Hair loss is challenging for anyone, but especially for women, for whom having a full, healthy head of hair is a sign of youth and attractiveness. If hair loss is affecting your self-esteem, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the many options for trying to cover it up. Your closet is probably full of hats, wigs, and scarves, and you might even deliberately avoid social situations that would force you to reveal the full extent of your hair loss to your friends or family.
If you’re a woman who is struggling with hair loss, you’re probably wondering why it’s happening to you, and what options you have for treating it. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the reasons for female hair loss and ways to restore lost locks.
Understanding Female Hair Loss
You may have been surprised when you initially began losing your hair – after all, only men go bald, right? However, as you’ve discovered, women are prone to hair loss too. While there are many reasons both men and women might experience temporary hair loss, including stress, hormonal changes, and specific medications or supplements, the most common cause of hair loss is genetic.
Female-pattern baldness is a hereditary condition caused by the genes you inherited from both parents. Unlike with male-pattern baldness, which typically begins with a receding hairline, female-pattern baldness is characterized by thinning hair all over the scalp.
On average, people lose 50 to 100 hairs a day. This usually doesn’t cause noticeable thinning of scalp hair, because new hair is growing in simultaneously. Permanent hair loss occurs when this cycle of hair growth and shedding gets disrupted, or when the hair follicle is destroyed and replaced with scar tissue.
Hair Loss Treatment Options for Women
If you’re frustrated and embarrassed about your thinning hair and feel it is holding you back from the life you want to live, you’ll be excited to learn about the technological advances for treating people with hair loss.
- Medication: Minoxidil, which is commercially marketed as Rogaine, is a topical hair loss medication that is available without a prescription. Minoxidil widens the hair follicle, which leads to thicker individual hairs, and it also prolongs the anagen stage of hair growth, resulting in a higher number of hair strands.
- Hair Transplant Surgery: An increasing number of women are choosing surgical options to permanently restore a full head of hair. In a hair transplant, a qualified surgeon will remove “donor” hair grafts from an area of your scalp where you have plenty of naturally growing hair, and place those hair follicles into the balding patches. Once they take root, they will resume the normal hair growth cycle and will fill in the thinning areas of your scalp.
Hair Transplant FAQs
Here are answers to some of our most frequently asked patient questions about hair transplant surgery.
Q: Am I a good candidate for hair restoration surgery?
A: Your surgeon will assess the quality and amount of your donor hair to determine whether you are qualified to get hair restoration. Women with advanced balding may not have a sufficient quantity of donor hair for successful results. In addition, if the underlying cause of your hair loss is not genetic, a hair transplant may not be ideal for you.
Q: When will I see results from my hair transplant?
A: One of the first things you should know about the hair transplant process is that you won’t wake up the next day with a full head of hair. Though it can be frustrating to realize hair restoration can’t provide immediate results, remember the adage “The best things come to those who wait.” The full results of your new hair growth will take about a year from the day you get your surgery.
Q: Is a hair transplant painful?
A: The procedure includes numbing the scalp before the surgery begins, so most patients do not report any pain during their hair transplant. However, you may experience some general discomfort for the first few days after your transplant, which you can control by taking over-the-counter pain medication.
Q: Are there any other risks or side effects?
A: Bleeding, swelling, and scabbing are all normal after hair restoration surgery. You can minimize these side effects by following your post-operative instructions.
Begin Your Hair Restoration Journey Today
Considering hair restoration? Contact our office for a private consultation and begin exploring your options for regaining fuller, thicker hair.
