CosBeauty Magazine #87

feature
hHair loss can be particularly
traumatic for women. While male
hair loss is seen as inevitable for
a large proportion of men, female
hair loss is far less common and less
culturally acceptable, which only
adds to the stigma.
Generally, female hair loss is
quite different to male hair loss.
Females experience a thinning
out of mid scalp and crown hair
and usually retain their frontal
hairline. Due to the different hair
loss pattern and reproductive concerns,
treatments suitable for men are not always
safe and effective for women.
Improvements in hair transplant
techniques allow female patients to undergo
procedures to thicken thinning areas,
while avoiding damage to or removal of
existing hair follicles, using a dense packing
procedure that also minimises scarring in
both donor and recipient sites.
If you notice hair loss or thinning that
is unusual for you, it is important to seek
advice from a qualified hair restoration
specialist to determine the exact cause and
to establish a suitable treatment regime.
A hereditary condition, female pattern
hair loss affects about 30 million American
women, according to the American
Academy of Dermatology (AAD).
Although hair loss in women mostly
occurs in the late 50s or 60s, it can happen
at any time, even during teenage years.
However, the incidence of hair loss in
women significantly increases during and
after the menopause.
A study reported in the journal
Dermatological Surgery in 2001 found
that female pattern baldness affects three
percent of women aged between 20 to 29;
16 to 17 percent of women aged between
30 and 49; and 28 percent of women aged
between 70 and 79. Over the age of 80, 32
percent of women are affected by hair loss
or thinning hair.
Female pattern hair loss is thought to
be triggered by the same mechanisms
responsible for the majority of hair
loss in men. That is, the production of
androgenetic hormones and their effect on
the hair follicle. However, female pattern
hair loss is not exactly the same as that
which occurs in men, with earlier stages of
hair thinning.
Female pattern hair loss is typically
divided into three stages, or grades,
increasing in their severity. Grade I refers to
thinning hair on the top of the head; Grade
II to thinning hair and patches of greater
hair loss; and Grade III to male-pattern hair
loss. It is rare, however, to see complete
baldness akin to male pattern hair loss,
in women.
Typically, each time a normal hair follicle
is shed, it is replaced by hair that is equal in
size. But in women with female-pattern hair
loss, the new hair is finer and thinner – a
more miniaturised version of itself. The hair
follicles are shrinking and eventually they
stop growing altogether.
Female pattern hair loss is not the only
cause of hair loss in women. In women, it
is more common than in men that other
factors might be causing thinning of the
hair, or patches of baldness. Some of the
most common causes include:
Trichotillomania
Compulsive hair pulling. Hair loss due
to trichotillomania is typically patchy, as
compulsive hair pullers tend to concentrate
the pulling in selected areas. Hair loss
due to this cause cannot be treated
effectively until the psychological or
emotional reasons for trichotillomania
are effectively addressed.