Hair Loss in Females: What Causes Female Hair Loss and What You Can Do to Prevent it

Hair isn’t described as a woman’s crowning glory for nothing. Hair is often a physical attribute that can make a woman look more or less attractive, and it is one of the reasons why women are greatly affected when they realize they are suffering from it.

Hair Loss in Females and Androgenetic Alopecia

Androgenetic alopecia is the most common cause of hair loss in females. It begins with noticeably hair thinning especially at the top and side areas of the scalp. An estimated one-third of susceptible females suffer from female alopecia or female-patterned baldness. This type of hair loss occurs usually when women are in their postmenopausal stages but there are unfortunate instances when they take place at puberty stage.

With female alopecia, the only time you should start worrying is when hair shedding has exceeded 125 hair strands per day or when your body stops reproducing hair strands to replace what has fallen out. With regard to genetics, loss of hair in females may come from either parent.

Anagen Effluvium and Telogen Effluvium

Anagen effluvium refers to the type of female hair loss wherein hair strands haven’t yet reached the final stage of their life cycle. Nevertheless, certain agents, usually medications that are administered internally, poison and eventually cause the death of still-growing hair follicles.

Telogen effluvium, on the other hand, refers to the type of female hair loss wherein there are more hair strands reaching the telogen stage than what’s usual. Telogen effluvium may be caused by a number of things:

Stress

Stress is not only caused by psychological factors. It may be caused by an unnatural physical condition as well such as having just undergone surgery and experiencing the changes it wrought on your body. Stress can also be a symptom of crash dieting, anemia, and various kinds of illnesses.

Of course, emotional and psychological factors inducing stress can also lead to excessive loss of hair. Grieving over the death of a loved one or experiencing a mental illness can both make the problem worse.

Medications

There are a number of medications and treatments that may require the individual to lose their hair albeit only temporarily. If you are suffering from high blood pressure, medications for your condition may also be a cause and medications for gout also have the same symptom. Lastly, take extra care with medications containing great quantities of Vitamin A as these can also induce hair loss.

Hormones

Women who are undergoing menopause – or experiencing pre-menopausal or postmenopausal symptoms – as well as those who are taking birth control measures and are pregnant are all vulnerable to hair loss. This is due to the hormonal changes or abnormalities their bodies are being subjected to.

Of course, once the underlying cause of telogen effluvium is addressed and effectively resolved then hair will generally start to return to normal.

Frequent Shampooing as a Mythical Cause for Hair Loss in Females

Although harsher or stronger chemicals in shampoo products are sometimes blamed for loss of hair, frequency of shampooing is generally not a problem and cannot cause hair loss. Shampoos may loosen up some of your hair strands and cause you to shed more than usual, but affected hair strands are those already in the telogen stage and would have fallen out eventually. Either way, they will still be replaced by your body.