How To Protect Your Hair And Stop Further Hair Loss
When hair loss happens, it can have a serious impact on your self-esteem. Styling your hair can become more difficult, and you may no longer feel like yourself. Many women with aging-related hair loss experience some degree of mental distress.
The good news is that pattern hair loss is treatable, and the earlier you start treating it, the more likely you are to experience positive results.
Below, weve shared hair loss treatments that you can use to protect and potentially regrow your hair, as well as habits and lifestyle changes that you can use to keep your hair thick, dense and healthy as you age.
Contact Vera Clinic For More Information
If you are interested in finding out more about female hair loss treatment you can contact us at Vera Clinic. We are one of the best hair transplant and cosmetic surgery hospitals and Europe and are proud to have opened back in 2013. All our hair transplant doctors have many years in the field and an artistic eye, they pride themselves on a passion for detail.
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When it comes to stimulating hair growth, a doctor or dermatologist might recommend minoxidil, a lotion also now in tablet form which has been used since the 1970s, and is available without a prescription .
Again, side effects are uncommon, but include scalp dryness, itching and dermatitis.
There are also a number of specific medications for women which block the effect of androgen hormones, and help to slow the progression of hair loss.
Whether or not a particular treatment is effective can depend on a number of factors, including the extent of a person’s hair loss.
“The longer it’s been going on, the more hairs are going to be irreversibly lost,” Professor Sinclair says.
Beyond medical treatments, wigs and hair pieces can be viable cosmetic options for people experiencing hair loss.
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Hair Transplant Surgery For Women
Your doctor can refer you to a dermatologist or hair transplant surgeon to assess whether hair transplant surgery may be a suitable option for you.
Hair transplant surgery involves follicular unit transplantation, where tiny clusters of hair-producing tissue are taken from areas of the scalp where hair is growing well and surgically attached onto thinning areas. However, if your hair is very thin all over your scalp, you may not have enough healthy hair to transplant.
Hair transplant surgery can be expensive and painful, and multiple procedures are sometimes needed. Side effects may include infection and scarring.
Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of this treatment.
What Is Female Pattern Baldness
Androgenic alopecia or female pattern baldness is a hair loss condition linked to increased levels of androgens in women. It results in women losing more than 50-100 strands everyday.
Men tend to lose their hair at the temples or the front of their head when experiencing androgenetic alopecia. Females, on the other hand, start losing their hair from the middle of their scalp.
Female pattern baldness is genetic, but usually occurs post-menopause. This is why it has been linked to hormonal imbalances as well.
Also Check: How To Stop Hair Loss During Menopause
Hair Loss During Menopausal Transition
Hair loss during the menopausal transition can be just as dramatic as menopausal hair loss. The two are both related to the same changes in hormone levels. The menopausal transition is the time leading up to menopause and can last several years. During the menopausal transition, fluctuating hormones can cause some of the same symptoms typically associated with menopause.
Female Hair Loss: Causes And Treatment
Far from being my crowning glory, my hair has been the bane of my life. But one question has always plagued me: is my problem on my head, or in my head? While I’ve suspected my hair has been thinning for decades, few people ever believed me and at times I even doubted it myself.
There were years when my hair seemed fuller, when I’d scrunch it into ringlets and delight at its apparent thickness. At other times, particularly in my 30s, I’d fret over the wispy strands at the front of my head or when I saw too much scalp in the mirror.
My friends always reassured me I had a good head of hair. Most of the GPs I saw reacted the same, despite my tears and protestations. I had no bald patches or visible gaps so they’d put it down to stress or would test my iron and thyroid levels, which appeared normal.
Some of my hair loss over the years is easily explained. I developed an eating disorder and recall gathering clumps of hair off my pink bedroom carpet when I was under-eating in my teens.
Weight loss, low iron levels, poor diet and stress, along with thyroid and hormonal imbalances, can all cause hair to fall, trichologists say. Hair needs a healthy diet and a well-functioning endocrine system to flourish.
