Hair loss in women is becoming commoner by the day and there’s a large proportion of women who are stressed due to increased shedding of hair.

Causes

Understanding hair loss in women requires great skill at the end of the treating physician as women suffer hair loss because of a wide variety of reasons. Women can suffer from both a diffuse form of hair loss where hair density reduces as a whole or a patterned hair loss in which hair are lost in a pattern specific for women.

Diffuse Hair Loss

Nutritional: Iron and other nutrient deficiency is one of the most common causes of hair loss in women. Severe dieting or binge eating followed by vomiting may lead to nutritional deficiency and hair loss in young females.
Post-pregnancy: Almost all women tend to suffer from great loss of hair after about 3 months of delivery.
Hormonal: Hormonal imbalances, most commonly Thyroid disorders or PCOD are well known causes of hair loss in women. A clue to these imbalances in body can be figured out with the help of following hints like weight gain, intolerance to cold, irregular periods, excesive hair growth on face.
STRESS: Any sort of physical stress in the form of surgery or medical illness may lead to a generalized hair fall. Persisting mental stress may also cause continued hair loss in women.

PATTERN HAIR LOSS/ FEMALE PATTERN HAIR LOSS (FPHL)

Genes: A family history of patterned hair loss in women is commonly seen in such patients. Although strongly related but the genetic co-relation is less well understood a factor in women as compared to men. In addition to genes, environmental factors play a major role in FPHL.
Hormones: Like in men, hormones play a significant role in FPHL. Male hormones testosterone and 5-DHT are present at very low level in females. An increase in these hormones or an increased sensitivity of hair to the action of these hormones may lead to FPHL. Apart from these, another hormone named Aromatase is implicated in causing FPHL. Aromatase converts male hormones into female hormones and is protective in FPHL. The level of this hormone is disturbed in such females.
PRESENTATION
• Diffuse thinning of the hair from the top of the head with preservation of the anterior hair line.
• Widening of hair partition.

Diagnosis

• Clinical evaluation
• Hair Pull Test
• Trichoscopy
• Laboratory evaluation: A battery of test to look for any nutritional as well as hormonal imbalance stands necessary.

Other necessary test to rule out PCOD should also be done.

Treatment

Need to be started as soon as possible to halt the progression of hair loss.
Medical management: Any nutritional deficiency, if present needs to be corrected. Treatment can be started in the form of oral pills or lotions that need to applied regularly as directed by the physician.

Hair transplant:is a surgical option for late cases but it needs to be more strategically planned and performed very wisely relative to men. Since the hair loss in women is more a diffuse type, they have a limited donor area and serve as not so good candidates for hair transplant. Our team of experts at DERMAONE is well versed in performing successful hair transplant in females.