Female Hair Loss: Signs & Symptoms
Symptoms of Hair Loss In Women
Female hair loss is very different from male pattern baldness in that the hair normally thins on the top and crown of the scalp with women. This is initially usually seen in a widened, thinning strip through the central hair area. But unlike men, with women’s hair loss, the frontal area of hair typically remains intact.
Also unlike men, women’s hair loss rarely is aggressive enough to progress towards complete or near complete baldness. Further, there are no itchy patches or sores on the scalp for most cases of female hair loss.
Testing For Women’s Hair Loss
In order to rule out anything more serious, doctors will perform tests which are based on a number of factors that try to rule out other causes first in order to bring back a diagnosis of simple female pattern baldness. This is accomplished by looking at:
After this, the doctor will check for hormonal imbalances signified by the presence of androgen and characterized by:
The doctor might take skin biopsies or blood tests to look for skin diseases which could be at the root of your female hair loss. Also, microscopic inspection could be used to check for outside factors such as arsenic or lead, but nutritional problems could still elude these types of diagnoses.
Female hair loss is very different from male pattern baldness in that the hair normally thins on the top and crown of the scalp with women. This is initially usually seen in a widened, thinning strip through the central hair area. But unlike men, with women’s hair loss, the frontal area of hair typically remains intact.
Also unlike men, women’s hair loss rarely is aggressive enough to progress towards complete or near complete baldness. Further, there are no itchy patches or sores on the scalp for most cases of female hair loss.
Testing For Women’s Hair Loss
In order to rule out anything more serious, doctors will perform tests which are based on a number of factors that try to rule out other causes first in order to bring back a diagnosis of simple female pattern baldness. This is accomplished by looking at:
- The appearance of the hair
- The pattern of hair loss
- The patient’s medical history
After this, the doctor will check for hormonal imbalances signified by the presence of androgen and characterized by:
- Abnormal hair growth especially around the face or abdomen
- Changes in menstruation
- Enlargement of the clitoris
- Development or acne
The doctor might take skin biopsies or blood tests to look for skin diseases which could be at the root of your female hair loss. Also, microscopic inspection could be used to check for outside factors such as arsenic or lead, but nutritional problems could still elude these types of diagnoses.