Rapid Hair Loss in Women

Hair loss in women can be somewhat more disconcerting than when it happens in males, partly because of the way it happens. While genetics can lead to male pattern baldness, women who lose their hair often find it to be a sudden onset of hair thinning and disappearing in a rapid fashion.

Types

• The generalized thinning that affects all parts of the scalp is the most common in females. Called diffuse un-patterned alopecia, the changing of the follicles makes hair grow extremely thin, causing it to break before it develops any length. This loss has no pattern so it can appear all over or in clumps.

  Another type of hair loss is occasionally self-correcting. Telogen effluvium puts the follicles in a non-growth or rest state. This is the common cause of total baldness in those undergoing chemotherapy. This type of hair loss is the second most common and those who suffer from it often seek the help of a dermatologist. While this type of thinning is not considered a pattern, there does tend to be more hair loss on the top as opposed to the sides when not drug-related.

  Cicatricial alopecia is a permanent hair loss caused by scarring. The inflammation of the scars damages the hair follicle beyond repair. Common causes are things such as lupus or lichen planus. No one has been able to determine the exact cause of the inflammation, but this is one cause that remains irreversible.

Causes

• Diffuse hair loss has many health-related causes. Things such as anemia, thyroid dysfunction, and even medications can cause this type of hair loss. Depending on the cause, many times this is reversible with the correction of the base problem. While this is not as common as the other types of hair loss, it is something to consider and why you should seek medical testing before looking into correction methods.

Solutions

• Solutions exist. Unlike the with male pattern baldness, you can treat some of this thinning with a change in diet, medications or stress levels. Oftentimes you can adjust follicle involvement by managing your overall health. For those that cannot be corrected with such changes in behavior, transplant is an option for certain types of hair loss or regrowth serums. These tend to add thickness to hair that is already there, but can occasionally stimulate new growth altogether.

Mechanical Hair Loss

• Some hair loss is actually a mechanical type of loss because the over manipulation of the hair either through styling or processing. This type of loss is considered self-inflicted and can result in cuticle damage. By stopping the processing, you can reverse the hair loss, but you might choose to facilitate the regrowth by looking for serums that will help stimulate the follicle again. It is easy to forget this hair loss tends to take a long time to develop and can also take a long time to fix; so the earlier you change your habits the faster you will rectify the situation.

Misconceptions

• Many people believe women are not subject to baldness or fear it is irreversible. Both of these thoughts are false. Things can be done to fix most hair loss problems and this does happen to many women. It can also be an indicator of what is going on with your body. Like other symptoms, be certain to check with a medical professional to verify hair loss is not a symptom of another problem. People tend to think of hair loss as a stand-alone issue, it oftentimes is not.