The Causes of Hair Loss in Women
By: Endah Purwani
You're not alone if you're experiencing breakage, increased hair shedding or significant hair loss.
Hair loss in women is most often very gradual and is more easily affected by hormonal changes, medical conditions, and external factors. Hair loss in women is no less distressing than in men. More often women s hair loss is limited to the thinning of the hair especially around the crown area. A receding hair line is rare in women. It usually starts with the hair follicle becoming thinner, revealing more skin.
Hair loss or hair shedding is consistent within the hair growth cycle and it is normal to lose some scalp hair each day. The average human scalp has roughly 100,000 to 150,000 individual hairs and the normal hair growth cycle results in the loosening or shedding of about 100 to 150 hairs on a daily basis. New hair growth then emerges from these same previous dormant hair follicles, growing at the average rate of about half an inch per month.
Baldness or Alopecia happens when the normal pattern of hair growth is disrupted. The normal pattern of human hair growth is growing, resting, shedding and growing again. For a woman, thick, vibrant hair is our crowning glory, our vanity visible. Our culture strongly identifies femininity with a thick, silky head of hair. Society unfairly identifies dry, lack luster and thinning hair with old age, sickness and poverty.
Reasons for hair loss include physical, emotional, and genetic conditions. Hair loss can occur from many common causes that most women do not even think of. The number of women who suffer from stress and hair loss is growing. Stress leads to various health conditions which cause hair loss.
A woman's hair is at its thickest by age 20. Once we pass 20, however, our hair gradually begins to thin, shedding more than the normal 100-150 hairs a day. For even the elderly woman, significant hair loss can threaten self image.
Female pattern baldness or Androgen tic Alopecia is the most common type of hair loss in women and is genetic in nature. The result is a shorter hair growth cycle, finer hair and excessive hair loss from shedding and breakage.
Coming off birth control pills and pregnancy can cause hair loss. Women may experience hair loss 2 - 3 months after having a baby.
Progesterone is another hormone that precisely targets the hair during menopause. It compensates by producing extra androstenedione, which prevents hair growth. Usually hair will return to its original thickness following menopause.
A healthy balanced diet, regular exercise, hydration and rest can go a long way towards preventing hair loss and maximizing the potential of your hair growth cycle.
Nutrition
Poor nutrition is often an underlying cause of hair loss as the hair is a reliable indicator of nutritional well being. Dull hair color or dry and brittle hair may be indicators of a deficiency in essential fats in the diet, oily hair may be a sign of a B vitamin deficiency.
Low-fat foods that rank high in protein, low in carbohydrates, can play a vital role in sustaining healthy hair growth and aid in preventing hair loss. Harsh chemicals may strip the natural oils from your hair and lead to breakage and poor hair growth. Dye, hair straightening and permanent solutions are highly destructive to the hair shaft and follicle as well as the delicate sebum balance of the scalp.
Be gentle with your hair. Allow hair to dry naturally rather than using a hair dryer. Wet hair is weak hair so handle with care.
Try not to constantly run your fingers through your hair, tug at the hair and avoid hair clips or rubber bands that pull at and break off the hair. Minimize the usage of mousse, gels and hair sprays. These products dry and weigh down the hair shaft and dull the natural luster of your hair.
Harsh hair treatment such as pulling with brushes, tight braiding and styling with irons and strengtheners can be a cause of female thinning hair.
Sun worshippers should make sure that hair care products have sunscreen properties to protect hair from the damaging affects of UV rays.
Hair loss is traumatic, however our hair is only part of who we are. Remember, that for some hair grows back as mysteriously as it disappeared
Finding what has caused your hair loss will greatly increase your chances of finding the right treatments to help re grow your hair.
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