Female Pattern Baldness

Anecdotal evidence shows that more than 45% of women lose their hair by the time they reach the age of 80. Post the age of 60 many women experience thinning of hair or loss of hair in the mid-frontal area. Drug induced hair loss is fully reversible and so is the hair loss caused by physical injury. Only in cases of lichen planus or lupus where scarring occurs, does it take time to cure female pattern baldness.

Briefly explain the rationale behind female pattern baldness?

Telogen Effluvium or increased hair shedding is usually caused by hormonal factors and it can be both minor and excessive. If you see 50-100 hairs shedding, each time you comb or shampoo your hair, please seek medical intervention at the earliest from the hair transplant surgeon in Delhi. Androgenetic alopecia is an auto-immune disease that is at the root of female pattern baldness. Although women are less-likely to be affected by the same severity with which baldness, affects men, it can still be distressing. In such an auto-immune condition, the body attacks its own hair follicles by confusing them with foreign particles and hair loss gets triggered.

What exactly are hair growth cycles?

It needs to be understood that the onset, production, progression and ultimate severity of hair loss in women may be due to genetic factors also. There are three hair growth cycles in women. First is the anagen phase that lasts from anything upto two to six years and it is the first affected by hair loss triggered by hormonal imbalances which lead to minitiarization of hair and gradual production of thinner and shorter hair.

Catagen phase follows anagen where the base of the hair follicle shrinks and it lasts upto two weeks. Next is the telogen phase that lasts upto three months wherein the shrunken hair retains the hair fibre. If your hormonal balance is correct anagen phase begins again but if not, then the scalp appears to show.

What are the treatment options available?

If you approach any of the best hair transplant clinic in Delhi, you will be examined for the severity of the hair loss based on a hair loss score card and then suggested any of the following:

Hair transplantation or follicular unit extraction
Cosmetic treatment
Micro pigmentation
Hair pieces
minoxidil solution
finasteride solution
dutasteride

My mother and grandmother had it; will I also be affected by baldness?

The patient is mentally prepared to handle progressive hair loss but rapid hair loss can have a devastating effect on his psyche and even cause concern to family members. Self-esteem, confidence, anxiety creeps in and if anti-depressants are taken, they can aggravate the cause. Understanding the scientific rationale behind female pattern baldness is the key to dealing with it effectively. In men, baldness is caused by malfunctioning of an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase that regulates the production of di-hydrotestoterone. Some women also have high levels of androgens that trigger hair loss. Or it may be due to polycystic ovarian syndrome, irregular menses that are preceded by acne.Congenital adrenal hyperplasia also triggers female pattern baldness and you should consult the hair transplant surgeon in Delhi, as soon as you are diagnosed with it or suspect something seriously wrong.