“Genetic hair loss is the only hair loss in which the follicle gradually gets smaller and finer and producers smaller and finer hair until it stops altogether and then you get the thinning,” says Lyons.
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Hair Loss: What Is Female
For some people it may be the stuff of nightmares, but baldness isn’t just a male problem. Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha has posted an emotional video talking about losing her hair at the age of 52. But what is female baldness?
The TV presenter admitted her trademark curls were fake and that she was going through the perimenopause, which is the start of the menopause.
She revealed a doctor told her she had the balding gene.
How To Hide Thinning Hair After Menopause
If hair continues to thin after menopause and natural treatments have been ineffective, there are things that can help camouflage this issue. Some hair stylists will suggest shortening the length of hair. This adds volume and reduces the weight of hair. It can also help hide problem spots.
Some more permanent but also costly options include topical hair growth products, hair extensions, wigs, surgical hair transplants, and low-level laser scalp treatments.
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For Severe Thinning Consider Surgical Hair Restoration
If you have severe, permanent hair loss from androgenetic alopecia or a medical condition, you may want to consider hair transplant surgery.
This type of hair restoration surgical procedure involves moving hair follicles from the back and sides of your scalp to areas with visible thinning, such as your part line.
Hair transplants for women can be very effective and allow for the regrowth of hair in areas with significant hair loss. However, they arent cheap — on average, it can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $15,000 or more for a typical procedure.
Medical Causes For Hair Loss In Women
The direct cause of female pattern baldness is unknown, but general hair loss in women can be due to many other medical reasons. Before you point to FPHL as your diagnosis, look for these:
An underactive or overactive thyroid. Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism may cause hair loss, and is easy to rule out with a blood test that measures levels of TSH .
Iron deficiency anemia. Women with low iron levels often suffer from hair loss. An easy lab test to detect iron levels looks for ferritin in the blood. Women with ferritin levels lower than 100 ng/dl tend to report hair loss more frequently.
Psychological and emotional stress. A major illness, severe psychological trauma, significant weight loss and childbirth may trigger an episode of hair loss that begins a few months after the episode. This is called telogen effluvium, and hair loss occurs in all areas of the scalp.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome . Sometimes, this condition causes your body to produce too many androgens, which can decrease the growth of hair on your scalp.
Medications. Some common culprits of medication-related hair loss include beta-blockers, antidepressants, anticoagulants and chemotherapy drugs. I cover a list of them here.
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What Can Be Done To Reverse Alopecia
There are many different types of hair loss. Androgenetic alopecia, also known as male and female pattern baldness, is related to hormones and characterized by a receding hairline alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicles, and scarring alopecia is related to inflammation. The question is, wouldnât it be great to not only grow new hair but also prevent future hair loss?
Living With Hair Loss
Sawalha said she sounded “absolutely pathetic” for being so upset, but the public response she has received suggests otherwise. Hundreds have since commented on her Facebook video, praising the TV star for her bravery.
“The psychological impact of hair loss is huge,” said Mr Sallis.
One of those who could relate to the video was Catherine Adams, 67, from Southend-on-Sea, who has Alopecia Totalis, which affects her whole body. She lost her hair suddenly aged 20.
Also Check: How To Stop Stress Induced Hair Loss
Whats Hair Loss In Women
Hair loss in women is just that when a woman experiences unexpected, heavy loss of hair. Generally, humans shed between 50 and 100 single hairs per day. Hair shedding is part of a natural balance some hairs fall out while others grow in. When the balance is interrupted when hair falls out and less hair grows in hair loss happens. Hair loss is different than hair shedding. The medical term for hair loss is alopecia.
Hair grows on almost all of your skin surfaces not the palms of your hands, soles of your feet, lips or eyelids. Light, fine, short hair is called vellus hair. Terminal/androgenic hair is thicker, darker and longer.
