Hair Loss In Women

2.3 Hair loss in women

While hair loss in men is tolerated and even expected, women face a different situation altogether. Long, beautiful hair is a major component of a woman’s image and its loss goes against this feminine ideal, striking a powerful blow to a woman’s self-esteem. Hair loss in women isn’t as common and dramatic as male baldness so people mistakenly assume it doesn’t exist. It’s a horrible situation that forces some women to suffer in silence when they should instead be seeking help.

Common causes of hair loss in women

Heredity: Genetic predisposition is the most common cause of female hair loss where you can inherit a sensitivity of hair follicles to DHT. In this condition called androgenetic alopecia, DHT causes the hair follicles

However, there are still a number of viable options to consider when seeking treatment for hair loss:

Minoxidil: This is the drug most recommended for female pattern baldness. It’s actually more effective in females than males at limiting hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia. The drug requires constant daily application to have an effect; stopping application of the drug will cause any hair growing due to minoxidil to fall out within 3-4 months.

Spironolactone: This drug belongs to a class of drugs called potassium-sparing diuretics. It’s usually involved in the treatment of oedema (fluid accumulation in tissue), heart failure and high blood pressure. Incidentally, spironolactone has the added effect of blocking the action of male hormones like DHT. This makes it useful in treatment of female hair loss.

Finasteride: Unlike in treatment of male baldness, finasteride is faced with some controversy over its effectiveness in female hair loss. Despite this, there’s some evidence that finasteride does help limit hair loss in female pattern baldness, therefore some doctors recommend it for treatment. However, it’s not prescribed to pregnant women or those planning to conceive since it is associated with birth

First, if you have an underlying disease like lupus that’s causing the hair loss, don’t opt for this treatment since these conditions will simply continue causing the hair loss. Antiplatelet drugs or blood thinners are another factor to consider. If you are taking such drugs, the PRP injections will have greatly reduced efficacy. Also, try out the procedure while the hair loss is still recent. PRP will have a hard time inducing hair growth of follicles that have been dormant for many years and you may end up using up your money for minimal