Facts about Female Hair Loss
In the past few decades there have been more and more complaints in dermatologists’ offices from young women about hair loss, steady, progressive, diffuse, mysterious hair loss. There are very few medical conditions that produce more emotional trauma than thinning of scalp hair in young and middleaged, healthy women.
Years ago, doctors rarely saw cases of female baldness. But recently, young women have begun to notice a gradual and progressive increase in the number of hairs lost with each brushing and combing-more hair on the comb, more hair in the brush, more hair in the wash basin. And, after months or years, a realization that there has occurred visible thinning, a euphemism for baldness.
The healthy scalp loses between 50 and 120 hairs daily. This loss, let me reassure you, is balanced out by continuous regrowth. When the rate of hair loss, however, exceeds the rate of new growth, thinning and balding become apparent.
As a rule, there really is not an excessive amount of hair loss, rather there is an underproduction of new hair. This lack of production of new, viable hair can be due to a dozen different reasons.
Causes of Female Hair Loss
The major factors in what the dermatologist terms “female pattern baldness” are hormonal changes, heredity, and the aging process. Hormonal changes are those that occur after childbirth and with certain types of endocrine tumors and imbalances (thyroid trouble, ovarian problems, and other hormone conditions). In addition, if you are taking the low-dose birth control pill, you may be experiencing hair loss.
Hereditary factors also play a strong role in pattern baldness. If your mother or grandmother had sparse hair, it is likely that you (and possibly your daughter) may suffer from the same deficiency.
Finally, the aging process (due to diminished production of female hormones) is a strong factor in female hair loss. After producing for so many decades, the hair follicles become weak, tired, and sluggish. Some of them fade away and produce no more, one of the prices we must pay for growing old.
Other causes of thinning and balding in our modern women are due to environmental changes and the products used for beautification. Here are some examples:
* Mechanical tension and violence on the hair shaft due to new hair styles and cosmetic aids. These cause injury to the hair follicle and, when prolonged, interfere with the scalp’s circulation. Examples include unusual stretching, pulling, and teasing, brush rollers and curlers, tight, restrictive hair styles, vigorous combing and brushing, hot combs, braiding, and ponytails. Sharp-toothed nylon and metal combs and brushes also cause mechanical injury to the hair shaft and follicle.
* Excessive chemical exposure associated with hair styling (for example, cold-wave solutions, bleaches, and hair straighteners), and increased exposure to synthetic detergents and other additives in commercial shampoos, dyes, and hair sprays.
* Pollutants in our water supply (pesticides and insecticides), in our air (radioactive fallout and other forms of radiation), in sprays and other inhalants, in our food (dyes, additives, and various drugs and hormones given to cattle and poultry), and increased exposure to chemicals of all sorts.
* Nutritional deficiencies, such as those seen in “crash dieters,” in vegetarians who may develop protein malnutrition, and in those suffering from iron-deficiency anemia.
* General anesthesia during surgical operations.
* Various drugs used to treat cancer, and anticoagulants (blood thinners) used in heart disease.
* Excessive smoking (a more recent suspect).
* Emotional stress and tension, which are believed to impair the circulation of the hair follicle.
What’s a woman to do? Here are a few basic do’s and don’ts for healthy hair:
* Shampoo your hair regularly, daily if at all possible.
* If you comb and brush your hair, use only pure bristle brushes and hard rubber (Ace) combs. Don’t use the plastic or metal varieties.
* Reduce excessive mechanical manipulation of the hair shaft. Avoid teasing and ratting, vigorous combing and brushing, tight, restrictive hairstyles, tight braids and ponytails, and excessive hot-combing. Hair responds best to gentle care.
* Avoid excessive bleaching, dyeing, and hair straightening. . Keep up your general health, avoid crash diets, and cut down on smoking.
* If you are taking the low-dose birth control pill, ask your gynecologist if you may change these to the higher-dose variety.
* Avoid emotional stress and tension.
* Don’t be misled by those advertisements and commercials for potions and unguents that promise to grow hair. There ain’t no such animal.
* Finally, if your situation does not improve, see your dermatologist. There may be some infection, some hormonal imbalance, or some medication that you have been taking that might be responsible.
And remember, women don’t get bald the way men do. While you may have to get used to a thinner crop when you are in your forties, it is highly unlikely that you will lose all of your “crowning glory.”
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