Causes of Thinning Hair in Women

Thinning hair in women may cause embarrassment and dissatisfaction with physical appearance. The causes of hair loss in women include genetic predisposition, hormonal changes, personal behaviors and certain medical conditions. Some of the causes of thinning hair can be treated with medications or hair regrowth products, while other causes may resolve over a period of time or may be permanent conditions.

Styling

• Excessive brushing, tightly pulled hairstyles and chemical treatments including perms, relaxers and coloring can weaken the shaft of the hair and cause breakage and overall thinning of the hair.

Stress

• Telogen effluvium is a condition caused by emotional or physical stress that changes the hair growth cycle and causes hair to fall out over a period of several months.

Heredity

• Hair that thins with increasing age may be a result of genetic factors such as female pattern baldness, which causes hair to weaken and fall out.

Hormones

• After delivering a baby, sudden drops in hormone levels can result in changes of hair growth cycles, causing more hair to fall out than is typical for a few months after birth.

Infection

• According to the Mayo Clinic, ringworm is a fungal infection that can infect the scalp and cause patchy hair loss or thinning of the hair.

Medications

• Medications such as birth control pills and drugs for high blood pressure, depression and arthritis may cause thinning of the hair.

Nutritional Deficiencies

• Anemia is a deficiency of iron in the blood, which may result in hair loss or thinning of the hair and can be caused by excessive menstrual bleeding.