What Causes Hair Loss in Women?

Female hair loss is more common than people tend to be aware of and is a major cause of concern in women. Men are almost expected to lose hair as they get older but women don’t consider the possibility or are easily horrified by the idea. Thinning hair or hair loss on a woman can cause depression and stress because the hair is a large factor in a woman’s looks. Nobody gives a second glance to a balding male but people do stare at females with sparse or patchy hair, as rude as this is, because it is considered very unusual. The truth is many more women suffer from female hair loss than you might imagine. Female hair loss can be linked to various factors, either natural causes or exposure to certain things that are responsible for female hair loss.

Outside factors which might cause hair loss in women include medications, surgery trauma, illness, childbirth and some diseases. Exposure to elements and chemicals might contribute to the problem but these are rare cases and are normally easy to diagnose right away.

Everybody sheds hair every single day. Hair grows for between two and six years, so one hair might grow continuously and then fall out. The natural cause of hair loss in women is at the end of this cycle when the strands come out. The follicles then grow another strand to continue the cycle. Each strand has a different growth cycle which is why we lose strands of hair every day and never lose a lot of hair in one day and none another day.

Some women prefer a specific hairstyle which might be responsible for hair loss. Wearing your hair in a tight ponytail can irritate the hair follicles by continually pulling on the hair. This makes the hair follicle die out and release the hair. This female hair loss cause can be easily rectified by finding a different hairstyle or wearing the hair loose.

Another natural cause of female hair loss is childbirth. In many cases, being pregnant releases hormones that can enhance the woman’s skin and hair. After childbirth, the loss of these hormones is the cause of female hair loss. Some women may experience losing several strands of hair at a time while for others, the hair loss is minimal and they will not even notice this.

Any one of these causes can be to blame for natural hair loss in a woman. They are noticeable factors and are therefore easy to spot. Female hair loss causes not mentioned here are a result of diseases or outside factors present in the woman’s body.