Female Hair Loss Prevention

Millions of women in the US experience unexplained hair loss

Hair loss has a tendency to be viewed by society as a mostly male problem. Recently, however, hair loss experts have made discoveries that is leading them to believe that drastically thinning hair from stress, medical conditions, poor nutrition, abusive hair treatments, genetics, and various other causes are just as common in women as they are in men.

It is estimated that close to half of all women that are over the age of 40 are experiencing some form of excessive hair loss. Additionally, one recent study showed numbers as high as 75 percent of women over age 65 experiencing female hair loss.

Maybe you've noticed hairs in the sink after brushing or your scalp appearing more visible after you shower. If you are afraid that you may be experiencing female hair loss, read the information below to learn more about female hair los: the causes causes, how to identify it, and what can be done about it.

What Causes Female Hair Loss?

Androgenetic alopecia (AA) is considered the common type of hair loss. When androgenetic alopecia occurs in men, most of the time it is referred to as male-pattern baldness. When androgenetic alopecia occurs in women, it is typically referred to as female-pattern baldness. Androgenetic alopecia makes up 95 percent of hair loss cases; when this condition is present, hair follicles become hyper sensitive to the hormone androgen.

Androgenetic alopecia is a hereditary condition. If there is a history of androgenetic alopecia in women or men on either side of your family you have an increased risk of developing AA. Genetics can also influence the age at which your hair loss starts, the speed with which you lose your hair, the hair loss pattern as well as extensiveness. With that in mind, family history doesn't always play a part: Close to 12 percent of people diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia don't have any trace of it in their family tree.

What Does It Look Like?

Alopecia by its very definition means baldness. That said, women diagnosed with androgenetic alopacia seldom go completely bald, though the same is not always true for men. Usually a woman's hair will gradually thin and diffuse all over the head or just on the top. Androgenetic alopecia is a permanent condition that continues with aging in both men and women.

What Can I Do About My Hair Loss?

Before trying to treat your hair loss, make sure to consult a hair loss or medical expert that can help you determine why you are experiencing hair loss in the first place, so that the problem can be treated correctly. Once you have determined the cause of your hair loss, you can then seek hair loss treatments from qualified experts.

Am I Losing My Hair?

Honestly, yes. The average person loses anywhere from 50 to 150 hairs daily. Once a hair has been shed, a new hair replaces the lost one from the same follicle, unless you have androgenetic alopecia. Androgenetic alopecia happens when the rate of hair being shed starts to exceed the rate at which the hairs regrow.

In some cases hair loss can be temporary, however unlike androgenetic alopecia, the hair loss isn't gradual. Two examples of female only temporary hair loss are:

Ppregnancy or giving birth will often cause an increase in hormone levels and send hairs into their resting phase, causing hair that would normall fall out to stay in place. A few months after delivering the baby, hormone levels will return to normal, this can cause an increase in hair loss for some women. This type of hair loss lasts between 1 and 6 months before correcting itself.

A small percentage of women will women lose hair when taking birth control pills. This occurs because of the shifting hormone levels that the pill cuases coupled with heredity. If you are experiencing this kind of hair loss, speak to your ob-gyn about switching to a different brand of pill or form of birth control.