Medicines For Hereditary Hair Loss
Finasteride and minoxidil are the main medicines currently available to treat hair loss. However, they are not subsidised in New Zealand, so you need to pay for them yourselves.
Medicines that are used to treat hair loss provide different results for different people. It’s also not possible to predict who may or may not benefit from treatment.
Finasteride
This is a prescription-only treatment for hereditary hair loss in men. It is available as a tablet. It works by blocking the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. The hair follicles then are not affected by this hormone and will not shrink. Treatment needs to be continued for at least 6 months once started. If successful, the treatment is continued to maintain the effect.
Talk to your doctor to find out whether finasteride is suitable for you. Women should not take finasteride as a treatment for hair loss.
Hair clinics may arrange prescriptions for both local and oral treatments. Read more about finasteride.
Minoxidil topical lotion
Minoxidil is a rub-on treatment that can be bought from your local pharmacy. It can be used by both men and women. It needs to be applied twice daily to the scalp while it is dry. Minoxidil is more effective in the earlier stages of hair loss. Treatment needs to be continued for at least 6 months once started. If successful, treatment is continued to maintain the effect. Sometimes, a low-dose minoxidil tablet can also be prescribed for hair loss.
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Options For Treating Hair Loss
Once your doctor determines that your hair loss is FPHL , here are your options:
Topical 2% minoxidil ., applied as 1 ml twice daily, is the only drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of female pattern hair loss. Interestingly, even though 2% and 5% minoxidil technically have different strengths, they are basically equally effective.
Oral finasteride . A few studies have shown improvement in hair loss with finasteride 5 mg daily. However, 1 mg tablets have not been shown to be helpful.
Zinc sulfate + calcium pantothenate. These are over-the-counter supplements. In a study, those using topical minoxidil daily with the addition of capsules 220 mg + calcium pantothenate tablets 100 mg twice a week had better results than those using minoxidil alone. Worth a try!
Spironolactone . There is some evidence that using the diuretic, , at a dose of 100 to 200 mg a day helps women who experienced no benefit from using topical minoxidil.
Platelet-rich plasma scalp injections. Very recent studies have shown that PRP injected into the scalp can improve both hair density and thickness. The basic idea behind PRP injections is to deliver high concentrations of stimulating nutrients known as growth factors to the scalp, with the hope of encouraging hair regrowth.
Hope this helps!
Dr. O
Treating Female Pattern Hair Loss
Men arent the only people who struggle with hair loss, women do as well. There are lots of different reasons why hair loss can occur, including age, genetics, pregnancy, medication, stress, imbalanced hormones and more. When it comes down to treating hair loss, some methods will help to combat your hair falling out, but if you are suffering from hair loss down to age or genetics this will be more difficult.
Many who dont find ways to deal with their hair loss will turn to a hair transplant and at Vera Clinic, we perform female hair transplants in Turkey. If you are looking for a UK-based female hair loss treatment, it can be unaffordable for many. Most women decide to go abroad to Turkey where the prices are much more affordable. Here are some ways you can treat female pattern hair loss, before turning to a hair transplant as a last resort
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First A Bit About Hair
Hairs are tiny shafts of a protein called keratin. They are anchored in a group of specialised cells called hair follicles, which supply oxygen and nutrients to the root of the hair, and lubricate the hair with an oily substance called sebum.
The human body is completely covered with hair follicles, except on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and the lips. Mostly, hair follicles are tiny, and the hairs they produce don’t grow long enough to protrude from the pore.
The areas where hairs do protrude include the armpits, face, around the genitals, the front of the chest, the back, and most profusely, on the scalp of the head. A scalp typically contains about 100,000 hair follicles.
Hair is in a constant cycle of growth, rest, and renewal. Hairs grow and then are shed, but because they grow at different rates they don’t all shed at once.
It takes about three years for hair follicles to produce a hair that grows, rests, falls out and then regrows, which means the scalp loses between 50 and 200 hairs a day.