There are many more solutions and options available for women with hair loss than ever before, including medication, hair replacement systems and human hair wigs. However, some people choose to take the surgical route.
The most commonly used surgical procedures for hair loss include:
Hair transplantation
This is where tiny ‘punch-holes’ of skin containing hair follicles are taken from donor areas such as the back of the head. These follicles are then implanted into areas where hair has fallen out or is thinning. This technique is mainly used for men with receding hairlines or women with bald patches, but it is not believed to be very effective on women with diffuse hair loss all over the scalp.
Scalp reduction
This procedure is mainly used to treat men with a receding hairline, but it can be used for female patients. It works by stretching areas of the scalp where hair is still present and removing bald areas of skin.
Whilst these techniques have improved a huge amount in recent years and are now quicker, more convenient and less painful, you should still carefully consider your options before choosing surgery.
Seeing your hair fall out every day without being able to do a thing to stop it can be terrifying, making you feel like you have no control over your own body. This why female hair loss sufferers are often desperate to find a solution, convinced that there is something they can do to make their hair grow back again.
What to do
The first place to turn is to your family doctor, who will help to see hair loss specialists and get a formal diagnosis of your condition. Once you know what is causing your hair loss, you will then be able to find out if there is anything you can do about it.
You may be recommended to try:
• Medication such as minoxidil (also known as Regaine or Rogaine)
• Changing your diet, if the cause of your condition is a nutritional deficiency or an eating disorder
• Therapy to help alleviate stress and anxiety. Emotional trauma can be a triggering factor for hair loss
• Treatment for thyroid disorders, if this is what is causing your hair loss
What will not work
Although it all depends on what hair loss condition you have, the following methods will not make your hair grow back:
• Standing on your head
• Washing hair in freezing cold water
• Any of the thousands of hair loss ‘miracle cures’ available from disreputable websites
Minoxidil is one of the most commonly used treatments for hair loss in women and men, and it is widely available in various forms all over the world.
The drug was originally used to treat high blood pressure, but was found to have the side-effect of increasing hair growth and thickening hair in some of the people who took it. It is now available over the counter as a lotion, under brand names including Regaine, Rogaine, Mintop, Loniten and Avacor.
Unfortunately, the exact way in which minoxidil works to restore hair and promote re-growth is not definitively known. However, it has been shown to have visible effects in some patients.
How well does it work?
Studies have shown that minoxidil is effective at producing moderate regrowth in around 20 per cent of women aged between 18 and 45. A further 40 per cent of this age and gender group reported minimal regrowth.
Will the effects of minoxidil last?
Whilst minoxidil has proven to be effective for some people, its visible results tend to disappear within months of stopping treatment. Therefore, it needs to be used indefinitely until the hair can grow back by itself.
The first and most crucial thing to do if you notice your hair has been thinning or falling out is to get it checked out by a doctor. Once you’ve been formally diagnosed and you know what the medical cause for your hair loss is, you can start to learn about how to cope with the condition.
Hair loss in women has psychological and emotional effects as well as just altering physical appearance. Losing your hair and having no power over what’s happening to you can be frightening and worrying, and it can negatively affect your confidence and self-esteem too.
This is why you need to learn to accept your hair loss condition, do something about it if you can but overall, find ways to live life as normal and feel good about yourself. You have a few options:
• You can try cosmetic treatments and hair replacement techniques such as human hair wigs and super-fine hair extensions
• There are medications for hair loss available such as minoxidil, which is known to be effective in a reasonable number of cases
• The final option is a surgical procedure such as hair transplantation
People often assume that female hair loss is caused by a hereditary condition or as a side-effect of medication, but there are actually many other causes. One of the most overlooked is the thyroid gland, which can play all sorts of havoc with different parts of the body should it under or over perform.
Hair loss can often by a symptom of a thyroid problem, but diagnosing which one can be tricky. This is why you should visit your GP for a formal diagnosis as soon as you notice any problems with hair loss or hair thinning.
What is the thyroid?
The thyroid is an endocrine gland found in the neck. It is responsible for regulating how quickly the body uses energy and makes proteins, and it also controls how sensitive the body is to other hormones.
Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
Two of the most common thyroid disorders that can cause hair loss are hyperthyroidism, where the gland is overactive, and hypothyroidism, which means that the thyroid is underactive. It is possible for a person to experience one of these conditions followed by the other, depending on whether they are over or under treated.
The internationally famous pop star Lady Gaga has admitted that years of bleaching and dyeing her locks has caused her to suffer hair loss.
Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, is believed to be a natural brunette. However, in order to keep up her controversial, creative and experimental image, the pop star has dyed and bleached her hair every colour under the sun.
