It’s pretty fair to say that no one wants to lose their hair- especially women. Unless you’ve got the bone structure of Sinead O’Connor, it’s also pretty fair to say that baldness in women is not what many of us aspire to.

Yet, nearly 21 million women in the US are affected to some degree. So girls, if your hair feels like it’s falling out, you’re not alone!

While female hair loss is relatively common, it’s still a taboo topic. Not many people associate hair loss and baldness in women. What pops into our minds when we think of hair loss is middle-aged men with beer bellies and back acne, sprouting a shiny dome up top… a far cry from the feminine image society projects where women have luscious long locks. So it comes to no surprise, then, that about 46% of sufferers keep their problem a secret.

You’re Not alone! Baldness in women is common.

Did you know 80% of women experience noticeable hair loss by the time they are 60? While society tells women that female hair loss is not normal, it is in fact very common and nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about! Many women develop thinning of the hair over the scalp as they get older. While thinning starts in some women’s teens or early twenties, by the age of 50, more than half of all women have thinning hair.

What causes thinning hair?

Menopause: After a woman goes through menopause, the thinning of the hair becomes more noticeable. This is because as a woman goes through menopause, the presence of oestrogen and progesterone drop, causing the hair to thin out and grow more slowly.

Stress: Hair loss can be triggered by major shocks to your emotional or physical health. Whether you’ve had a death in the family, had surgery or serious relationship issues, it is fairly common to lose more hair that you are used to in the following three months after the event. This scenario is called telogen effluvium. Hair can grow back after several months, so the loss is not permanent.

Nutrition: If your body is lacking certain nutrients such as protein, iron or zinc, the deficiency can cause hair to fall out. Ensure your diet is healthy, balanced and nutritional and you should see this start to correct itself.

Side effect to drugs: Some drugs and prescriptions have hair loss as a side effect, and you should consult with your doctor if you are taking drugs hat include lithium, beta-blockers, warfarin or heparin.

Alopecia: This is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells thinking that they are a virus. In this instance, it attacks the hair follicles and can cause partial or total baldness, either temporary or permanent. There are many types of alopecia, find out more about alopecia areata here.

Pulling or treating your hair: Women who braid their hair tightly, colour or use hot curling irons on their hair can make hair brittle and more likely to fall out. It’s recommended that you give your hair time to recover from any treatments/colouring or fastening, lest you make it worse.

Fungal infections: If you have a fungal scalp infection you may find that the hair breaks off at the scalp. We recommend you speak to your doctor or dermatologist about oral medication for fungal scalp infections.

Age: It is common for people have thinner hair as they grow older than when they were young.

How to prevent hair loss in women

Depending on the cause of your hair loss, there can be many different preventative treatments for hair loss in women.

These include:

• Eating a healthy and balanced diet.
• Switching medication that is the cause of your baldness
• Not sharing combs, brushes or hats with others to avoid contracting fungal scalp infections.

How to treat hair loss in women

We recommend you consult your doctor if you notice immediate hair loss so they can determine what is the cause. They may decide to take a hair sample for testing fungal infections, blood tests for nutritional deficiency, or mental health professionals if you are compulsively pulling out your hair. Some examples of treatments include:

Diet: If you are low in iron, you are more likely to suffer from hair loss, particularly if you are a vegetarian or vegan. While you will need a blood test from your doctor to determine if this is indeed the cause of your hair loss, you can make a start by eating iron rich foods such as dark green leafy vegetables, as well as increasing your intake of vitamin C, which helps your body absorb iron.

Hair care: Products such as hairspray can disguise your hair thinning as they provide body and lift to your hair. Colouring your hair can make your hair more brittle, as well as treating your hair with hot irons or curling wands. If you use these treatments, ensure you protect your hair first with a hair colour or heat protector which will maintain the moisture in your hair and not dry it out. Find out our top recommendations on how to cover thinning hair here.

Regaine: Using a hair loss treatment product such as regain can be effective in stimulating slight hair regrowth in about 50% od women with thinning hair, and moderate regrowth in 13% of women with thinning hair, after 32 weeks of treatment. Regaine works to partially enlarge the hair follicle, reversing the process of miniaturisation, which causes hair to thin or stop growing. By enlarging these follicles, more hair follicles are in the growth phase simultaneously and stimulates thicker, fuller looking hair with improved coverage across the scalp.

Hair transplants: While it may seem extreme, if your thinning hair is giving you grief and the above solutions do not hep, you could consider hair transplants which can be done on both make and females.