Questions Your Doctor May Ask About Loss Of Armpit/pubic Hair
- Have you been feeling more tired than usual, lethargic or fatigued despite sleeping a normal amount?
- Have you noticed a decrease in your libido or sex drive?
- Have you ever been diagnosed with diabetes?
- Have you had any changes in your weight?
Self-diagnose with our free Buoy Assistant if you answer yes on any of these questions.
What Are The Cycles Of Hair Growth
Hair goes through three cycles:
- The anagen phase can last from two years to eight years. This phase generally refers to about 85% to 90% of the hair on your head.
- The catagen phase is the time that hair follicles shrink and takes about two to three weeks.
- The telogen phase takes about two to four months. At the end of this phase, the hair falls out.
Your shorter hairs like eyelashes, arm and leg hair and eyebrows have a short anagen phase about one month. Your scalp hair can last up to six years or even longer.
How Is Hair Loss In Women Treated What Medicines Or Supplements May Help
Treatment depends on the cause of your hair loss.
- In cases where the loss is due to stress or hormone changes like pregnancy, there might be no treatment needed. The hair loss will stop after a period of time.
- In cases of hair loss being due to hair styling practices, like tight braids or ponytails or certain chemicals, treatment means not doing the things that caused the damage.
- In cases due to nutritional deficiencies, you might be told to take supplements. For instance, you might be told to take a multivitamin and three to five milligrams of biotin daily.
- Minoxidil is approved for treating FPHL. The 2% or 5% solution can be purchased in stores. However, you have to follow directions exactly and use the product indefinitely. Dont use this product if youre pregnant, if you plan to get pregnant, or if youre breastfeeding.
- The HairMax Lasercomb® low light laser is approved by the US FDA to treat FPHL. Another FDA-approved laser product is the Theradome LH80 PRO® helmet and low light laser helmets and caps.
Other medications that have been studied, but not approved, for hair loss in women include:
- Spironolactone and other anti-androgens.
- Steroids.
- Other light treatments.
It is important to note that premenopausal women should not take medications for hair loss treatment without using contraception. Many drugs, including minoxidil and finasteride, are not safe for pregnant women or women who want to get pregnant.
Don’t Miss: How To Stop Hair Loss Early
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.
Avoid These Foods To Keep Your Hair Healthy After 60
Excess salt is your hairs number one enemy. Consuming too much has an adverse effect on hair follicles and trichologists have found that cutting back on salt intake can lessen hair loss by as much as 60 percent.
Steer clear of nutrient-poor sugary and fatty treats too such as donuts, cakes, biscuits and pastries which do nothing to nourish your hair follicles.
You May Like: Do Exosomes Work For Hair Loss
The Thyroid Disease Connection
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that rests in the front base of the neck. It secretes thyroid hormones that are used by every cell in the body. There’s a connection between hair loss in women and thyroid disease. Imbalances in thyroid hormone levels are a common reason for hair loss in women. Too much thyroid hormone and too little thyroid hormone may both trigger hair loss. Other symptoms of hyperthyroidism include weight loss, rapid heart rate, inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, and anxiety. In addition to hair loss, hypothyroidism may be associated with weight gain, fatigue, feeling cold, slow heart rate, and constipation. Luckily, thyroid hormone imbalances are easily detectable with blood tests. Treatment helps alleviate symptoms, including hair loss.
What Are The Types Of Hair Loss
There are three: anagen effluvium, telogen effluvium and FPHL.
- Anagen effluvium: This is caused by medications that poison a growing hair follicle .
- Telogen effluvium: This is caused by an increased number of hair follicles reaching the telogen phase, which is the stage where hair falls out.
- Androgenetic alopecia/female pattern alopecia/female pattern hair loss /baldness: This type is the most common. Hair thins over the top of the head and on the sides.
You May Like: What Can Cause Rapid Hair Loss
What Are The Common Causes Of Hair Loss In Women
What causes hair loss?
- Hair style: Your style of hair can cause hair loss when your hair is arranged in ways that pull on your roots, like tight ponytails, braids, or corn rows. This type of hair loss is called traction alopecia. If hair follicles are damaged, the loss can be permanent.
- Vitamin deficiency.
- Over processed scalp hair .
What causes anagen effluvium hair loss?
- Toxic substances, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and some medications. These cause sudden hair loss that can occur anywhere on your body. It happens to hair in the growth stage. Sometimes, this type of hair loss can be permanent if your hair follicles are damaged.
What causes telogen effluvium hair loss?
- Extreme physical stress or shock to your body: This causes temporary hair loss. This category includes events like losing a lot of weight, surgery, anemia, illness and having a baby.
- Extreme emotional stress: mental illness, the death of a loved one, etc.
- An abnormal thyroid.
- Medications and supplements: blood pressure medicines, gout medicines and high doses of Vitamin A.
- Hormone changes caused by pregnancy, menopause or birth control pills.
What causes FPHL ?
- Genes: Your familys genes can cause thinning of hair along the top of your head.
- Aging: Hormone changes as you age can cause balding.
- Menopause: This type of hair loss often gets worse when estrogen is lost during menopause.
There are also some conditions that affect hair loss:
What’s The Difference Between Hair Thinning And Receding
If your hair is thinning primarily on your frontal scalp versus the entire head, you may be dealing with a receding hairline. With a thinning hairline, its a reduction of hair fibers in each hair follicle, which creates the appearance of less density, Florida-based trichologist Bridgette Hill has told Cosmo. But with receding, its a reduction of actual hair follicles that become dormant and die off, leading to a higher hairline and the forehead becoming more obvious.
