Baldness (alopecia) isn’t a subject we like speaking about as women, however in reality, about a third of all women experience alopecia at some point in their lives. About two thirds of postmenopausal women have thinning hair or bald spots.
Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL), or androgenetic alopecia, is actually the most frequent kind of hair thinning in women. It starts from the middle of your scalp and moves external. Oftentimes, it resembles your part point is slowly extending, your frontal hair line remains intact. With FPHL, women rarely lose most of their hairloss.
Though the specific biological cause is unknown, FPHL occurs more frequently in women who have obesity, higher blood pressure and insulin resistance (Pre Diabetes ). Medications and stress may be quite a significant factor. Noticing that your part is widening or your own pony tail is thinning may be a very good explanation to find out your physician. Help! What works?
Common myths regarding hair loss in women
Before we dive right into treatments, it is very important that we put the record straight on shared myths surrounding female pattern baldness. These fables usually leave women unnecessarily worried and lead women down the wrong path concerning therapy.
1) Female pattern baldness is inherited.
Genetics seem to play a part in female pattern hair loss, however the connection with inherited genes is much less clear compared to male pattern hair loss. No definitive familial inheritance was diagnosed with women, unlike men with androgenic alopecia (male pattern hair loss) where genetics play a major role from the mom and daddy’s side.
2) Girls with elevated levels of male hormones are at a higher risk for female pattern hair loss.
That really is false. While higher levels of male hormones, also called androgens, might be associated with female pattern hair loss, nearly all female hair thinning is NOT associated with elevated amounts of androgens. It’s not like male pattern balding, which is directly associated with levels of androgens in your system. Just 39% of women with FPHL have high androgen levels.
3) Hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of female pattern hair loss.
Also false. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) such as oral estrogen has no clear effect in hair growth, as well as in certain research studies, HRT was found to really prevent balding.
Medical causes of hair loss in women
The primary cause of female pattern hair is not known, but general baldness in women can be a result of a number of other medical factors. Before you stage to FPHL as your own analysis, Search for all these:
An underactive or overactive thyroid. Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism might cause hair thinning, also is easy to rule out with a blood test that measures levels of TSH (thyroid gland ).
Iron deficiency anemia. Women with lower iron levels often suffer from hair loss. A simple laboratory test to find iron levels actively seeks ferritin in the bloodflow. Women with ferritin levels lower than 100 ng/dl have a tendency to report baldness more often than
Emotional and emotional stress. A major disease, acute psychological injury, significant weight loss, and child birth could trigger an episode of hair loss which begins a few months after the episode. This is called telogen effluvium, and hair loss occurs in all regions of the scalp.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Sometimes, this condition causes your body to produce too many androgens, which can diminish the growth of hair on scalp.
Medications. Some common culprits of medication-related hair loss comprise beta blockers, antidepressants, anticoagulants, and chemotherapy medication.
Alternatives for treating hair loss
Once your physician determines Your baldness is FPHL (rather than associated with one of the aforementioned conditions), here are the choices:
Topical 2% minoxidil (Rogaine): Minoxidil, applied as 1 tsp twice daily, may be the only medication approved by the FDA for treating female pattern hair loss. Interestingly, although two% and 5% minoxidil technically possess various strengths, they are basically equally effective.
Oral finasteride (Propecia): A few studies demonstrate advancement in hair loss with finasteride 5 mg per day. However, finasteride 1 mg tablets have not been demonstrated to be helpful.
Zinc sulfate + calcium pantothenate: These are over-the-counter supplements. At a study, those using topical minoxidil daily with the help of calcium sulfate capsules 220 mg + calcium pantothenate tablets 100 mg twice a week’d better results compared to people with minoxidil alone. Worth a try!
Spironolactone (Aldactone): There is some evidence that using the diuretic, spironolactone, at a dose of 100 to 200 mg a day helps women that experienced no more advantage of using topical minoxidil.
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