Hair loss in females can occur due to various reasons like heredity, medical condition, hormonal changes, or harsh hair treatments. In spite of the age factor, anybody could face this problem at any point in their life. Even though hair loss or baldness is a prominent issue in men, women are also prone to lose hair.
Here in this article, you will get insights on Cycle of hair, cause for hair loss and hair fall remedies.
The growth cycle of hair
Hair growth in humans has three distinct cycles such as Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen. Around 90% of the hair is in the Anagen phase, which is the development stage. In general, the hair strands in the Anagen phase last from two to eight years. The catagen phase is the transition phase which usually lasts up to 2-3 weeks. During the Catagen phase, the hair follicle shrinks. The last stage is the Telogen cycle, which lasts from two to four months.
What is abnormal hair loss?
Several people lose somewhere in the range of 50 to 100 strands of hair every day. When hair is washed, individuals can lose up to 250 strands or more based on the hair nature. If you wish to know your hair loss is abnormal or normal, then keep watching for the following points:
- After you wake up in the morning, you could notice a large number of hair strands on your pillow.
- You could also see more hair strands when you comb your hair
Usually, whenever a healthy hair follicle is shed, it is naturally replaced by a new hair that is similar in size. In any case, in women with female baldness, the new hair will be thinner and slender.
Causes for hair loss in women
Family heredity
Heredity is the most commonly recognized reason for baldness or hair fall. It usually happens slowly with maturing and in commonly predictable patterns. You could easily find a baldness pattern in women with a receding hairline and thinning hair.
Medical condition
There is a wide scope of conditions that can accelerate female pattern baldness, with probably the most well-known periods like a thyroid issue, pregnancy, Postpartum, anemia, auto-immune disease, PCOS and other skin related issue. Sometimes hair loss could occur due to other reasons like stress, surgery or sudden weight loss. Fortunately, for most of these issues, the hair loss problem is a temporary issue, and the hair grows back with proper treatments and hair care routine.
Apart from the above-mentioned conditions, there is some other condition where women experience hair fall. Some of the medical conditions are alopecia areata which results in patchy hair fall and scalp infections like ringworm, and trichotillomania. In the case of dandruff problem, you can try some natural dandruff remedies.
Hormonal changes
In general, women undergo severe hormonal changes during pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. Women in this phase tend to face severe hair fall due to fluctuating hormones.
Hairstyles and medicines
A rigorous hairstyle like pigtails which pull the hair tight can lead to hair loss. Other than that hot hair treatments can also lead to inflammation of hair follicles. In case of some scars then the hair loss becomes permanent.
Points to remember
If the hair loss problem is due to mental or physical stress or medical treatments or certain harsh hair treatment, then the below tips could help in preventing hair loss.
- Stay away from tight hairstyles like buns, braids, or ponytails.
- Stay away from rubbing, compulsively twisting, or pulling your hair.
- Handle your hair gently while washing and brushing.
- Do not undergo harsh treatments like curling irons, hot rollers, hot oil treatments
- Avoid certain supplements and medication that lead to hair loss.
- Guard your hair and scalp against direct sunlight and ultraviolet light.