The reasons of hair loss in women are diverse. Identifying the cause is key for effective treatment and restoring natural hair.
Hair is considered one of the basics of beauty in women, so hair loss is one of the most important problems women face daily. Due to the importance of hair in their daily lives, it causes emotional disturbances and problems with confidence in the patient.
Reasons of hair loss in women
Hair loss is one of the most common problems women suffer from worldwide, and knowing the cause of this loss is not easy due to the variety of diseases and problems that cause it; in this article, we will learn about some of the most common causes.
But before learning about the reasons of hair loss in women, we must know the stages that hair goes through before falling out.
Hair life cycle
A hair follicle goes through three stages during its life, starting with its formation, then falling out of the body and a new follicle starting to grow in its place.
- The first stage is the hair growth stage which usually lasts between 2 and 8 years and the hair continues to grow and lengthen until the stage ends.
- The second stage is the regression period which lasts between 2 and 3 weeks and during which the existing hair follicle recedes and a transitional follicle grows before falling out.
- The third stage is the resting stage which lasts from 2 to 3 months and ends with the hair falling out and being replaced by a new follicle.
Medical history and clinical examination to limit the reasons of hair loss in women
When you go to the doctor, he will ask you some questions to try to diagnose the cause of hair loss. The doctor may ask when the hair loss started and whether it was a gradual or sudden because each type has different causes.
He may ask about the place where the hair falls out the most because it may indicate a specific skin disease or another cause. Then, the patient will undergo hair examinations, one of which is the traction test.
Tension test
The doctor places a group of hair between his fingers, approximately 50 hairs, and pulls them lightly and looks to see how many hairs are in his hand. In the normal case, the doctor’s hand comes out about three to five hairs that are in the resting phase. Still, in the case of a patient with excessive hair loss, such as telogen effluvium or alopecia areata, the doctor will easily pull more than six hairs.
The patient will then request some laboratory tests to confirm his diagnosis, which is usually limited to blood tests or a scalp biopsy.
Sudden hair loss
There are several reasons for sudden hair loss, and we will now mention some of the very common reasons that may be the cause of sudden hair loss:
Telogen hair loss
Telogen hair loss occurs due to disturbances in the hair growth cycle, as many hair follicles enter the resting phase together, which leads to excessive hair loss. Among the causes of telogen hair loss are:
Stress and psychological pressure
Stress is one of the most common reasons of hair loss in women, and it may lead to telogen hair loss, which appears after about three months of continuous psychological pressure.
Malnutrition
Hair, like all other organs of the body, needs proper nutrition to grow, so malnutrition leads to hair loss, as in the case of a strong diet to lose weight, this will lead to hair loss, so when doing any diet, it is preferable to ask the doctor about the diet that should be followed.
Excess vitamin A in the body leads to hair loss, and a severe deficiency in vitamin D will also lead to hair loss, and this condition is treated with nutritional supplements.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is one of the reasons of hair loss in women due to hormonal changes and stress that affect pregnant women, so hair loss during pregnancy is a common problem, and hair usually returns to normal after childbirth.
Childbirth
Hair loss may occur 3 to 6 months after childbirth, and this may be attributed to hormonal changes or due to stress and lack of sleep that the infant may cause in the first years of his life.
Alopecia
Several types of alopecia differ in their management and treatment methods and the reason for their occurrence, but they are all characterized by sudden hair loss that may follow a specific distribution or form an empty area in the body.
Involuntary Alopecia
As we age, more hair follicles enter the resting phase, which leads to hair loss. The remaining hairs become shorter and fewer in number.
Androgenic Alopecia
One of the most important reasons of hair loss in women is androgenic alopecia, which is almost a genetic condition caused by increased levels of male androgen hormones in the body, which causes what is called male-pattern baldness in men and what is called female-pattern baldness in women.
Female-pattern baldness usually does not appear until the age of forty and is characterized by a general thinning of the entire scalp with increased hair loss in the crown area.
In this case, the hormone dihydrotestosterone is responsible for hair loss in women, which is called female-pattern baldness.
Alopecia areata
Alopecia areata is an immune disorder in which the body attacks the hair follicles, causing patchy hair loss and may lead to complete baldness (alopecia totalis), but in about 90% of people, this condition disappears within years without knowing the cause.
Ringworm of the scalp
Ringworm is a fungal disease that affects any area of the body and leads to hair loss from the affected area. The infection is common in tropical regions and in the summer. This condition is often treated with antifungal creams.
Causes of chronic hair loss in women
Chronic hair loss is more common than sudden hair loss due to the variety of diseases that lead to hair weakness and eventual hair loss. These causes include:
Anemia
Anemia causes hair loss due to the lack of oxygen transport to the hair follicles. This leads to poor nutrition of the follicles, which weakens them and then causes their loss.
Thyroid Diseases
Hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are both reasons of hair loss in women, because the thyroid gland is responsible for regulating metabolic and structural processes in the human body.
Diabetes
Some studies link hair loss to diabetes due to blood disorders that occur in diabetes, which lead to poor hair nutrition, and women are often more susceptible to hair loss due to diabetes than men.
Tips for fine hair
- Using hair thickening products
- Using shampoo and conditioner in every shower
- Finding a suitable hairstyle for fine hair and not using hairstyles that cause tension on the hair because they lead to hair loss
- Do not comb wet hair
- Reducing the use of electric dryers on hair
- There are some foods that are beneficial for hair loss:
- Nuts are one of the best foods for hair because they contain zinc and proteins necessary for hair growth and reproduction
- Meat and milk
- Legumes
- Sweet potatoes and spinach
- Sour foods that contain a lot of vitamin C
Hair loss treatment in women
Hair loss treatment in women depends on knowing the reasons of hair loss in women, and here we will mention some types of treatments available briefly, taking into account that diseases that cause secondary hair loss are sufficient to treat the primary disease to prevent hair loss.
- Minoxidil: A drug available in the form of a spray, cream, or shampoo for hair loss in women, which leads to the expansion of the vessels in the scalp and increases the nutrition coming to the hair follicle.
- Finasteride: This medication reduces the male androgen hormones in the human body, which helps alleviate androgenic alopecia in women.
- Corticosteroids (cortisone): Medications similar in composition to the corticosteroids in the human body, which reduce immunity and help treat hair loss caused by autoimmunity.
- Antibiotic ointments that help fight bacterial infections in the skin that cause hair loss.
- Plasma injections into the scalp are a newly used method to stop hair loss, but they are not a treatment for a specific cause of hair loss in women.
- Hair transplantation: Hair transplantation has many methods that aim to extract hair from a specific part of the body and transfer it to the place of hair loss.
The reasons of hair loss in women are many and varied and cannot be limited to one specialty. Hair loss is a common problem facing women and young women because of its harmful psychological effects on them. Hair loss can also be classified into two major sections: sudden and chronic hair loss, which include many other causes. Due to the many reasons of hair loss in women, it is preferable to go to the doctor when facing the problem of hair loss so that he can make the appropriate diagnosis and start the appropriate treatment. He may also provide some advice for taking care of the hair and starting a specific diet that may help reduce hair loss.
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