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Female Baldness

On this page I will explain many of the causes of female baldness, and many of the more frequently seen types of female baldness patterns. Of course, knowing the cause, often determines the preferred treatment.

When women start to go bald, what is actually being meant is normally a generalised hair thining through out the whole scalp, or specific sections of it. True female baldness is extremely rare, though the photo of lovely bald woman can be seen on the right. Genuine baldness normally belongs to the domain of men. The vast majority of women will suffer from some level of female balding - balding is also referred to as alopecia - or hair loss In fact, any female can suffer from baldness and hair loss, and only 20% of females will escape it completely. However, it is normal for any man or women to lose 100 hairs a day, and this is certainly NOT a sign of impending female hair loss / nor of female baldness. Female baldness and hair loss patterns also tend to be very different to their male counterparts. To see the prevailing medical options, please read our newer web site, Hair replacement choices.

In the photo of the bald woman above, I am reminded of a professional Australian model, who has a very rare genetic baldness, and looks completely bald like that. At first she tried to hide the baldness under wigs, but, when makeup and hair artists had to work with her, the secret of her baldness could not be kept. Instead of finding baldness ending her career, everyone was quite happy for her to just use wigs. Photo on the left shows a balding spot on top the young lady's head.

Definition of Balding - Alopecia

The definition of balding or excessive hair loss, is the loss of more than 100 hairs a day.

Causes of Female Baldness / alopecia / hair loss

As stated above, there are many causes of female baldness and or hair loss Stress Poor nutritional diet Physical or emotional shock and or trauma Thyroid problems Diabetes Anaemia Drugs eg chemotherapy Hormonal Changes Menopause Maltreating the hair In the photo on the left, this lady lost her hair through chemotherapy, and her family still loved her very much. Her hair loss was a small price to pay in the battle for life. Many women who go bald through chemotherapy, chose to use wigs till their hair regrows.

The types and patterns of common female hair loss, alopecia and balding

Female androgenic alopecia - is the classic type of female baldness - also sometimes referred to as common baldness.  Whereas androgenetic alopecia accounts for almost 95% of mens baldness - male pattern baldness - that amount is significantly smaller for female baldness (around 25% I believe).

Female androgenetic alopecia does occur for somewhat different reasons to men; in female androgenic alopecia, the cause is often stress induced hormonal changes. 

Specifically in female androgenic baldness, the hair is lost from the top of the scalp and in a diffuse way - more akin to hair thinning out - whereas in males it tends to be the front and top, starting at a focal point then working out, initially as hair thinning, but then progresses to areas denuded of hair. True female baldness is very rare.

So when we talk about female baldness, for the most part, we are talking about substantial hair loss, but not actual baldness.

In men, androgenic baldness results from testosterone being converted to DHT, the same is true for females, it can be a combination of a drop in estrogen production coupled with a substantial increase in production of testosterone, but testosterone does exist in females in small quantities as a normal thing, and the testerone does get converted to DHT, and that DHT is responsible for androgenic female baldness.

Hence females with androgenic baldness may benefit from those drugs and medications and remedies which target male baldness eg via suppressing DHT at the hair follicle level.

	Wigs, as seen in the photo on the left, are a definite option for females who lose their hair, go bald, as with chemotherapy.

Alopecia areata - a type of female baldness that can be an auto-immune disorder or of hormonal cause.

Alopecia areata causes isolated or patchy hair loss that can range from areas with thinning hair to large clusters of retained hair on an otherwise bald head.

It is necessary to have a medical examination to reach a diagnosis as to cause, as this type of female baldness can be due to all the causes listed above.

Once the cause of this type of baldness is dealt with or resolves itself, hair regrowth is likely.

Menopausal Baldness - this is female hair thinning, that not only involves a reduction in the number of hair follicles actively growing hairs, but also the thinning of the actual hairs themselves, given the hair a less full bodied appearance as well.

As you can guess, it's all about hormonal changes related to menopause.

A totally unique female alopecia: Post Partum Alopecia - can occur during pregnancy, and even up to a year after the baby is born or miscarried.

Primarily caused by hormonal changes, post partum baldness can also cause considerable stress, which can and often does, make the hair loss even worse.

Obviously, once the hormones settle down, the hair regrowth is expected.

Trichotillomania - a mental condition in which the victim compulsively pulls his or her hair out.

Hair is very patchy, as the same areas are constantly pulled.

This type of female baldness is untreatable until the emotion or psychological causes of the disorder can be dealt with.

Scarring alopecia - hair loss caused by scarrage of the scalp.

Scarring alopecia generally occurs on the top of the scalp. Scarring alopecia is much more common in women than in men. Scarring alopecia is even more predominant in African-American women and, thus, can be associated with the common tight braiding of hair that these women typically style. This type of female baldness may also be caused by post-menopausal problems and the inflammation of hair follicles.

Triangular alopecia – this is hair loss in the temporal areas, often beginning during childhood.

The condition can be treated surgically or medically, at its worst, this type of female baldness can vary from a complete loss of hair to a retainment of only few thin and weak hairs.

Telogen effluvium - caused when an excessive number of scalp hairs stay in the "resting" phase of growth.

Telogen effluvium is a very common type of female baldness, and can be caused by a variety of things, mainly nutritional - lack of iron in the diet -but can often be stress caused as well, with the stress altering the hormones which control hair growth. Telogen effluvium can sometimes be due to drug associated problems.

Loose-anagen syndrome - occurring most commonly in fair-haired people.

Loose-anagen syndrome causes scalp hair to sit loosely in follicles and, thus, enables it to be easily extracted by any tugging of the hair, as in combing and brushing and the like.

This female baldness typically improves as you age, although absolute recovery does not always occur.

Concluding Remarks on Female Baldness

If you believe you have permanent or temporary hair loss - female baldness - check with your doctor or maybe a hair specialist with a medical background, that can diagnose you and your hair, and recommend a proper medical or surgical treatment.

The second step will obviously be, then, to weigh up what you have found out and, if you agree, take the suggested course of action and remedy any hair loss that may have occurred.

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