What Are the Causes of Female Frontal Balding?

While male balding is better known, women can also lose their hair. Female frontal balding can occur in women of all ages and race and range from light thinning to total hair loss. Female frontal balding can be caused by a variety of factors, including genetics, disorders in the body's systems and physical damage.

Genetics

• Some women suffer pattern baldness, just as men do. The cause of this type of female frontal balding is genetic. It is typically characterized by thinning hair in the front of the scalp that often extends back along the center of the scalp. Women who experience it have an inherited sensitivity to the action of androgens on their hair follicles. Female frontal baldness that is caused by pattern baldness is primarily treated through the use of androgen-blocking medications or with Rogaine.

Disorders

• Other women experience frontal balding as a symptom of hormonal or endocrine disorders. Polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormone disorder, results in a woman experiencing high levels of androgens, which can cause sensitive hair follicles to stop growing hair. Hypothyroidism can cause women's follicles to remain in a dormant stage instead of growing new hair, leading to female frontal balding. When women are treated for these disorders, their recovery usually coincides with the return of hair growth.

Damage

• Female frontal balding can be caused by high-tension hairstyles such as tight braids or ponytails. These hairstyles pull the hair back sharply, putting the most pressure on hairs at the front of the scalp. The hairs are broken off and pulled out, leading to frontal balding. Changing hairstyles allows the hair to grow normally once more, unless the damage has gone on for too long, in which case hair loss can become permanent.

Psychological

• Some women experience female frontal balding as a result of trichotillomania, a psychological impulse-control disorder. Women experiencing it pull their hair out at the roots, often in concentrated patches, including the front of the scalp. Stress can also cause a woman's hair follicles to go dormant. This leads to hair loss without any growth to replace it, causing frontal thinning and balding.

Other

• There are other less-likely physical causes of female frontal balding. Some women experience inflammation of their hair follicles during menopause, which can lead to scarring and permanent baldness. Hair follicles can be damaged by the actions of autoimmune issues, fungal infections and hereditary disorders. When hair follicles at the front of a woman's scalp are inflamed by these problems, the follicles lose the ability to produce hair, leading to balding that is usually permanent.