Hair Loss
Hair loss is a big worry to many people, both male and female. If you have a worrying amount of hair in the basin after shampooing, you may think you are on the way to baldness. But this is not usually the case. The 50–100 hairs that everyone loses each day often become tangled with the rest of the hair, but are washed out when we shampoo. So we see what seems like a lot of hair in the basin after shampooing, but in reality these hairs have been shed earlier.
Hair Loss In Women
Women who lose their hair often worry that they are going bald like a man, and that their hormones are becoming masculinized. In fact, patchy baldness (alopecia areata) and total baldness (alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis) are unrelated to hormones and occur equally commonly in men and women.
Thinning hair after the menopause
Like men, most women develop widening partings and thinning of the hair all over the scalp with age; this is normal. It actually starts in the teens or early 20s, and by the age of 50 over half of all women have thinning hair. After the menopause, thinning of the hair is more pronounced. Hair can also become thin at the front, similar to the male pattern. This is because the hair follicles are responding in exactly the same way as in balding men to the testosterone in the blood. All women have testosterone; this is perfectly normal. The balding does not mean that the woman has more testosterone; it simply means that the hair follicles on her scalp are oversensitive, which is probably inherited. The hair will eventually not become any worse. There is no need to worry that you will become completely bald.
Causes of thinning hair in women
Thinning hair may be caused by:
- age (most old people have thinner hair than when they were young)
- heredity (some people are programmed to have thin hair, particularly as they get older)
- a hormone disorder (particularly an underactive thyroid gland)
drugs
- iron deficiency (most likely in women who are vegetarians)
- severe mental stress (such as bereavement), 2–3 months previously
- severe physical illness of any sort, 2–3 months previously (particularly a high fever or severe infection – the hair grows again when the body has fully recovered)
- childbirth (it is common to shed a lot of hair for 1–6 months after childbirth, but it usually grows again afterwards)
- systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, a disease affecting the connective tissue)
- damage from bleaches and relaxers, which can make the hair become ‘soapy’ in texture and break off (Afro-Caribbean hair is especially vulnerable).
Treatments for thinning hair in women
Looking after your hair. Just because your hair is thinning there is no need to avoid hairsprays, careful perming or hair dyes. These will not worsen the problem. In fact, perms and hairsprays lift the hair and disguise thinning. However, you should avoid bleaches and hair relaxers. Short, bouncy hairstyles give lift and body. It is also all right to use hair colorants on thinning hair, but darker shades may make thinning more obvious.
Diet. Low stores of iron in the body can sometimes cause hair loss so, particularly if you are vegetarian, ask your doctor for a blood test. Iron-rich foods include lean red meat, game, offal, egg yolks, dark green leafy vegetables and pulses. Vitamin C helps your body to absorb iron. Although hair follicles need plenty of the essential amino acids – the building blocks of proteins – increasing your intake of protein or taking supplements like Nourikin will really help.
Regaine (minoxidil)produces some improvement in about 50% of women with thinning hair. Only the 2% strength is suitable for women. (The higher strength, used for men, can cause facial hairiness in women.) A few women (about 1 in 20) using Regaine notice hairiness of the face, even though the lotion is only applied to the scalp. Hairiness occurs on the cheeks, above the eyebrows and sometimes on the upper lip and chin. The reason for this is not known; perhaps the Regaine is carried in the blood from the scalp to the face, or maybe it is rubbed off onto a pillow that is in contact with the face while sleeping. If Regaine is continued, facial hairiness usually lessens over a year; if the drug is stopped, it goes away within 1–6 months.
If you are worried about hair loss or are losing your hair, and want a more personal consultaion from Myself or my associate tricologist Grahame Wake, we will be happy to help! email or Call 01895 613713 for some free advice !