Female Pattern Baldness

The medical term for hair loss is alopecia and the most common type is androgenetic alopecia — male pattern baldness. Unfortunately, it can affect women, too, and it’s something you inherited. However, There are a number of different reasons for why a woman may find that she starts to lose her hair. Yet although some women do suffer from hair loss, it is not to the same extent that men do.
Usually, a woman loses about 100 hairs a day, with the hair regenerating at a rate of about one-half inch each month. But if she suffers from female-pattern baldness, her hair grows back thinner, shorter and finer until there is little or no growth at all. Unlike male-pattern baldness, female-pattern baldness normal occurs around the entire top of the head.

Classification of Hair Loss in Women

Like men,female pattern baldness has also been classified although the system is much simpler than the male classification design. The Ludwig Hair Loss classification is widely in used to measures the typical progression of female-pattern hair loss. The classification shows a progressive increase in diffuse hair loss from the top of the scalp, but the frontotemporal hair line remains intact.

• Type I: Miniaturization of hair results in thinning on the front and top of the scalp. There is mild to moderate frontal accentuation loss.
• Type II:  Extended thinning on the front and top of the scalp, while hairline is preserved. There is both frontal accentuation that can be more severe than in stage 1 and mixed with diffuse hair loss.
• Type III:  Balding only on the front and upper area of the scalp. Hairline is preserved. The loss is so severe that only diffuse thinning is principally noted.

Why Don’t Women Get Bald?

Hair loss in women is caused mainly by poor diet, excess stress and improper hair care. Men tend to lose their hair as a result of hereditary factors and/or the effects of DHT.

DHT is responsible for the development of male traits in men. Increased DHT levels in females can lead to the development of male characteristics such as deepened voice, increased muscle size and hair above the lip. It can also lead to increased hair loss.

Since males have more DHT receptors in their hair follicles than women do they experience greater hair loss. However, since all men have DHT in their system, why do some men suffer hair loss while others don’t? Read DHL and Hair Loss for the answer.