Hair Loss In A Woman..What You Can Do
Learn about the cause of hair loss in a woman, the role of vitamins and herbs, hormonal factors, pregnancy, menopause and more.
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30 Million Look For The Cause Of Hair Loss In A Woman
Female hair loss affects 30 million women (1 in every 4) in the United States . Even though hair thinning is common among women, it has a disproportionate psychological impact because of self-perceived confidence and image issues.
* Cause Of Hair Loss In A Woman. The majority of female hair loss is characterized by overall thinning on the scalp as opposed to the patterned balding (bald spots) seen in men. While men tend to lose frontal hair at the outset of hair loss, women often maintain a frontal hairline.
Female hair loss tends to be gradual with hair loss increasing during pregnancy and menopause. Women are more likely to experience seasonal hair loss, which is reversible. Women are more susceptible to hair loss from hormonal changes and medica conditions.
The degree of female hair loss in women is less noticeable than in men because woman loss is more diffuse and occurs over a longer period of time. People normally lose between 50-100 hairs a day. When a scalp area has lost 50% of its hair coverage, balding is noticeable. Woman's hair loss typically occurs just behind the frontal hairline where an oval shaped area gets very thin.
* Genetic Reason For Hair Loss In A Woman. Female hair loss can be inherited from either the mother or father. Hair loss in women can start in their teens, twenties or thirties.
* Hair Loss Treatment For A Woman Based Upon Hormonal Therapy. Aa woman's situtaion is different than in men because men have higher levels of androgen testosterone, the male sexual hormone. The lower level of this hormone in women protects them from the more extensive balding experienced by men.
When testosterone is converted to DHT it concentrates in areas that visually manifests in balding. Women have higher levels of the enzyme aromatase, which blocks DHT. While the enzyme aromatase is found throughout the scalp in women, it is especially concentrated in the frontal lobe, which may explain why women are able to maintain their frontal hairline, unlike men.
During pregnancy or during menopause, women experience dramatic shifts in hormonal chemistry. For the younger pregnant woman, hair loss is temporary, with normal hair re-growth in the post-pregnancy period. However, menopausal women experiencing significant hair loss may need hormone therapy in order to minimize further hair loss.
* Other Significant Causes Of Hair Loss In A Woman. There are a number of non-hereditary causes of hair loss in woman, including disease and medications.
Diseases such as anemia, thyroid, and lupus can cause hair loss in woman.
Medications such as lithium, Prozac, beta-blockers and oral contraceptives can cause hair loss in woman.
In addition, severe emotional distress or crash dieting (without nutritional balance) can cause hair loss in woman. Anything that puts severe stress on the body can cause women's hair to go into a resting phase during which hair does not grow. It is an immunological response during which the immune system attacks its own hair (for some unknown reason) and hair either breaks off or comes out.
After a pregnancy (3-6 weeks) a woman will experience hair loss due to the trauma of the pregnancy. During this period the hair goes into a resting period but should recover to normal thereafter.
Imroper care of hair can cause hair loss in woman. Hairstyles that pull hair (such as pigtails or cornrows) can cause hair loss. Once the pulling is stopped, and there is no permanent scarring, the hair will return to normal growth. The chemicals used in permanents can cause inflammation of the hair follicle resulting in hair loss.
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