According to an interview in People magazine, Gaga’s passion for colour is taking its toll on her hair. She reportedly said that she had to “get a chemical haircut because my blonde hair is falling out.”
Hair can withstand only so much, and can begin to break, become brittle and even fall out if it is subjected to excessive chemical treatments or heat. This kind of hair loss is only temporary, but the hair and hair follicles will require a decent amount of time in which to recover.
Whilst the hair rejuvenates itself, most people with this kind of hair loss choose to cover or disguise the affected areas with hair replacement solutions such as human hair wigs or natural, super-fine hair extensions.
There are many different things you can try to treat hair loss, including medication, hair replacement and cosmetic solutions to disguise bald patches or thinning hair. Some people choose hair transplantation surgery as a viable option for improving the appearance of their hair.
Hair transplantation surgery has come an awfully long way in the last few years. The procedure used to be incredibly painful and take a long time to heal, with fairly unnatural-looking results. However, there are many new procedures available nowadays which produce very natural results with the minimum of pain, discomfort and inconvenience.
One of these new methods is Follicular Unit Transplantation, a refined and minimally invasive procedure in which stereoscopic dissecting microscopes are used to restore hair to all areas of the scalp. It can even be used to improve the appearance of eyebrows and eyelashes, beards and pubic hair.
How it works
Hair roots are taken from donor areas (usually at the back or sides of the scalp) and placed in balding or thinning areas of the scalp. The transferred hairs are placed at the same angle and in the same direction of the rest of the hair, so that the results are realistic. The procedure takes between 2 and 8 hours to complete, and patients can usually head home within around 30 minutes of finishing treatment.
One of the reasons that the Internet is literally jam-packed with ‘miracle’ hair loss pills, injections, creams and other products is that people with hair loss are usually desperate for a cure.
A lot of hair loss sufferers wish their hair would stop shedding and grow back, so that they can resume their ‘normal’ lives. Opportunistic businesses and individuals seek to capitalise on this by offering hair loss cures, which unfortunately hardly ever work.
The only reliable way to get proper treatment for hair loss is to visit your GP, dermatologist or hair loss specialist (also known as a trichologist), who will recommend or diagnose treatments known to have shown some effectiveness in other patients.
When undergoing any of these treatments, however, it is absolutely vital that you try to maintain realistic expectations on the outcome of the treatment. Hair loss is a very emotional condition, so it can be devastating if you build yourself up to believe you will quickly regain a thick, full head of hair only to see little or no results.
Some hair loss treatments may slow shedding, encourage a little regrowth or slightly improve the appearance of hair. Some may do nothing at all. As far as research has shown, no treatment has yet been developed that will offer a ‘miracle’ cure for hair loss.
One of the most common things women with alopecia areata want to know is when their hair will grow back. Unfortunately, alopecia is an extremely unpredictable disorder. Many factors can combine to cause it, it can start quite suddenly, and the prognosis for each person with the condition will be different.
This rather vague answer can be frustrating for women with alopecia when they hear it from their doctor, but it’s often the only answer available. Doctors can prescribe treatments, and these may even be effective – it’s all about trial and error. Some people may experience hair regrowth after a few months or a year, whilst others may have to wait a lot longer. In some cases, hair may grow back and then fall out again.
It’s hard to accept that you don’t have any control over the disorder or even your own body, but acceptance of what’s happening to you and a healthy dose of positive thinking are some of the only things you can do to cope. Another is to find suitable hair replacement or hair management solutions to help you cover or disguise hair loss until your hair can grow back.
Alternatively, you could shave your remaining hair off and embrace your baldness. It’s all up to you, but you aren’t alone in making your decision. Seek out support groups and other people with alopecia to see how they’ve coped and talk through your concerns.
An auto-immune disorder is one caused by an overactive or excessive response by your body’s immune system to something that is already present in the body. This means that the body mistakes a normal tissue or substance for a pathogen (an infectious agent) and attacks it.
These kinds of diseases can be limited to a particular organ, or it can affect the same tissue in different places of the body. One notable example of this is the hair loss disorder alopecia areata, which can affect hair all over the epidermis (skin).
Although alopecia areata is suspected to have hereditary causes, it is generally considered to be an auto-immune disorder. In people with the condition, the body attacks its own hair follicles, therefore stopping or inhibiting the growth of hair. T-cell lymphocytes are believed to cluster around the affected follicles, which in turn causes inflammation and the loss of hair.
What triggers alopecia?
It is currently thought that a combination of emotional trauma or stress, a pathogen and possibly hereditary factors will trigger the condition. Alopecia areata often starts suddenly, and can be difficult to diagnose due to the many factors that can trigger it.
