The Causes Of Hair Loss In Women – It’s Not Only The Kids Causing Her Pull Her Hair Out
For many women, their hair is their crowning glory. It has been said that, if asked to choose between an expensive purse and a good haircut, women will choose the haircut, because it is the one “accessory” that everyone sees. For many, their identity is very wrapped up in their hair, so, as you can imagine, it is particularly devastating for a women to lose her hair. Nobody wants to lose hair, but for a man, this is not an entirely unexpected occurrence. For women however, it can come as a great shock. Even more shocking for some are the causes of hair loss in women.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of women who are experiencing the loss of their hair. To truly understand some of the causes, it is important first to understand how hair grows. Everyone’s head is covered in hair follicles, each of which is responsible for growing a single hair. Each hair grows at a rate of approximately ½ inch per month. The individual hair will grow for anywhere from 2 to 6 years before going into a resting period and falling out. Once this occurs, the follicle then produces a new hair.
For anyone that experiences hair loss, the simple answer is that the hair follicle just stops producing new hairs. The reasons for this vary. For men, the primary reason is that a group of hormones, known as androgens, bind to the hair follicle, rendering it incapable of producing new hair. Both men and women produce these hormones, though women in much smaller amounts. By contrast, the causes of hair loss in women are varied and very often the symptom of a greater condition. For instance, hair loss is often the only visible symptom that a woman is suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Some of the other causes of hair loss in women are related to thyroid conditions, a reaction to certain types of medications, certain auto-immune diseases and even traumatic events such as childbirth, major surgery, weight loss or emotional distress. Because the reasons vary so wildly, it is extremely important for any woman experiencing hair loss to consult her doctor and get to the bottom of her hair loss.
