Although hair loss has been largely associated with the male gender, it actually affects women at a rate of 40%.
Despite the fact that compared to men it is rarer, the psychological impact of hair loss on a woman is clearly greater as it is a feature directly linked to femininity.
In fact, most types of hair loss – whether we’re talking about men or women – are the result of some imbalance in our body. This is something to do with hormonal disorders, disease or other conditions such as deficiencies in important nutritional components.
The types of female hair loss are not different from male hair loss in some cases, however they do show some variations.
The main types of female pattern hair loss are listed below.
Androgenetic alopecia in women comes as a result of the action of androgens and is most commonly – but not necessarily – associated with higher levels of them.
It occurs more rarely in the female population as, unlike in men, in order to inherit the predisposition both parents must be affected.
The evolutionary course of the condition differs from that followed by the male pattern.
Women suffering from androgenetic alopecia rarely experience baldness, the hair loss is not usually concentrated in specific areas (instead it is diffuse), while the frontal line remains unchanged.
The progression of male pattern hair loss in women is described by the three stages of the Ludwig scale.
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A form of diffuse alopecia in which the hair goes from the phase of regeneration or catagenesis directly to the phase of telogenesis in which the hair falls out.
The causes for this type of hair loss can be varied as it can be caused either by endocrine factors, or by some drugs or chemicals, or by problems related to diet or metabolism.
Specifically for women, this form of alopecia is associated with the use of contraceptives and the period after the end of pregnancy.
In both cases above, the effect of hair loss is reversible. In the first case, the undesirable side effects for the hair cease to exist after stopping the pills.
In the second case hair loss is considered normal as during pregnancy many hair follicles are in the growth phase due to the high levels of estrogen. After some time the hair loss stops and the condition returns to normal levels.
What one must necessarily take into account is that the above form of alopecia in women has several common characteristics with androgenetic alopecia in relation to the picture it presents.
This makes it difficult to distinguish it from androgenetic alopecia, as a result of which the patient must undergo certain tests in order to give an accurate diagnosis.
A type of hair loss that is caused when the mitotic or metabolic function of hair follicles is reduced in any way.
This is the type of hair loss associated with chemotherapy in which 90% of the hair is affected.
In the vast majority of patients the result is reversible after the end of the treatments, as well as the exposure to radiation.
It is caused by the pulling of the hair due to styling options such as ponytails or extensions which results in trauma to the hair follicles.
This is a condition that is reversible if caught in time.
Rarer forms of hair loss that occur in women as well as in men are alopecia areata, hair loss due to microbial infections, skin diseases or skin neoplasms.
Hair loss can also be caused by external factors, such as trauma and burns.
