How To Prevent Hair Loss In Women
Hair loss in women is typically caused by genetic female pattern hair loss, androgenetic alopecia, thyroid disease, aging, or other hormonal conditions. About one-third of women will experience hair loss in their lifetime. If you are losing your hair, your doctor may recommend some of the following treatments to prevent further hair loss.
- Aldactone or other anti-androgen medications
- oral contraceptives
- iron supplements, especially if your hair loss is connected to anemia or heavy menstrual cycles
Women who have reached menopause may also consider hormone replacement therapy as a way to treat their hair loss and other symptoms.
Understand What Causes Balding
In order to properly treat balding, it is important to understand why you are losing hair in the first place.
While the most common cause of hair loss is male pattern baldness, there are other potential conditions to make note of when considering why your hair falls out. Some of these include:
Medical Conditions
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Thyroid conditions: Severe thyroid disorders like Hashimotos Disease can cause hair loss. However, if this is the cause, you will likely experience other symptoms, like fatigue or weight gain.
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Malnutrition. Severe malnutrition, especially in protein, can result in hair changes. However, this cause is unlikely without extremely low intake of calories and protein.
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Alopecia areata. This condition causes hair loss in small, typically unnoticeable patches. Alopecia areata occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles
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Telogen effluvium. This is a temporary type of hair loss often caused by very stressful, anxiety inducing or traumatic events, hospitalization, or even certain side effects of medication. It can be confused with permanent hair loss, but it is reversible.
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Tinea capitis. This condition is a fungal infection on the scalp that causes small, scaly spots and pustules on the scalp. Tinea capitis, if left untreated, can lead to hair loss from permanent scarring.
Other Causes Of Hair Loss
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Excessive styling with harsh products
Get A Hormone Boost To Reduce Hair Loss
Hair loss increases after menopause when estrogen levels fall. This also increases the relative influence of the small amount of testosterone hormone that is made in the ovaries and adrenal glands.
Testosterone is converted into a stronger hormone in hair follicles which increases male and female-pattern hair loss which is genetically determined.
If you are willing to take estrogen hormone replacement therapy, this will help to boost hair quality. Once again, this is something that you can discuss with your doctor.
An alternative approach is to consume more plant estrogens, especially isoflavones and lignans. Although these are between 500 and a thousand times less active than human estrogen, they can provide a useful hormone boost. Isoflavones are found in edamame beans, tofu, miso, and other soy products, sweet potato, lentils, nuts, and seeds.
As well as having an oestrogen-like action, lignans provide an additional benefit by inhibiting the enzyme , which converts testosterone to the stronger dihydrotestosterone in hair follicles. Research shows that increasing your intake of lignans are associated with a reduced rate of hair loss and hair regeneration.
Recommended Reading: Is Hair Loss A Symptom Of Menopause
How To Prevent Hair Loss After Pregnancy
Many women experience dehydration, fatigue, stress, and falling estrogen levels as their body adjusts to life after pregnancy. This causes increased sensitivity in hair follicles, which can lead to a period of increased hair loss. Some of this hair loss is often related to the stress and exhaustion of having a baby. This condition is temporary and should resolve within a year after the pregnancy has ended.
You can try to minimize hair loss after pregnancy by continuing to take your prenatal vitamins if you are breastfeeding, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding tight hairstyles that pull hair away from the scalp. Dermatologists recommend using lightweight shampoos and conditioners and seeing a stylist to make hair loss appear less obvious until your hair shedding slows down.
Cosmetic Options For Hair Loss
When medical treatments fall short, women can also consider cosmetic options to make up for lost hair, such as wearing a wig. At the other end of the spectrum is hair transplantation, a surgical procedure that moves active follicles from the back of the scalp to areas where the hair is thinning. Once transplanted, the hair grows normally.
Hair transplantation is typically performed as an outpatient surgical procedure. In appropriate patients, it can be extremely successful, but it wont work for everyone, says Dr. Scott. One drawback is the expense: it can cost thousands of dollars and is not covered by insurance. The procedure also requires recovery time. And it may not be appropriate for women who have diffuse thinning across the whole scalp. Its more effective in treating smaller, more defined areas of balding.
