What Causes Hair Loss in Women?

Hair loss in women, as you may have suspected, is a bit different from male hair loss. It stands to reason, then, that Female Pattern Baldness and other types of hair loss in women must be tackled differently.

Female Pattern Baldness (FPB) is also known as androgenic alopecia. Men are also prone to androgenic alopecia, although the causes in men are generally different. Men tend to be more prone to it and experience it more severely than women. This is because it is caused by an excess of the hormone DHT in the body.

DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) is formed when testosterone in the body combines with the enzyme 5-alpha reductase. DHT is then produced, and tends to be relatively harmless other than its negative effect on the hair follicles. DHT accumulates in the follicles, essentially “clogging” them up. The follicles are then unable to take in nutrients from the blood. As a result, they get smaller and less productive until they finally go into a state of permanent dormancy. When this happens, they stop producing new hair cells, and the existing hairs fall out.

Because DHT is a by-product of testosterone, it’s easy to understand why males are more affected than females. Since women have considerably less testosterone in their bodies, they do not tend to produce as much DHT. When they do, they tend not to experience hair loss as severely as men do.

Still, losing hair can be very traumatic for females, who tend to derive a great deal of their femininity from their hair. This is why the market for hair loss products has expanded considerably in the last decade or so. Today there are more products that target Female Pattern Baldness than ever before.

The production of DHT is just one cause of hair loss in women. Females can experience other forms of hair loss that are less severe, but still distressing. Many women, for example, lose more hair after having a baby. This is likely the result of an excess of hormones in the body that are not normally present. For many post-partum women the problem corrects itself over a few weeks to several months after giving birth. Sometimes, though, it continues well past what would be considered a normal “post-partum” period.

Other hormonal changes throughout a female’s life can also result in more loss than usual. Menopause is one such example.

No one really knows why some women seem to be affected and not others. In men, MPB is accepted by the medical community as being an inherited trait. This does not appear to be the case for women.

This is why products which target excessive DHT production do not always work for women. In fact, women should avoid using such products that are aimed at men. They may be too harsh at best, and may cause long-term damage and health problems at worst. This includes the possibility of birth defects in developing fetuses.

Unfortunately there is no “cure” for baldness. Instead, there are a variety of treatments for hair loss in women that may work for some and not for others. Sometimes it’s a matter of trial and error to find a product that works. For females whose loss is mild, some naturally-based oral supplements and an herbal topical solution might do the trick. More severe hair loss may require the use of a product containing Minoxidil, the only pharmaceutical remedy known to regrow hair. Laser scalp treatments can sometimes be helpful too, either on their own or as a supplement to other types of treatments.