Hair thinning in female pattern baldness is different from that of male pattern baldness in that the frontal hairline remains unaffected except for normal recession, which happens to everyone as time passes, and hair loss rarely progress to total or near baldness, as it may in men. Causes of hair loss in a woman are when the body is put through extreme stress such as child birth, any major surgery or malnutrition. It is the typical ‘shedding’ that happens after childbirth in some women. Iron deficiency and changes in the medication, due to menstruation, the most common cause of iron deficiency in women and the high prevalence of birth control use. Another common cause of hair fall in men and women is alopecia areata which is common disease in US.
It occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the cells in hair follicles, leading to hair loss on the scalp. In alopecia areata in which hair most commonly falls out in small patches. In some cases this condition can lead baldness. Most people know that sever hair fall is a side effect of chemotherapy drugs for cancer. But what people do not know is that medicines for depression, bipolar disorder, and acne can also cause hair loss. Sometimes hair fall can be a symptom of an underlying disease like diabetes, lupus or polycystic ovaries. If you have thyroid disease then you will have poor quality hair that falls easily. Some skin diseases like ringworm and psoriasis, when they affect the scalp, can cause hair fall. The hair fall usually stops once the disease is controlled.
Life stresses are also cause of hair loss. Usually the major part hair loss happens two or three months after the event- because even though the hair may stop growing at the time of stress, the roots dies and then hair falls out only later. If you are going bald or thinning out and our parents and grandparents haven’t had a great coverage either, chances are your hair loss is genetic.
Hair treatments with hot oil or irons and perming, coloring, bleaching or straightening will weaken your hair and cause it to break off. Even using blow dryers weakens hair, and can thin hair out over the years if you use the dryers on the hottest setting all the time. One type of hair style like when pulling the hair tight into pony tails or braids can lead to hair being too pulled out its roots in some women. This kind of hair loss can actually be permanent if the style has been worn a long time and the hair follicles are scarred- which means they will not produce hair.