Also Check: What Vitamins Can You Take For Hair Loss
Causes And Risk Factors For Thinning Hair
As your hair continues to thin, you probably want to ask, or even scream, Why is my hair falling out?! Its a very frustrating and often bewildering occurrence when the hair thins. According to Mayo Clinic, the exact cause of abnormal hair loss is not completely clear, but typically its related to one or more of the following:
- Heredity
- Physical or emotional shock
- Excessive hair styling and/or hair treatments
1. Heredity
The No. 1 reason why both men and women experience excessive hair thinning and hair loss is hereditary. For men, its a more well-known phenomenon called male-pattern baldness, but women can also exhibit female-pattern baldness. Both of these predictable, gradual hair loss patterns are linked with a family history of hair loss. For men, it can start as early as puberty. In addition to thinning hair, men may also notice their hair becoming shorter, softer and finer.
2. Hormonal Imbalances
Hormone imbalances and changes can contribute to thinning hair. Some hormone changes are temporary, like with pregnancy or menopause, and hair thinning or loss resulting from these temporary changes should be temporary as well. However, if you have an ongoing imbalance of hormones, you may have a thyroid problem that needs to be corrected.
3. Thyroid Problems and Other Medical Conditions
4. Medications
Many different types of medicines may contribute to hair thinning, including some of the following types of medications:
- Acne medications
- Thyroid medications
Balding Heads Buzzwords Biotech Execs Refine The Art Of The Pitch
Researchers then analyzed skin samples from the scalps of women aged 22 to 70 years old. They found that older womens hair follicles were, on average, more shrunken, and that this was correlated with genetic mutations in the follicle stem cells. The findings were published Thursday in Science.
Once stem cells go, theres no getting them back, said Elaine Fuchs, a professor of cell biology and development at the Rockefeller University in New York, who was not involved with the study.
Once the hair growth cycle goes, it goes, she said. Once hair loss is triggered, its a self-propelling event.
But a related study offers a way to possibly intervene to save stem cells before they lose their growth cycles.
Researchers at the University of Colorado studied how hair follicle stem cells go dormant. They report in a companion paper in Science that a protein called Foxc1 keeps them dormant when this gene is deleted, the follicles stay permanently on.
We discovered that these cells know when to stop, said lead author Rui Yi, associate professor at the University of Colorado.
That may present a treatment opportunity. If we can interfere with that factor, or take that factor away from the stem cell, we can shorten the dormant stage and instead induce the cells to continue dividing and stimulate hair growth, Yi said.
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Youre Not Alone If You Have Hair Thats Thinning And Aging With More Gray Hairs Than You Can Begin To Count Unfortunately This Is Just One More Side Effect Of Getting Old We Can Talk About Graying Hair In My Next Blog But For Now Lets Just Focus On Why Hair Thins And Dulls With Age
Youre not alone if you have hair thats thinning and aging with more gray hairs than you can begin to count. Unfortunately, this is just one more side effect of getting old. We can talk about graying hair in my next blog, but for now lets just focus on why hair thins and dulls with age.
As we age, everything slows down and that doesnt exclude the process of our hair growth and its subsequent condition. In fact, natural changes that occur over time including our blood flow, the loss of cellular reproduction, hormone changes and diet can all impact the health of our hair. Because of these reasons, the natural oils that lubricate the scalp, hair and skin are lessened because of age. Additionally, women see a decrease in estrogen production which causes our hair to lose its thickness and shine.
Remember when we were told to brush our hair 100 times before we went to bed? Well, that actually was a very good thing because as we brushed our hair over and over we were actually pushing our natural oils down the hair shaft to the ends of our hair. Brushing keeps our hair shiny and strong. Today, there have so many great products out there that we dont have to brush our hair for it to be soft and healthy.
Can Hair Turn Grey Overnight
Stress can cause the life cycles of different hair follicles to synchronize and enter their shedding phase together. This results in hundreds of older, more pigmented hairs falling out at the same time, to produce a rapid, noticeable thinning.
What remains are the finer, less pigmented hairs in the earlier stages of their current life cycle which suddenly become more noticeable.
This phenomenon, known as telogen effluvium, can cause someone to look noticeably greyer within a short period of time the source of tales about someone turning grey from shock overnight.
