Female Pattern Baldness

Suffering with hair loss can be a traumatic stage of any woman’s life. Whether your female pattern hair loss runs in the family, or you’re dealing with the side effects of medical treatments, we, at Harley Street Hair Transplant Clinics, have developed this information page to help you understand your hair loss and what you can do to combat it. If you haven’t already, consult our main hair loss page to get a general understanding of baldness!

The truth is, whilst hair loss can affect men and women alike, it can often do so in very different ways. Often affecting different areas of the scalp and occurring as a result of different environmental factors, learning the differences between male and female baldness can be the first step taken to offer a permanent solution to your hair loss.

Before discussing why we lose hair, it is first important to understand the life cycle of a hair follicle. We all have about 100,000 hair follicles on our head at any one time and each follicle us at a different stage of growth. Each hair follicle will go through three stages of growth:

• Hair Growth Phase: If you look at yourself in the mirror, most of your hair follicles on your head in this state right now. Your hair constantly grows as it performs a number of key roles: it insulates your body, removes substances like keratin from your body, and helps expel sexual signals to other people.
• Hair Transition Phase: when your hair stops growing, it enters a brief period when it still remains in the hair follicle (a little structure in your outer layer of skin that houses your hair snugly within it.
• Hair Resting Phase: During this phase, your hair will shed from the follicle, sometimes making room for a new hair to grow. Every day, we lose between 50 and 100 hairs from our head.

Generally speaking, hair loss occurs because more hair is lost from the scalp than can be replaced by new hair follicles. What is even more alarming is that by the time women reach 50 years old, nearly 50% will note a considerable increase in hair loss and hair thinning.

There are two factors that cause hair loss in women: genetic and environment. Genetic factors, usually labelled as hereditary hair loss is where losing hair runs in the family. Equally, it is not uncommon for women to experience hair loss from a number of external factors. It may be the severe stress of modern life or something as simple as being on the wrong contraceptive pill – balding can occur in a wide range of scenarios.

The good news is treating hair loss is easy! Whether it’s your scalp or eyebrows, getting a hair transplant is the only long term solution that will put an end to your hair loss concerns. Book your free consultation today!

When it comes to spotting signs of hair loss, there are a number of different symptoms to watch out for. We’ve derived this list to help you determine what symptoms you may be suffering with:

• Thinning Hair – if you notice that your hair is not as thick and full as usual, this may be a sign of hair loss!
• Patchy Hair Loss – if you are beginning to notice bald spots in your hair, this could be indicative of alopecia areata.
• Loosening of Hair Follicles – if you notice hairs on your pillow or the shower, this may be an indication that you are suffering with hair loss.
• Itchy or Painful Scalp – if you are in a constant state of discomfort, this may be indicative of autoimmune condition, or even something as simple a scalp infection.

If you’re suffering with any of these symptoms, be sure to book yourself a free consultation with one of our doctors. Each surgeon at Harley Street is experienced in diagnosing and treating all forms of hair loss in women!

Female Pattern Hair Loss

This condition, sometimes called androgenic alopecia, is where women may experience a gradual thinning and receding of the hairline as they age. This condition, research suggests, is predominantly hereditary.

There are different stages of female pattern baldness, but women will usually experience signs of thinning at the top of the head. Hair towards the back of the scalp is healthy and this is where surgeons will find donor hairs to implant onto the recipient site.

Alopecia areata

Another condition affecting women is alopecia areata. This is where a patient finds bald spots on their scalp or, in some cases, beard. Whilst there may be genetic factors predisposing some patients, current research suggests it is an autoimmune condition that can be caused by Type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, or rheumatoid arthritis. This is where the immune system attacks the cells in your own body.

External Factors

For many women, hair loss can often occur as a result of beauty treatments that can be harmful to your hair. In many cases, behaviours such as excessive eyebrow plucking, scraping hair into tight hairstyles are leading causes for female hair loss.

In other cases, hair loss in women has also occurred as a result of hormonal changes on the contraceptive pill. If you begin to notice hair loss and think it may be down to this side effect, discuss this with your GP.

External Stress

For many women, modern life comes with many stresses. Whether you suffering with a hair pulling disorder, or the experiencing of sudden hair loss as from a rough time at work, external stressors are a major cause for hair loss. In some cases, hair loss may only be temporary, so it may be wise to monitor your condition over a longer period of time before committing to one of our hair loss treatments.

Whilst hair loss is a condition that will inevitably cause baldness, there are plenty of measures you can take to help limit the extent of balding:

• Avoid extremely hot showers – this can be a major cause of shock to your scalp, stripping your hair of natural oils.
• Avoid using chemical hair products – many hair gels and waxes contain chemicals that can, in fact, damage your hair and scalp.
• Avoid nutrient deficiencies – one cause of hair loss can be due to a lack of vitamin B12, zinc, and iron in their diet.
• Reduce stress – one of the key things women can do to limit their hair loss is to limit the amount of stress in their lives. Whether it’s taking up yoga, or just finding five minutes in your day to breathe, controlling the amount of stress in your life can help slow the effects of hair loss.
• Assess hair styling practices – avoid putting your hair in tight buns or pony tails, if possible. One of the best things you can do for your hair is let it fall free!

When it comes to treating your hair loss in the long term, nothing else compares to a hair transplant. Many patients come to us having already tried other treatments on the market, like chemical treatments and scalp micro pigmentation.

At Harley Street Hair Transplant Clinics, we’re dedicated to treating all types of hair loss at a cost affordable to everyone. We have a selectable payment plans to aid in combatting hair loss for good. Currently, we offer:

• FUE Hair Transplants
• FUT Hair Transplants
• Direct Hair Implantation

What’s even better is that modern treatments also enable women to have more than just a hair transplant. If you’re worried about facial hair, we provide eyebrow transplants using the FUE procedure.

Want to read more about our hair loss treatments? Have a look at our treatment pages and pricing plans.