Hair Loss in Women - Seven Reasons You Could Lose Your Hair

For many women there are few things more distressing than the thought of going bald. Losing hair or a receding hairline is expected in men over a certain age. For a woman - shedding hair can be a terrible blow to self esteem striking at the root of her femininity.

Hair loss in women is not an uncommon condition. Some experts suggest that as many as one in four women - maybe around 25 million women in the USA alone - experience it at some time in their lives.

So what are the main causes?

1. Hormones - We all know that men have hormones too but women are subject to greater hormonal flux with higher frequency and over a much longer period than men. Pregnancy, childbirth and menopause are all conditions unique to women that can result in thinning hair.

2. Medication - Just as for men, many modern medications, like anti-depressants, blood thinners and anti-cholesterol drugs can contribute directly to hair being shed at a much faster rate. For certain women the birth control pill can be a contributory factor.

3. Genes - Genetic causes are generally more associated with men but women too can suffer from female pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia. Around 15% of American women are affected. Just as for men the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) causes hair follicles to shut down. Normally women are protected by higher levels of estrogen but after the menopause there is less estrogen around to block the action of the DHT. The result for women is a general thinning of hair rather than the bald spots or receding hairline which is common in men.

4. Stress - The effect of severe trauma can cause a major reaction in the body resulting in hair falling out suddenly. The cause can be physical or mental and lots of hair can be lost months after the original event. With this type of reaction up to three to four thousand hairs per day can be shed and sometimes the hair falls out in clumps. Fortunately for anyone suffering from this condition - the body does overcome the loss of hair and the normal hair growth cycle is resumed within about 6 months to a year.

5. Illness - many common conditions, like diabetes or thyroid disturbance, put the body under stress and contribute directly to disruption to the hair growth cycle.

6. Hair damage - women do more to their hair than men and some of the daily treatment we dish out to our hair can have terrible effects. Harsh shampoos, hair colorants, bleaching, blow driers, straighteners - we seem to do everything possible to cause hair stress. The net effect of all this can be dry damaged hair which is weak and more brittle. Weakened hair is more prone to break and ultimately to fall out.

7. Dieting - Women generally diet more than men and are more likely to go on extreme diets to shed weight. Extreme or nutritionally unbalanced weight loss diets can cause hair to be lost. Hair is a sensitive indicator of the body's overall health and one of the first things to be disrupted is the hair growth cycle. Nutritional deficiencies especially in key categories (iron, B vitamins and protein) can result in poor hair health and fall out.

So - like many things in life - the causes of hair loss in women are not straightforward. You could suffer this condition at any stage of your life - the important thing is to try to identify the main causes and take action to deal with them as soon as possible.