Female Pattern Baldness: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention
Female Pattern Baldness (Female Alopecia) Treatment
Noticing your hair thinning? Or finding fallen hairs on your shoulders when you comb or shower? On average, every human being loses around 80 to 100 hairs a day which is a healthy sign and almost unnoticeable.
Sometimes this situation gets worse and noticeable hair loss in women can occur. Like Male pattern baldness, In the case of female pattern hair loss, one can notice subtle thinning of hair, especially in a predictable patch where the scalp is clearly visible.
Usually thinning of hair or female pattern baldness is considered as a menopausal trait but in recent decades hair loss in women has become even more prevalent in the age of early 20s.
Female pattern hair loss that too at a younger age, like in the early 20s or 30s can be stressful for any woman, but it’s often treatable. The first step of an effective hair loss treatment is to find out what’s causing it.
Unlike the postmenopausal pattern of baldness, hair loss in the 20s is usually triggered by specific factors like stress, poor dieting, chemical exposures, or hormonal changes and can be stopped if diagnosed at an early stage.
Symptoms of Female Pattern Baldness
- In this, hair follicles shrink and the growth cycle of hairs is disrupted at first which slows down the growth of new hair. Due to narrowed down follicles the new hair grows slower and thinner which breaks easily with minor stress like massage, shower, or certain hairstyle like a ponytail.
- In earlier stages, clear baldness is not noticeable but hairs start to shed faster and more than an average person.
- One can notice a widening part among tresses and hair does not feel as thick as usual. Although the scalp may be visible, the Unlike male pattern baldness, in which the hair shedding begins in the frontal head, it can start at the part line, which eventually spreads over the whole scalp, the hairline usually does not recede.
Causes of Female Pattern Hair Loss
From poor intake of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to hormonal imbalance, chemical exposure to certain cosmetics, side-effects of medicines to stress, hair loss in women can be caused due to a number of reasons.
- A traumatic or stressful event like childbirth, extreme weight gain or loss, death of a loved one, break-up, or divorce can lead to telogen effluvium — when more hairs start shifting to the shedding stage.
- Deficiency of certain nutrients and minerals like Vitamin A, E, biotin, proteins, iron, selenium, and zinc which are believed to be essential for a healthy hair growth cycle.
- Inflammation in the scalp
- Skin-related problems and infections like eczema.
- Certain hairstyles put stress on the hair roots like ponytails or braids.
- Chemical-loaded cosmetics like hair dye, conditioners, hair spray, and hot air blowers can make hair follicles vulnerable to pattern baldness.
- Sometimes female pattern baldness can have purely genetic reasons — caused by a hereditary abnormal hair-growth cycle in which the period between the shedding and growing of hair is longer than average.
- Hormonal changes especially during puberty, pregnancy, or menopause can cause follicles to be smaller and thinner.
Hair Loss in Early 20s - Prevention Is Better Than Cure
As we have stated earlier if you can cite the actual reason behind the hair loss in an early stage you can prevent the trigger causing thinning of hair. Once you figure out the trigger you can easily slow or stop hair loss.
- You should include those nutrients in your daily diet which are responsible for a healthy hair growth cycle. Raw vegetables, fresh herbs, omega-proteins-rich foods like nuts, beans, fish, and multivitamin supplements like ginseng, saw palmetto provide vitamin A, biotin, selenium, and zinc which contribute to healthy hair growth.
- Washing hair daily is necessary to keep your scalp healthy and free from infections, but you must do it in the right way. Always use a mild shampoo, better a herbal one. Never use hot water for washing your hair as heat makes your hair weaker.
- Avoid hair stylers like hot air blowers, curling or straightening irons as these cause damage to your hair shafts.
- Tight hairstyles like braids or ponytails exert a lot of pressure on your hair roots and make them prone to shedding.
- When you go for a chemical treatment, like perms, spa, hair mask, or hair color, make sure the ingredients of that product are safe for your hair and scalp. Always use dermatological approved products and use them on a small patch to check whether they suit your skin type or not before applying them to the whole of your scalp.
- It would be even better if you skip using chemical products. It is always safe to use herbal products and there are many such Ayurvedic hair masks, Amla Bhringraj shampoos, and vitalizer which work well without harming your hair texture or roots.
Treatment of Female Pattern Baldness
Treatment of women hair loss begins with underlying the real trigger that is causing the thinning and shedding of hair. Once you figure out the reason, it is advised to begin with the treatment as soon as possible. There are many treatments available for hair loss in women in their early 20s, 30s, or postmenopausal periods; the sooner you diagnose the problem, the better the treatment will be.
Through careful observation of your dietary changes, recent hair treatments, cosmetics that you are using, or medications you are taking you can guess which culprit is responsible for this sudden hair fall, but in some cases, you may need to see an expert dermatologist pinpoint the real issue.
- In cases of stress-induced fair shedding, no treatment is needed. Just keep yourself happy and get enough sleep, the hair loss will stop after a period of time.
- If the hair loss has occurred due to hair styling practices like braids, ponytails, ironing, or straightening, simply avoiding these things can reverse the damage over time.
- If pattern baldness is induced due to any nutritional deficiency, intake of multivitamin supplements and a few milligrams of biotin can help in treatment.
- Minoxidil is a very popular and approved medication for treating female pattern baldness. Though it can be purchased from any medical store, you should consult your dermatologist first to understand the treatment process. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should not take this medication.
- There are many laser hair treatments and hair transplant therapies approved by the US FDA to treat female pattern hair loss which either works on maintaining the hair follicles healthy or by hiding the bald patches over the head with artificial hair.
- Ayurvedic treatment for female pattern baldness is also effective and a popular choice of millions as this kind of treatment doesn’t bring any side effects. Many natural herbs like Amla, Reetha, Shikakai, Aloe Vera, Castor Oil, and Bhringraj are being used in Ayurvedic practices for ages to cure hair fall and to improve strength, shine and texture of hair naturally by nourishing the follicles, shafts, strands, and scalp internally. Use Ayurvedic hair oil for hair growth, massage it directly to scalp, nourish its follicles and give chances to regrow hair naturally.
- Helps regrowth hair
- Reduce hair fall.
- Nourish Hair Follicles
