female pattern baldness

Just like male pattern baldness, the most common form of hair loss in women is known as female pattern baldness - also called androgenetic alopecia. Although male pattern baldness tends to be socially accepted, female pattern baldness is less accepted and in many cases it can have devastating effect on the sufferers emotional state and confidence. In today’s increasingly stressful world, the number of women suffering from hair loss or female pattern baldness is increasing. Female pattern baldness is often linked to hormonal changes with the hair loss, following events such as the menopause, childbirth or as a result of stopping, or starting oral contraceptive pills. Other causes of the female pattern baldness can be numerous and include stress, restriction of the blood supply, a poor nervous system and hormonal influences. With female pattern baldness, the hair loss is generally more uniform over the scalp than in the male counterpart, but also results from a complex chemical reaction when the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase converts the testosterone in the system into DHT or dihydrotestosterone.

Female pattern baldness affects approximately one-third of all susceptible women, and genetically, hair loss can come from either parents side of the family. Pregnancy can also be a cause. Hormone levels increase as the pregnancy begins and slows down the hair growth cycle. Hairs that should stop growing continue to grow beyond their usual life cycle. Often this means that the hair appears to grow thicker as more hairs are present than normal. Following the birth, hormone levels change very quickly and hairs that were growing beyond their normal lifespan enter the telogen phase at this time and begin to fall out. This can sometimes appear to happen all at once, leading to the appearance of female pattern baldness and can be very worrying to the new mother.