Just like hair loss and thinning, there are a number of factors that can contribute to a receding hairline , which is why it’s so important to meet with a dermatologist or trichologist who can assess your scalp and hair and give you a clear plan of action before you do an-y-thing.
Recommended Reading: Can Plan B Cause Hair Loss
Hair Loss In Women After 30 40 50 60 Years
It has been scientifically proven that hair loss in women has age specific features. So in young girls, this problem is quite a rare phenomenon. Symptoms of alopecia arise from improper care of curls, because of frequent experiments with staining and curling, with unbalanced nutrition during a diet. After eliminating the provoking factor, the condition of the hair is restored.
There are more serious reasons for hair loss, which are inherent for women of any age:
- Chronic fatigue, stress, emotional stress.
- Treatment with antibiotics, antidepressants.
- Infectious lesions of the body.
- Long-term use of hormonal contraceptives.
- Dermatological diseases
Another important factor is the instability of the hormonal background, from the period of puberty to menopause. Hormonal fluctuations affect the density of vegetation, skin condition, nails and overall health.
Can indicate hereditary predisposition or the effect of the above factors. The damage to the head of hear is carried out gradually, evenly over the entire head, which is hardly noticeable from the side. Girls over 30 are at risk for thyroid disease and anemia .
Dull and thin curls can be a sign of hypothyroidism. Pregnancy and childbirth should also be considered , since this age is most preferable for motherhood.
There are such main reasons for the loss of vegetation on the head in women after 40 years:
, , ,
What Questions Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider
- What is the cause of my hair loss?
- How many strands of hair am I losing per day?
- What type of hair loss do I have?
- Will my hair loss be permanent?
- Whats the best treatment for me?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Hair loss may cause you distress whether it happens because of genetics, a disease, or even stress. Know that there are some treatments you can try, and expert dermatologists are there to help you. Your hair loss may be able to be reversed. See your healthcare provider as soon as you notice something wrong because the sooner you start treatment, the better.
Recommended Reading: What Cancer Causes Hair Loss
Other Causes Of Hair Loss In Women
While the hormonal fluctuations common during menopause can affect a womans overall hair growth and cause loss of hair on her head and elsewhere, there are other reasons why a woman might experience hair loss at any time of her life. These reasons include:
- Lack vitamins and trace minerals, especially iron
- Stress, anxiety, depression, nervous disorders
- Illness
- Certain medications
- Harsh shampoos
A woman can also suffer from alopecia, a condition that causes the hair to fall out in clumps or handfuls, and which can result in random bald spots on the head and scalp. Women with anxiety disorders can also inadvertently tug on their hair, pulling it out , and some tight, abrasive hats and other head coverings might interfere with healthy hair growth.
Answer: Hairloss For Women
Hello and thank you for your question. I recommend to your mother visit a dermatologist to find the reason of hair loss. There could be many reasons but after 50s hair loss could be seen in women. I do hair transplant to women many times and operation results are very successful even better then men.
Don’t Miss: Can Otezla Cause Hair Loss
Be Mindful Of Birth Control Pills
Birth control pills are a form of contraception that works by suppressing ovulation and/or making it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant into the lining of the uterus. Hormonal hair loss in women may occur when women start or stop taking certain kinds of contraceptives. The hormones that make birth control pills effective may also cause hair thinning in women who use them. You are more likely to experience this side effect from birth control pills if you have a family history of hair loss. Stopping the pill is also a cause of hair loss in women. Hormones are not the only medication that may be associated with hair loss. Blood thinners and blood pressure medications may do it, too. So can drugs used to treat depression, heart disease, and arthritis.
Medication For Hair Loss
Minoxidil, or Rogaine, is a topical medication that is used to treat female pattern hair loss and male-pattern baldness. It was initially developed as a blood pressure medication and was used off-label to treat hair loss until it became FDA-approved for that purpose. Minoxidil can slow the progression of hair loss. Most women who use the medication experience regrowth of hair. The medication needs to be used continuously to maintain results. Other types of treatment work for different kinds of hair loss. Corticosteroids help suppress the immune response that damages hair follicles in people who have alopecia areata. Once the follicles recover, hair can grow back. If nutritional deficiencies underlie hair loss, eating a healthy diet with adequate and protein and nutrients can help you regrow hair. Certain medical problems may trigger hair loss. Adequately treating these conditions may help restore hair growth.
You May Like: What Causes Excessive Hair Loss In Women
Hair Loss In Black Women: Tips From An Expert
Almost half of black women experience some form of hair loss. However, few doctors are familiar with black hairstyling practices, leaving many women to sort through unhelpful or even harmful advice on their own.
Dermatologist Crystal Aguh, one of just a small group of dermatologists across the country specializing in hair loss, offers these tips to help women protect their hair and recognize common warning signs of hair loss.
Why Does Hair Turn Grey
Your hair color is produced by cells at the base of each hair follicle. These cells make melanin pigments and feed these through to the hair root.
The pigment color you produce is genetically determined. Red melanin makes your natural hair color a gold, auburn, or red. Black melanin produces hair that is brown or black. Pale melanin, which is concentrated in the spongy core of the hair shaft, rather than the outer cortex, causes your natural color to be more honeyed or blonde.
Hair turns grey due to an age-related decrease in the activity of an enzyme called tyrosinase. This enzyme produces melanin from an amino acid called tyrosine.
The age at which your hair loses color is genetically determined and a few lucky people may retain their hair shade throughout life.
If your hair is grey, then some pigment is still present within the hair. If your hair is totally devoid of pigment, it becomes transparent and reflects light to appear snow white.
Don’t Miss: What Product Is Good For Thinning Hair