10 things you need to know about female hair loss

Is your part wider than it used to be? Scalp looking a little "bare"? Jokes with your guy friends about their chrome domes suddenly a lot less funny?

Women can start shedding hair at many times and for many reasons -- after giving birth, after traumatic medical events like chemotherapy, or because of a lack of iron. But one of the most common causes of hair loss for women is androgenetic alopecia -- sometimes called alopecia androgenetica, or simply: female pattern hair loss.

Here are the 10 things you should know about female hair loss:

1. You're not alone!
A 2004 Australian study of 5,000 men and women found mild hair loss in about 22 per cent of women by age 45, with hair loss increasingly prevalent as women get older. Female pattern hair loss is similar to men's, except that women's hair tends to thin out all over the top and sides of the head, rather than a receding hairline. It's rare for women to get a bald spot on top. 

2. Female pattern hair loss warrants medical attention
The first stop on your mission to save your hair: your doctor's office. "If your hair loss is not explainable or if the GP doesn't know [what's causing it], a dermatologist could be helpful," says Dr. Eileen Murray, a Vancouver dermatologist and adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia's dermatology and skin centre.

3. Female hair loss causes
A chemical called DHT, dihydrotestosterone, produced from an excess of androgen is a cause of androgenetic alopecia. This can be an indicator of serious illnesses like polycystic ovarian disease or adrenal gland syndrome, so don't dismiss your hair loss as merely a cosmetic problem. "It's really a sign of an abnormality," says Dr. Murray. Genetics and age may also play a role in hair loss.

4. Hair loss prevention
For healthy hair, eat well, get enough iron, protein, and a wide variety of nutrients. "The commonest cause of hair loss is poor diet," says Dr. Murray. Want more health tips? Try stress reduction -- it turns out, worrying really can make your hair fall out.

5. Female hair loss treatments
Getting your hair back once it's gone isn't so easy. For a cure, women can try the drug many men use: Minoxidil (you might know it as Rogaine). Though it doesn't work on everyone, and it only works as long as you're using it. Furthermore, Dr. Murray warns: "It's not as effective in women."

Click to continue for 5 more facts on female pattern hair loss, including how your hair stylist can help...

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6. Surgical options
Although it comes with a steep price tag, surgical treatment is also an option to help you get your hair back. "The new techniques are really very good," says Dr. Murray. In scalp reduction, doctors stretch areas of skin that still have hair, and reduce the area that's balding. In hair transplantations, doctors move tiny pieces of skin that still have hair (such as at the back of your neck) and implant them to thinning areas.

7. How your hairstylist can help
Your hairstylist can help you to disguise balding. "Women have so many more options than men, between hats and hairstyles and wigs," says Robert Gage, owner of a hair salon in Toronto's ritzy Yorkville for 20 years.

Gage says his clients with thinning hair go gaga over a cosmetic hair enhancer they can use to disguise a wide part or too-bare scalp. "It's called coloured hair thickener," he says, and further describes it as eyeshadow for your scalp. "It comes in all hair colours, except in white." 

8. A hair cut can help disguise hair loss
Talk to your stylist about a hair cut that will make the most of what you have, with a little length and volume on top, but not so high and pouffy that it shows too much scalp.

And if you want to colour your hair, perm it, or get extensions -- go ahead! Perms and colour treatments don't cause permanent hair loss. According to Dr. Murray, colouring has no effect on hair loss and while it's true that perming, or even straightening, can weaken your hair and make it break more easily, it will regrow the same as before.

Perming can give hair more texture, while colouring can temporarily thicken thin strands. "It'll plump up the hair. It will have a lot more body for a few weeks," Gage says.

9. You can wear hair accessories
Accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. Go for headbands, clips, and loose ponytails. But beware of tight ponytails, which can lead to permanent hair loss called traction alopecia, cautions Dr. Murray. The tense pulling action of a tight ponytail can make more hair fall out.

10. You can wear wigs and hair pieces
Consider wigs and hair pieces to pump up the volume. "More people than you'd ever know have hair pieces. Put your hair back in a little ponytail, then cover the top with a hair piece, with your bangs in front, " suggests Gage, who also likes the style of a rich-looking hairband with extra strands flowing smoothly back.

Armed with these tips, there's no reason to lose your head if you lose your hair. After a quick medical pit stop to rule out health issues and a stop at the stylist to check your style IQ, you'll be back on the street in no time, strutting your stuff, thinning hair or no.

Find more articles on Women's Health under Health & Fitness.

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