What is Alopecia Hair Loss in Women?

Our scalp undergoes a continuous process of shedding and re-growing hair. However, when there is excessive loss of hair, leading to hair thinning or baldness, the condition is referred to as Alopecia. This condition is found in men and women. However, Female Alopecia is more challenging in terms of diagnosis and treatment. There are various types of Female Alopecia, such as:

Androgenic Alopecia (Hormonal Alopecia)

There are different causes of Alopecia Hair Loss in women. Among these, Androgen Alopecia is the most common cause. This is why Alopecia among women is often interpreted as Androgenic or Androgenetic Alopecia. This is the most common form of hairloss among women under the age of 30 years. This hair loss condition is entirely hormonal in nature. Here hair loss is related to Testosterone—the primary sexual and reproductive hormone among men. Among women, testosterone is found in trace amounts. When the testosterone levels rise excessively, chances of Alopecia also increase. Androgenic Alopecia in women is also referred to as Female Pattern Baldness. Unlike Male Pattern Baldness, female Alopecia doesn’t present a typical pattern. Androgenic Alopecia can progress to various stages. Complete baldness is seldom found. Usually, such women suffer from a gradually-receding hairline, thinning/falling of hair and significant reduction in hair regrowth and overall density.

Alopecia Areata (Genetic Alopecia)

Alopecia Areata is the second, most common type of alopecia in women. It might have a genetic origin in some women. Alopecia Areata is caused due to an abnormal inflammatory reaction stimulated by the patient’s immune system. Hair loss is more pronounced in Alopecia Areata. Here, the sufferer is vulnerable to developing big, rounded patches with complete hair loss. Sometimes, there are small bald patches, in close vicinity, on one side of the scalp. Typical characteristics of Alopecia Areata hair loss also include hairs with exclamation points. These are essentially weak and brittle hair that taper down in shape similar to an exclamation point.

Alopecia Areata doesn’t develop gradually. Here, the hair loss is quite significant and sudden. Alopecia Areata bald patches might surface and disappear at regular intervals.

Traction Alopecia (Lifestyle Alopecia)

This kind of alopecia is neither genetic nor hormonal. Traction Alopecia occurs due to severe trauma to hair follicles. This is also a gradual, hair-loss condition. Here, hair follicles suffer from gradual weakening. Traction Alopecia is usually caused by lifestyle choices such as hairstyles that induce too much stress on the hair follicles. This is why Traction Alopecia is also called Tension Alopecia, i.e. physical stress and not emotional stress. This is generally regarded as a completely-treatable condition.

Treatment Options

Most prescription and over-the-counter hair loss treatment products for women consist of chemically-formulated medicines. These drugs might yield some quick, effective results initially but they are associated with severe side effects. Secondly, most of these aids are incapable of curing alopecia. Thus, it is better to seek safe and effective alopecia hair loss treatment like Provillus—often considered the safest and best hair loss treatment for women as it permanently cures alopecia.