What is Female Pattern Baldness?

What is Female Pattern Baldness?

Hair loss for decades has been thought to be only a problem for men but in fact women a significant percentage of suffers are women. By the age of 40 roughly 40 percent of women will experience visible hair loss.

Female pattern baldness is also called androgenic/androgenetic alopecia, or female pattern alopecia. Unlike with men, who generally see balding either with receding hairlines or bald spots on the crown of the head, alopecia in women is predominantly over the top and sides of the head.

The normal level of hair loss is roughly 50-125 hairs per day. This is normal because these hairs are being replaced by new hairs starting their hair cycle over again. Anything over the 125 hairs a day considered true hair loss.

Causes of Female Pattern Baldness

True hair loss can be caused by many different things but some of the potential reasons include:

Hormonal causes: pregnancy, menopause, birth control pills.

Physical stress: illness, surgery, rapid hair loss, anemia.

Emotional Stress: mental stress, mental illness.

Medications: blood pressure medications, gout medications, unusually high doses of vitamin A.

Thyroid conditions: hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism.

If you are currently going through hair loss it is best to evaluate your stress levels and review any medications you are taking. Try to keep your stress levels low, and contact a physician to see if they can find a direct cause to the problem. If it is medication they may be able to change the type or dosage, or perhaps they may discover you have a thyroid condition and prescribe you the correct medication to mediate the condition.

Treatments Available

Hair loss in women can be much more devastating emotionally and psychologically than it is to men. There are a few ways to treat female pattern baldness but there is no true cure. It is important to manage expectations if you are experiencing hair loss. The important thing is to try to slow and hopefully stop the loss. There is no guarantee the lost hair will return, but with certain treatments it ha occasionally happened.

Minoxidil solution has been shown to be an effective treatment in female baldness. It is available in different strengths (2% and 5%) and the stronger of the two potentially could cause irritations or perhaps lead to unwanted hair growth on other areas besides the scalp. Minoxidil is also called Rogaine in North America or Regaine in the UK, but is now being produced in generic minoxidil which works just as good.

Hormonal treatments can be taken to block the effects of androgens, which are generally the cause of alopecia. They are generally oral treatments, and you should contact your physician for more information. If treatment is started you will need to continue administering treatment for at least six months before effects can be seen and you should not discontinue use without consulting with your physician.

Another possible treatment is the effect use of wigs. This may be a last resort or could be used in conjunction with other treatments until noticeable reversal of hair loss has been noticed.

If you have found this article helpful please comment below and share it with your friends so we can help those being effected by hair loss. Please continue reading more of StopThinning.com for useful information regarding both female pattern baldness, male pattern baldness, and treatments.

 

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