Women's Hair Loss - What Are The Reasons For It?

When men begin to experience hair loss, it can be devastating to their emotions and self-esteem. However, what many people perhaps do not realize or understand is that women's hair loss does happen, and the effects are just the same if not worse. Women's hair loss is a major problem all over the world. In the western world, in particular, it can be a major cause of shame and embarrassment. Our society places a premium on women having luxurious and beautiful hair, no matter how old or young they may be. So for a woman to lose her hair is almost like losing her femininity and any semblance of beauty. The frequency of hair loss is the same for women and men. So, let's now talk about some of the reasons for women's hair loss.

There are certain medications that affect whether or not a woman gets to keep her hair. Some simply cause hair to fall out (like chemotherapy). Others cause hair to fall out because of the way the medication interacts with a woman's body chemistry. In other cases, the hair will not always fall out. Sometimes the medications impede the growth of new hair. When that happens, it will still look like her hair has fallen out. But as far as appearances are concerned, the look will be identical.

Pregnancy is another condition that can have a huge impact on a woman's hair. While some women enjoy increased hair growth, others deal with the opposite. After childbirth, the hair will begin to shed pretty fast for the women who experienced more hair growth.

For both men and women, there is a cycle type of pattern with the growth of hair. Everyone's hair will see a lifespan of maybe several years, give or take, and that's for each strand. In about six years, hair will be shed after about half an inch of growth in a month.

Telogen effluvium is another female hair loss that is seen. This is also called temporary shedding. But this type of shedding is different because it happens very quickly. It can happen after some kind of traumatic event such as surgery, for example. Other possible causes are times of extreme emotional distress. Once the trauma is over and life returns to normal, so does the hair - it grows back. The bad news is that there isn't really any way to predict whether or not it will happen to you. It is a fact that hair loss in women is not as widely known or covered as it is for men. The sad part is that the same numbers of women have hair loss as do men. There are so many conditions and causes for hair loss in females. But we wanted to discuss some of the more commonly seen reasons.