FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS
What Is Female Pattern Baldness?
Female pattern baldness, also
called Androgenic alopecia in women is hereditary hair loss
condition which causes loss of scalp hair or baldness in about 20 percent
of all women.
If you are healthy and you begin losing hair, then your female hair loss
condition may be hereditary.
The typical pattern of hair
loss in women differs from men. In women, the hair thins out all
over the scalp, but the frontal hairline is maintained. There may be moderate
female hair loss on the
crown of the head, rarely progressing to total
baldness as it may in men. Women notice a reduction in hair shaft size
around the forehead and the crown area. This is called female pattern
baldness or female pattern hair loss. As women age, this female
pattern baldness begins to develop, around 40 years of age. As
menopause begins, more and more women notice hair loss.
Female Pattern Baldness, Ludwig Medical Classification
Women's health & hair loss
Female-pattern baldness
typically begins during menopause when women's estrogen levels decrease and
testosterone increases, causing hair loss.
Various forms of estrogen
can "oppose" androgens and thereby reduce their availability to the
cell, by blocking androgen receptors.
Some women may also experience permanent
hair loss during pregnancy or when
starting or stopping oral contraceptives.
If
balding occurs due to birth control pills, then a woman should consult
with her doctor about switching to another pill.
Women may also notice that they
are losing hair at the end of a pregnancy or after childbirth due to
hormonal changes. In most cases, hair re-growth will
return to previous conditions between one to six months. Another
normal scalp hair loss is Telogen effluvium, a common
type of hair loss caused when a large percentage of scalp hairs are
shifted into "shedding" phase and later the re-growth stage occurs. Cosmetic alternatives, such as hair replacements or wigs, can help conceal
female hair loss with great success!