female hair loss causes
When you are currently experience balding or thinning finding the possible causes of female hair loss is likely right with the top of your priority list. You are looking for answers to return your hair to its former beauty. you could have to even try to pull it off in a stealthy way that would make even the most accomplished secret agent proud. After all you probably aren’t standing in front of your subdivision shouting “Look at me, I’m losing my hair and don’t know why!”.
Hopefully as we discuss the causes of female hair loss you might be able to find the answers you are looking and formulate a plan to reverse your thinning or balding.
Both men and women are reliant on the hair replacement cycle to maintain most, or all, of the 100,000 scalp hairs that reside on the scalp. Each day around 100 hairs obviously fall out only to be replace by an energetic youngsters excited about the prospect of keeping you looking your best for somewhere between 2 to 6 years. After this time their work is done and the cycle continues.
The cycle of hair shedding and hair replacement in women is medicated via the enzyme 5 alpha reductase type 2 which surprisingly converts the male androgen hormone testosterone to the very powerful androgen dihydrotestosterone. If this process goes haywire with too much dihydrotestosterone being produced a stubborn hereditary progressive condition occurs; female pattern baldness.
In female pattern baldness the accumulation of dihydrotestosterone causes large numbers (tens of thousands) of hair follicles to begin to contract cutting off blood flow and nourishment to the hair. Eventually, some follicles will die, no longer capable of participating with the hair replacement cycle. Because of the unique pattern of hormone receptors and enzymes in a woman’s scalp the appearance of female pattern balding will be a general thinning that normally (but not always) starts later in life.
While we have spent a great of time discussing female pattern baldness there are other causes of female hair loss. Let’s look at two of these.
Menopause: The average onset of menopause in women is around the age of 46. During this time major changes are happening in a woman’s body including imbalances and fluctuations between estrogen and testosterone. These hormonal fluctuations can, and often do, cause certain areas of the scalp to thin. Additionally, this is generally a stressful time in a woman’s life thus adding to balding and thinning. Most cases of menopausal hair loss are temporary, but not always.
Traction alopecia: It might surprise you that one of the most commonly seen causes of female hair loss is one that has nothing to achieve with health or hormones. Instead it is caused by tight hair styles which damage the scalp thorough trauma. in case you notice balding in areas where pressure is being applied because of a specific hair style, change your hair style immediately! Balding caused by traction alopecia is often permanent and may require hair transplant surgery to repair the damage.
We have only covered three causes of female hair loss and as you could know there are numerous other possibilities. Nevertheless, the three discussed above can all become permanent if left untreated. In this regard, there are a number of excellent over the counter hair re-growth options worth considering.