Here are 10 tips for improving your thinning or graying hair.
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Changes In Thickness And Texture
A single hair lives for up to six years. Given that hair grows a little less than half an inch per month, hair that is 12 inches long has been exposed to almost three years of ultraviolet light, friction from brushing, heat from blow dryers and curling irons, and chemicals used to coloring, perm, or straighten the hair.
This wear-and-tear can cause cuticle cells to become raised and softened, making the hair coarser and prone to breakage. Over time, the follicles themselves may produce thinner, smaller hairs, or none at all. This is referred to as senescent alopecia, an otherwise natural part of the aging process.
Why You May Be Losing Hair In Your 20s
Many people want to know why this is happening to them, especially at such a young age. Many factors can increase your hair loss stress, lack of sleep, vitamin deficiencies, hormonal changes, impaired microcirculation, poor scalp health or a predisposition to female or male pattern baldness.
Dr. Andrea Paul, Medical Advisor to Illuminate Labs, said that for men who are experiencing hair loss in their 20s, it could be a normal part of male pattern baldness, but for women, it can often be another story.
“For women, hair loss in their 20s is much less common and is more a sign of potential medical concern,” Dr. Paul said. “Female hair loss typically begins during menopause, so if a woman is losing hair or experiencing thinning in her 20s, she may be experiencing a hormonal imbalance or increased stress, both of which would require a trip to the doctor to assess.”
Here’s a look at the potential causes of hair loss in your 20s. However, always consult with a medical professional to assess and diagnose hair loss conditions.
Also Check: How To Reverse Hair Loss From Medication
Causes For Hair Loss In Young People
Hair loss can happen for all sorts of reasons, for example, it can be related to diet, exercise, illness, stress, disease, or hereditary causes.
For younger women, thinning hair is usually a result of poor nutrition, stress, disease, or changes in medications, like birth control.
Crash diets, weight loss, and low iron levels are all reasons why you may notice hair falling out or changes to hair growth. Make sure you are eating healthy foods for hair growth and exercising regularly to help yourself avoid this. A poor diet is the easiest thing to change when it comes to preventing hair loss.
Diseases more common to women, such as thyroid disease and lupus, are also culprits that contribute to hair loss. If you notice other symptoms besides thinning hair, consult with a doctor to find out what the issue could be.
Oral contraceptives can also contribute to hair loss. The hormones in birth control that suppress ovulation can sometimes cause thinning hair and hair loss. This is more likely to happen if you have androgenetic alopecia, but a hair loss cure is possible if you switch birth control or go off of it all together.
Thinning hair and hair loss in younger men is usually a result of androgenetic alopecia, but it can also be brought on by poor nutrition and stress.
Men have more DHT than women in their body. Since hair loss is a result of the hair follicles sensitivity to DHT, thinning hair and hair loss often begins at an earlier stage for most men than women.
Other Contributing Factors To Menopause Hair Loss
For women experiencing menopause hair loss, the hair loss is almost always the result of fluctuating hormones. However, there are other factors that can cause thinning hair during menopause. For example, stress, medication, illness, and vitamin deficiencies can also contribute to hair loss. These factors can also actually worsen menopausal hair loss.
So if you suspect that you have menopause hair loss, it might be a good idea to check with your doctor to make sure theres not another underlying issue.
Read Also: What Vitamin Should I Take For Hair Loss
Use New Hair Styling Products
As your hair changes, whether its thinning or drying out, the styling products youve been using may not work as well. Its time to switch it up and look for lighter weight products that wont weigh your hair down with heavy oils or waxes. Thick pomades and gels can actually make thin hair look thinner instead focus on volumizing products that give a natural hold, says Hall. Mousse is your best friend because a good mousse is pliable, soft, and fluffy, but still makes hair look like it has substance to it. Apply a mousse like The Mane Choice Anti-Shedding & Intense Volume Therapy Mousse to damp hair and style it with a blow dryer to shape it. Other water-based volumizing products and texture sprays are ideal for thinning hair, because they can pump up the cuticle to give hair the look of more volume and texture, without needing a heavy cream or wax. Like a mousse, apply a spray like Paul Mitchell Extra-Body Boost Root Spray to damp hair and let it air dry or use a blow dryer.