Hair is considered as the essential part of the beauty of women, so hair loss causes significant psychosocial problems and impacts on women personality. It can be emotionally crippling and disastrous for her self- esteem. Losing about 100 hairs a day is normal and this hair will get replaced naturally. But, if you are losing more than that, there could be abnormal hair loss. It is called androgenetic alopecia. Androgenetic alopecia causes women to lose their hair in a diffuse manner, meaning that hair begins to thin and shed uniformly across the scalp.

Causes of Women Hair Loss/Hair Fall

• Telogen effluvium is the most common cause of a diffuse loss of hair with thinning.

• Nutritional factors play a major role in hair loss. Ferritin deficiency is one of the main cause of hair fall in Indian women.

• Female pattern baldness (FPHL) similar to male pattern baldness, there is more loss of hair at the top of scalp

• If the DHT is increased in the female body that will cause Female androgenetic alopecia. In women, androgenetic alopecia may be undetectable for quite some time.

• Hormonal disorders like thyroid dysfunction, PCOD etc.

• Traction alopecia: It is a condition in which constant force is applied to hair. Hair loss along the hairline due to prolonged wearing of tight ponytails.

• Alopecia areata: There are several patches of hair loss in the scalp.

• Cicatricial alopecia: hair loss occurring after any injury, like burns, cuts and bruises or scars from physical or chemical traumas, any scar or incision site after a cosmetic or corrective surgery.

• Use of certain medicines like anticancer drugs.

• Stress: Stress plays a major role in hair fall. When our stress level is increased our body release negative hormones and they affect our body and also hairs.

• Trichotillomania –It is a psychiatric obsessive-compulsive disorder in which women start pulling her hair leading to patchy hair loss in front and top of the head. It needs psychiatric treatment

Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL)

FPHL is very different from men. Hair loss is mostly restricted to front and top with thinning but the hairline is maintained. The typical pattern of hair loss is an area of diffuse central thinning, classically presenting with increasing part width. There is no temporal recession but sometimes thinning may be present. Ludwig classifies female pattern hair loss in 3 grades.

Treatment for Female Hair Loss

• Specialized Treatment for Women:

USFDA approved medical treatment for hair loss in females – Minoxidil 2% or 5% and LLLT

Food supplements.

This treatment controls hair fall and increases the thickness of hairs. Also, it helps the growth of villous hairs.