Baldness Nightmare: Even Females Get It! Are You One Of Them?

A former colleague of mine started to lose her hair when she was just 21, and was almost half-bald by the age of 25, while another friend of mine started losing big chunks of her locks at the age of 28, when her father passed away! Both of them were diagnosed with female pattern baldness, one of the most common forms of hair loss after male-pattern baldness. As female pattern baldness is one of the most common hair loss types in women, in this post, we will be talking about the causes, symptoms, and the best treatment for it. 

While hair loss in women is easier to hide than in case of men, it's still a major problem, especially because most women know nothing about it. There are so many reasons why your hair may be thinning.

Earlier, women started showing signs of hair loss in their 50s. However, they are now experiencing it at a much younger age, as seen in both the above cases. The good news however is - Hair loss in women, even female pattern baldness, can be effectively treated. However, to treat your hair loss, you need to first know the reason behind it, the root cause of your hair loss.

REASONS FOR FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS

There are many potential causes of hair loss in women. Female pattern baldness can occur due to several reasons including medical conditions, medications and physical or emotional stress.

Hair loss in women is primarily triggered by hormonal imbalance in the body. Conditions, such as anaemia, thyroid, ovarian cysts (PCOS), or menopause, are some of the triggers. What can also activate the disorder is a fall below normal levels in the ‘hair-protective’ female hormone, oestrogen. This ‘ups’ the level of the male hormone testosterone in the body — the result is hair loss.

Other reasons for hair loss in women include extreme stress & depression (as seen in one of the cases above where hair loss was triggered by stress and depression that occurred due to death of a parent); physical trauma like surgery or intense illness; dramatic weight loss over a short period of time; and taking too much Vitamin A.

So, if your hair loss is due to these medical conditions or hormonal imbalance, you need to first correct these ailments by taking an appropriate treatment for them.

The other basis of hair loss, especially female pattern baldness is genetics — the problem tends to run in families and is passed on from one generation to the other. This type of hair loss needs proper medical treatment and therefore it is suggested that you visit a trichologist to understand your type and treatment for the hair loss. The sooner treatment is started, the better the chances are for improving your hair.

SYMPTOMS OF FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS

Some of the common symptoms of female-pattern baldness are as follows:

• Increased hair fall
• Hair thinning all over the head, but the frontal hairline is generally maintained
• Hair looks less voluminous
• Plait or ponytail appears thinner, or the bun appears smaller than before
• A ‘Christmas tree’ pattern — where the sides of the partition and the top portion of your head may show significant thinning and
• Facial hair may get coarse in some women.

FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS TREATMENT

Homeopathy is one of the best hair fall treatment for women. It works excellent in cases of female pattern baldness. This is because homeopathy is an individual medicine. In homeopathic hair fall treatment, every women suffering from hair loss is given a different medicine, which is specific to her. It is not a one-suit-fits-all. It treats you as an individual and not just the symptoms of your illness. Understand that hair loss is a symptom. The real problem is the underlying medical ailment that has caused hair loss.

As discussed above, a lot of the times the causes of hair loss in women are stress, anaemia, thyroid, or PCOD. So homeopathy forms a treatment to address all these conditions. The underlying condition is what homeopathy identifies and treats beautifully. It helps to nourish the hair follicles, it helps to bring a mind-body balance, that helps to treat the hair loss and the underlying cause. Also, homeopathy has no side-effects and is absolutely natural.

Based on videomicroscopic assessment of your hair and scalp, your homeopathic doctor will give you a right hair care regime such as the right shampoo, conditioner, diet, chemical procedures you can or cannot do and suggest you an individualized treatment best suitable for you based on assessment of your hair.

So ladies if you are looking for an ideal hair fall treatment, remember that a parlour treatment or hair product will only be superficial, and it will certainly not treat your hair loss. Hair loss can only be treated by scientifically diagnosing the underlying medical conditions and treating them accordingly. So, opt for a treatment that treats the root cause of your hair loss with safe medicines.