoimmune disease chronic in nature always affects our immune system which attacks our healthy body cells. This strikes women in their child bearing period.

It represents itself in affected person with a series of symptoms like headache, oral ulcers, painful swollen joints, fatigue and hair fall. So, hair fall is lupus may be mild or severe and noticed during shampooing and oiling. Hairs coming out in patches with circular rash on the scalp sometime. 

Treatment & Management:am going to give a brief i

As I always say, there are many modes of treatment available in our great country India for any kind of diseases.

But people mostly prefer to take from Old School of Medicine(Allopathy) as their first choice and when some percentage of them do not get any satisfied results , they would take a move to other options available in medical field.

Yes, here we are talking about the world's 2nd largest practising system of medicine called Homoeopathy.But it does not mean that you should not take Old School of Medicine in your first choice because here I am just expressing the people's thought that I have been seeing in my day to day practice.

Homoeopathy has a great scope for treating the every kind of disease for last 200 years. And had been giving the wonderful satisfied results so AGA can be also treated & managed very well in Homoeopathy.But yes, it does not mean that you would get hairs back in your bald area of scalp.

If other health conditions is not a cause,medical treatment is not necessary. 

Medically there are many treatments available in market as of now with different names as per the different company establishments but motive of  all those treatments available in the medical field is only to give a better coverage of scalp.

Following ones you may opt for your hair loss after getting suggestion from a Trichologist. So, before opting any kind of treatment you should have a proper consultation with Dr.

I am going to give a brief idea of some treatments that are as of now in lime light.

Minoxidil:

Minoxidil was mainly developed for hypertension as an anti-hypertensive drug but due to its hypertrichosis a topical solution was developed to treat hair loss.And a fact also is there, no exact mechanism of its action is still known because neither it has a hormonal effect nor immuno suppressant effect. 

Basically it increases the duration  of anagen resulting in enlarging miniaturized hair follicles.In 1988 Minoxidil was first time approved by FDA as 2% solution usage and then 5% solution in 1997 for men being diagnosed with AGA but 5% solution was not approved by women even after it was & is being prescribed by dermatologist world wide for many years.

See, minoxidil is not a miracle and it will not give positive results in all cases. In someone it stimulates the hair growth but in some its not. So, basically it will not give you the full dense hairs. But you should use it at least for 3 months to see any change either in positive way or standstill condition.  But if you see the positive results in your case, it should be continued for a longer period till you getting the results. 

Direction for use:-Make sure your hairs & scalp should be dry enough before application of minoxidil. Apply it over the affected area of thinning two times on daily basis through spray or drop whatever form you have it. If you using drop one, gently massage by your finger tips and wash your hands thoroughly. After 3-4 hours of its application shampoo should be done.

Adverse effects:- Its safe enough for usage on the  even consisting of alcohol but as we always we know each coin has two sides. So, there are also some adverse effects of minoxidil. Following adverse effects we observe:-

1) Scalp irritation due to alcohol content in those persons whose scalp are very sensitive 

2)Sometime new grown hairs are different in colour & texture from surrounding hairs. 

3)There may be hypertrichosis(excessive hair growth) in unwanted area like forehead, cheeks etc. This is mainly because of strong solutions. 

 

And more detail about the treatment for female pattern hair loss is explained in Female Pattern Baldness. 

                 *HaveGoodHair & LiveGoodLife*