Hair Thinning in Females: What Causes It & How To Fix It

It’s normal to lose about 50-100 strands of hair per day. This might seem like a lot, but the average head has about 100,000 follicles that are constantly producing new strands on a cycle. When this cycle is disrupted, more significant hair loss can occur, resulting in a receding hairline, sparse or bare spots, and an overall thinner appearance to the hair. Many people think that hair loss only affects men. However, it is estimated that more than a third of women will experience noticeable hair loss at some point in life.

Women experience hair loss differently than men do, and female hair loss has different causes and treatments. Women tend to experience overall thinning, rather than balding as men do. Hair loss tends to affect women’s self-esteem and confidence more keenly due to the strong associations between beauty and a full head of hair. It also gets far less attention than male hair loss, even though it is just as common. The good news is that in many cases hair loss can be stabilized with treatment, and it may be reversible. When it’s not, there are still effective cosmetic approaches that can help restore a full, natural-looking head of hair.

Signs Your Hair Might Be Thinning

If you’re reading this, you probably already have concerns that your hair may be thinning. Here are some of the sign that can help you know for sure:

Seeing more hair come out on your brush or when you wash your hair.
Seeing noticeable patches of thin hair, or noticing that the area where your hair parts naturally seem sparse.
Noticing your bangs feel thinner, or your ponytail is not as thick.
If the hair seems to break more easily.

Common Causes Of Female Hair Loss

Hair loss doesn't happen overnight. Strands grow in cycles (a growing phase, transition phase, and resting phase), that occur over a period of about 3 months. That means it can take that long for hair to fall out after a trigger has caused it. It also means you shouldn’t worry too much unless you notice excessive daily hair shedding for longer than 3 months. In that case, there could be an underlying factor that needs to be addressed. Here are some common causes of female hair loss:

Genetics: Does thinning hair run in your family? This type of hair loss is called female-pattern hair loss (FPHL), also known as androgenetic alopecia or androgenic alopecia, and tends to be permanent.

Traction Alopecia: This is caused by damaging the hair through heating, coloring, styling, or frequently wearing hairstyles that pull on the hair. If hair follicles are damaged, the loss can be permanent.

Illness or Stress: Events like losing a lot of weight, surgeries, illness, and having a baby can cause hair loss because of hormone fluctuations. However, this type of hair loss tends to be temporary and the hair will grow back once the body recovers. There are some exceptions, such as when sudden hair loss occurs due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and some medications. This type of hair loss can be permanent if the hair follicles are damaged

Vitamin Deficiency: Iron deficiency and a lack of B12 are commonly associated with hair loss in women. It’s important to have a healthy diet to promote healthy hair growth particularly if you're a vegetarian, vegan, or have a history of anemia. Your doctor can do a blood test to check for vitamin deficiencies and suggest supplements, which may stop the hair loss.

Aging: Many women will experience thinning hair as they age, especially around menopause. Hair also becomes finer as part of the aging process, which contributes to the hair looking sparser and thinner. This is due to changing hormones and tends to be permanent.

Treatment For Female Hair Loss

Treatment for hair loss in women depends on the underlying cause and your aesthetic preferences. Sometimes simply addressing a medical condition prompting hair loss will be enough for the hair to regrow. In other instances, medications like minoxidil help with certain types of hair loss. More treatments will likely be developed in the near future to help regrow or restore lost hair, but these types of treatments tend to work best in cases where the hair loss is temporary. At best, they can only achieve a partial restoration of hair’s former glory.

In cases where the hair loss is permanent due to hair follicles no longer being viable, hair transplantation is the only effective route to hair regrowth. This involves a minimally invasive surgical procedure called Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) that moves healthy follicles from one area of the scalp to areas where the hair is thinning. The results from FUE are more natural than earlier methods, require no stitches, and leave no visible scarring. Once transplanted, the hair grows normally. NeoGraft® is a trusted name in hair restoration devices, advancing the FUE process even further by being a fully automated system. Automated FUE ensures that only the healthiest follicles are transplanted, through precision micrografts that cause little to no discomfort during the procedure, and require low downtime.

