women hair loss

Most people assume that it is only men who suffer from hair loss, but nothing could be further from the truth. Although it is basically true with regards to heredity, millions of women the world over suffer from some form of hair loss and the number appears to be rising each year.

The overwhelming cause is a hereditary condition called androgenetic alopecia or female-pattern hair loss. One of the least engaging facts about getting older is that a significant number of women also experience hair loss.

Society may mock men suffering from baldness, but at least it is tolerated. However a woman suffering from baldness is just not acceptable by society. Until people can actually accept one another as they are and not judge them by their looks, then we shall always have the problem, with bald women being virtually treated as outcasts.

For a woman hair loss can be devastating, in our society hair is regarded as a symbol of beauty and desirability, without hair some women feel complete failures and the effects can be disastrous. Hair loss can be seen to some women as losing their femininity. 

Baldness occurs when the hair falls out but a new hair does not grow in its place. The cause of the failure to grow a new hair is not well understood, but it is associated with genetic predisposition, aging, and levels of endocrine hormones. Changes in the levels of the androgens can affect hair production.

For example, after the hormonal changes of menopause, many women find that the hair on the head is thinned, while facial hair is coarser. Although new hair is not produced, the follicle remains alive, suggesting the possibility of new hair growth.

Genetic hair loss and moult or increased hair shedding (chronic telogen effluvium), accounts for by far the majority of all hair loss complaints in women - up 95% in fact before menopause. Unlike men who tend to lose a lot of hair in particular areas, like the temples and crown - Male pattern baldness - women are more likely to thin diffusely from behind the front hairline to the crown.

women Hair loss