The primary reasons for hair loss are almost always related to changes in your hormone levels. These shake ups tend to occur during certain phases of your life, including during puberty, when you are pregnant and as you enter the menopausal stage of your life. The hormonal changes associated with these phases will very frequently lead to female hair loss. Female hair loss can also happen when you stop using birth control pills, again because of hormonal changes. Generally the problem will be short lived in this instance, however. A medical condition called androgenetic alopecia, also referred to as female pattern baldness, is another kind of female hair loss. If you have this condition, you will start to realize that your hair is becoming thinner at the top of your head and also on the sides. However, the hair doesn’t actually fall out. What happens is that the follicles become narrower, resulting in thin, weak hair that doesn’t adequately cover your scalp. It doesn’t happen overnight, so if you catch it early there is a possibility that you can improve the situation considerably. Try reading Hair Loss in Women: Getting to the Root of the Problem.
Female hair loss is actually more of a problem for women than many people realize. It is estimated that one third of all women will experience this condition at some time in their lives. Most of these will be menopausal or pregnant.
Pregnancy, especially, is a time when female hair loss happens quite frequently. It’s not just the hormonal changes that precipitate the problem, however. There are also huge amounts of stress being placed on both the mind and body that can cause the fallout of hair. The good news is that this kind of female hair loss will come to a halt approximately six months after you’ve given birth to your new baby.
Even your eating habits can cause problems. For example, an extreme weight loss program can contribute to female hair loss. If you lose a lot of weight quite quickly over a relatively short period of time, you might notice your hair falling out. Some nutritional supplements have also been linked to female hair loss.
If you’re undergoing a lot of stress in your life, either physical or emotional, you might also notice the signs of female hair loss. However, stress has to be pretty severe and chronic before it will cause your hair to fall out. It typically requires a traumatic event before you would see such a result.
Some women worry that their hair care regime is causing the problem. In general, this isn’t the case, although you will experience some minor fallout if you’re practicing extreme grooming. But common concerns such as washing your hair too often, getting a perm or coloring too frequently aren’t really an issue. Another myth is that wearing hats and wigs can cause the problem. Again, any fallout here will be minor.
As you can see, there is any number of reasons for female hair loss and most of them depend on your individual makeup and how you tend to react to certain circumstances. But most certainly, changes in your hormonal balance are considered to be a primary reason, and this often manifests itself during situations involving birth control, pregnancy and menopause.