Female Hair Loss

Female Hair Loss: What Causes Hair Loss in Women?

Even though people are finally admitting that lots of women suffer from hair loss just as men do, it’s harder to figure out why it happens. One type of female hair loss, called androgenetic alopecia, is believed to be an inherited condition which affects hair follicles because of a sensitivity to male hormones. The other type of hair loss, female pattern hair loss, may be related to high testosterone levels, but it has never been proven scientifically. The only good thing about this type of hair loss is that women don’t become bald all over their heads like men often do.

Reasons Women Lose Their Hair

Hair loss in women is getting much more common these days, and the causes are very different from those that afflict men. Girls can develop female pattern hair loss as young as during puberty. In order to curtail the effects of the condition, prompt and accurate diagnosis is necessary. Conditions which cause hair loss in women can be as follows:

1. Trichotillomania: Women who are afflicted with this psychological condition continually pull on their hair and actually pull it out. The only way to treat this condition is by dealing with the emotional problems that are causing the disorder.

2. Scarring alopecia: This condition generally occurs in women of African or Asian descent who wear their hair pulled back in tight braids. If they wear their hair in this manner for long periods of time, eventually their roots become weak and hair starts to fall out leaving bald places on the scalp.

3. Telogen effluvium: When hormones and stress come into play, they can cause a woman’s hair to become loose in the scalp. Because of this, even the slightest tug will pull out hair. Situations which can disrupt the natural growth of the hair in this way include surgery, emotional problems, crash dieting, and childbirth. This type of hair loss is very treatable in that you can change its course by taking the proper medication, getting some psychological counseling, and eating a proper diet.

4. Nursing: Sometimes breast feeding a baby can lead to hair loss. This is a temporary condition, however, which will go back to normal as soon as the baby is weaned.

5. Heredity: If your parents or grandparents suffer from hair loss, the chances are good that you'll have a problem, too.

Other causes of hair loss include chemotherapy, severe illness that includes a special diet, and a reaction to medicines related to diabetes. Since society doesn’t accept baldness in women the way it has learned to do with men, women may get stressed out over it and cause themselves to lose even more hair. The only good way to deal with hair loss is calmly and with the least possible stress. If you suffer from hair loss, you aren’t alone. Millions of women are learning to deal with it every day, and new treatments are evolving all the time.