a healthier life

Hair Loss is also a Problem for Women

Start to talk about baldness or hair loss and most people will automatically think that you are talking about a problem for men, but this is not necessarily the case. It has been estimated that as many as 25 per-cent of the women in the United States will experience the problem of hair loss at one time or another during their life time.

Female pattern baldness may not be a topic that is commonly discussed, but, at least in private, it is a problem that will affect the lives of millions of women. Loss of hair can be caused by a variety of factors, but, when it comes to female hair loss, the most frequent causes relate back to hormone levels.

Because an imbalance of hormones is a primary factor of hair loss in women, it is not surprising that two of the times in a woman’s life when she is most likely to experience significant hair loss is around pregnancy and childbirth and at the time of menopause. The reason why these events are most likely to result in thinning hair is because there are times of radical changes in a woman’s hormone levels.

Some women may be concerned that using too hot a blow dryer too often, or abuse of hair colors or perms may cause an adverse reaction involving thinning hair or hair loss, but this is not the case. It is far more likely that the root cause will involve something more basic.

Fortunately, for a woman who is worried that she is losing her lush, beautiful head of hair, there are ways not only to prevent or slow hair loss, but in many cases to restore and re-grow a full, rich head of hair that would rival those women in television shampoo commercials.

Obviously, there are ways to circumvent hair loss for women. The answer that springs most readily to mind is to wear a wig. Unfortunately, the more realistic a wig looks, the more expensive is its price tag. If money is no object, then a hair transplant is a solution that many women have found to be good.

A more health-oriented solution is nutrition. Many products now being marketed as aids for women to restore thinning hair are actually dietary supplements formulated to bring more nutrition to the scalp and its hair follicles. Especially in today’s world of environmental pollution, counteracting toxins with extra vitamins and minerals may not only help solve the problem of female pattern baldness, but it might also be helpful in preventing myriad other health problems.

Curing Hair Loss

Hair Like Samson (before he met Delilah) A multi-millionaire will be made one day – the day a scientific researcher finds a simple, inexpensive, universally successful hair regrowth product.  And that day will come.  The amount of money being funneled into hair loss research is phenomenal, and as long as our society puts such great stock in appearance and beautiful heads of hair, the research will continue until that simple cure is found. Until then, men and women must investigate and experiment with a variety of products which will have a variety of results, dependent upon the individual.

Each human body is unique, with unique levels of hormones, chemicals, and enzymes.  For this reason, to date, there is not a universal cure.  Some people experience reduction in hair loss and solid regrowth, while others using the same product may not see the same results. For those who experience less than desired results from the variety of topicals, pills, herbs and hair products available, there are currently surgical “cures,” if they have the financial wherewithal to pursue them.  These involve a variety of transplant techniques and can be tedious and a bit painful.  Such cures are available for both men and women.

Transplants:  In transplants, a hair strip is taken from a donor area of the scalp, usually the back, because pattern baldness in both men and women usually does not affect the back of the head.  From these stips, individual follicles are extracted and then implanted into the bald area of the scalp.  The “art” of this procedure is to get the follicle in so that the slant of the hair is correct for that part of the head.  There are usually 1-5 hairs in each follicle, so you can imagine how many transplants have to occur if someone wants a full thick head of hair to replace a completely bald spot.  The average cost of transplant, per follicle is $4 - $6.  The average cost of pattern baldness transplants is about $10,000.00 – a hefty bill for most of us.  For women who have overall balding events, the cost can be greater still.

If you do not have $10,000 to spend at the moment and you must wait until regrowth products improve, you may have to be content with less preferable but effective methods like using Provillus.  There have been great advances in hair pieces for men, and wigs are as much a fashion accessory as jewelry for women.  If you select this route, buy a good one and go to a professional who is widely experienced in developing unique hair pieces for individual needs.  Generally, you get what you pay for.

Fit and ability to have confidence that wind and lots of movement will not move your hair piece are extremely important.  While not the permanent cure you really want, the embarrassment of societal reaction to your baldness is eliminated. Keep abreast of research in the area of hair loss cures.  Scientists are close, and the answer could come any day.  In the meantime, do what makes you feel comfortable and confident, and use any product that helps you reduce the rate of your current hair loss.  Stress and anxiety over this condition will only make it worse.