Hair loss—we’ve all faced this excruciating experience at least once in our life—the hair that sheds constantly, and we don’t know why it’s happening. While there is a list of factors that could impact your hair’s health, there are also many hair loss types. One of the most commonly encountered types of hair loss in women is female pattern baldness.
What Is Female Pattern Baldness?
Hair loss is a normal condition that occurs to people of all genders. When it comes to women, fewer than 45% go through life with a full head of hair. One of the hair loss types that affect women the most is female pattern baldness, also known as androgenetic alopecia. It affects up to 50% of both women and men worldwide.
This hair loss condition is pretty similar to male pattern baldness except for the fact that hair loss in women can follow a different pattern. While age can, be one reason for exposure to this type of hair loss, it can occur at any time after puberty.
How Is It Diagnosed?
Typically, testing isn’t required to diagnose this hair loss condition. However, if you feel like you’re experiencing thinning hair on your scalp, you should visit your specialist to examine your scalp to understand the type of hair loss.
Aventus clinic offers you a free hair loss consultation where the expert doctors will take a full history and carry out an examination and be able to offer the most appropriate treatment.
Types of Female Pattern Baldness
Type I:
A low level of hair thinning starts occurring around the parking area.
Type II:
Hair thinning widens around the parking area.
Type III:
Hair thinning continues across the scalp, often with a see-through spot at the top of the scalp.
Does Genetics Cause Female Pattern Baldness?
More often than not, heredity is the leading cause of female pattern baldness. Hair loss is genetically inherited from the parents to their offspring. The genes that impact the hair health may be passed down to you from one of your parents. The chances of you developing female pattern baldness are higher if one of your close family members had it.
Does Dandruff Cause Hair Loss?
Dandruff is a common scalp condition that many people deal with daily. The flaky skin on your scalp created as a result of this condition causes itching that, in turn, leads to scratching and eventually leads to potential hair loss. The impact of dandruff is most noticeable in people who suffer from both male and female pattern baldness.
How to Prevent Hair Loss Naturally?
When we think of treatments for hair loss, we may turn to medical treatments. While many medical procedures help with hair loss, there are a few things you can do on your own that could help in this situation.
Eating a healthy diet
One of the secrets behind the overall well-being of a person is undoubted, the food they consume. The food we choose to consume can heavily influence our body’s internal and external functions. Nutritional deficiency can also impact hair structure and hair growth. So, to prevent hair loss, your daily diet should contain raw vegetables, fresh herbs, low-fat dairy products, and other food rich in vitamins, proteins, and other essential nutrients.
Washing your hair regularly
You might have heard about the myth that was heavily spread among people that frequent hair washing can damage your hair. Well, quite, on the contrary, washing your hair daily keeps your scalp clean and healthy. However, you should be careful with the shampoos you use. They should have a mild formula because harsh ones can dry your hair, and in that way, contribute to hair loss.
Massaging your scalp
We all know how satisfying head massages can be. We’re sure no one would turn down a head massage. But what if we told you that besides the pleasing feeling you might experience during the process, the hair might also benefit from it? In a study, participants received 4-minute head massages every day for 24 weeks, and the results showed that head massages helped increase hair thickness.
Avoiding hairstyles that pull your hair
While tight ponytails, braids, cornrows, and many other hairstyles can look quite good, they might be a problem for your hair. How so?—you might ask. Well, tight hairstyles pull hair too strongly, and if this pulling continues for a long period of time, it can lead to hair thinning. Try to avoid these hairstyles much as you can.
How to Treat Hair Loss Medically?
When natural treatments aren’t of help, you can always turn to experts for help. Luckily, there are many medical treatments you and your doctor can choose from depending on your condition.
Here are some of them.
Fue Hair Transplant
Follicular unit extraction is a hair transplant procedure that many people favor above all other procedures. This satisfaction with FUE hair transplant comes as a result of how advanced and safe this procedure is. Even though it involves a microsurgery technique for the hair to be located from the donor area to the transplant center, it’s still a minimally invasive procedure that leaves little to no scarring.
Topical Minoxidil
Minoxidil is a powerful vasodilator (widens the blood
vessels) this increases blood flow. It is thought to have a similar effect on the
hair follicle leading to increased cell proliferation, VE growth factors, and
prostaglandin synthesis.
Studies have shown up to 40% increase in hair growth with
patient satisfaction score of 60%.
Minoxidil effects on
the hair:
1- Increases the hair growth, (Anagen) phase
2- It shortens the hair resting, (Telogen) phase, thus reducing shrinking hairs.
3- Increases the hair diameter
Hair loss is a prevalent condition for both genders. Fortunately, there are also abundant treatment options for all people. However, you shouldn’t assume that a particular treatment is a right solution for your hair condition without consulting first with a doctor.
Arrange a consult with one of our expert doctors here at the Aventus clinic.
About the Author
Dr Suhail Alam
Dr Alam is devoted to providing high quality, holistic, patient centred care designed to make patients look and feel their best. He has a specialist interest in Hair Restoration Surgery and Regenerative Medicine.