The benefits of a hair restoration procedure using the latest advances in transplantation are considerable. First and foremost, Following a female hair transplant, patients will benefit from a restored, natural-looking hairline that boasts thicker follicles. Recovering lost hair, for most women, also means recovering their self-esteem and confidence in their appearance. Another benefit is the quick recovery time of using the less invasive, automated FUE process. Most people get over the initial tenderness in 2-3 days and return to regular activities in under two weeks with no adverse effects. Lastly, the results of a hair restoration procedure are intended to be long-lasting.

At Venus Concept, we offer cutting-edge hair restoration solutions that utilize advanced technology to achieve discreet, natural-looking results. To find out if you are a good candidate for hair restoration, connect with one of our certified hair restoration providers by using the search field below:

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Venus Versa™ has CE Mark as a multi-application device intended to be used in aesthetic and cosmetic procedures. The SR515 and SR580 applicators have CE Mark for the treatment of benign pigmented epidermal and cutaneous lesions and treatment of benign cutaneous vascular lesions. The HR650/HR650XL and HR690/HR690XL applicators have CE Mark for the removal of unwanted hair and to effect stable long-term or permanent hair reduction for Fitzpatrick skin types I-IV. The AC Dual applicator has CE Mark for the treatment of acne vulgaris. The DiamondPolar™ applicator has CE Mark for non-invasive treatment of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and rhytides on females with Fitzpatrick skin types I-IV. The OctiPolar™ applicator on the Venus Versa™ system has CE Mark for temporary body contouring via skin tightening, circumferential reduction, and cellulite reduction. The NanoFractional RF™ (Viva) applicator has CE Mark for dermatological procedures requiring ablation and resurfacing of the skin.

NeoGraft^® 2.0 has CE Mark with indication for use in suction-assisted follicular extraction and re-implantation for males and females.

The ARTAS iX™ from Restoration Robotics® is indicated for harvesting hair follicles from the scalp in men diagnosed with androgenic alopecia (male pattern hair loss) who have black or brown straight hair. The ARTAS iX™ from Restoration Robotics® is intended to assist physicians in identifying and extracting hair follicular units from the scalp during hair transplantation; creating recipient sites; and implanting harvested hair follicles.

Venus Epileve™ has CE Mark for hair removal, permanent hair reduction (defined as the long-term stable reduction in the number of hairs re-growing when measured at 6, 9 and 12 months after the completion of a treatment regimen), and the treatment of pseudofolliculitis barbae for all Fitzpatrick skin types. Venus Epileve™ is also CE-Marked for hirsutism.

Venus Legacy™ has CE Mark for the temporary increase of skin tightening, circumferential reduction, cellulite reduction, and wrinkle reduction.

Venus Velocity™ has CE Mark for hair removal, permanent hair reduction (defined as the long-term stable reduction in the number of hairs re-growing when measured at 6, 9 and 12 months after the completion of a treatment regimen), and the treatment of pseudofolliculitis barbae for all Fitzpatrick skin types.

Venus Viva™ has CE Mark for the use in dermatologic and general surgical procedures requiring ablation and resurfacing of the skin, and the treatment of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and rhytides in Fitzpatrick skin types I-IV with the DiamondPolar™ applicator.

Venus Freeze Plus™ has CE Mark for treatment of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and rhytides using the DiamondPolar™ applicator, and CE Mark for the treatment of cellulite reduction, increase of skin tightening, and temporary circumferential reduction on the OctiPolar™ applicator.

Venus Freeze™ has CE Mark for treatment of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and rhytides using the DiamondPolar™ applicator, and CE Mark for the treatment of cellulite reduction, increase of skin tightening, and temporary circumferential reduction on the OctiPolar™ applicator.

Venus Glow™ provides a dermal rejuvenation treatment that works to open up and deep-clean pores. Venus Concept is the exclusive distributor for Venus Glow™.

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