Hair Loss is NOT Just a Problem for Men
Most people don’t realize it, but women are nearly as likely to lose their hair, or experience thinning hair, as men. Most women notice it in their 50s or 60s, but it can happen at any age and for a variety of reasons.
Hair loss is even more traumatic for women than it is for men. It’s simply not an option for most women to “gracefully” go bald, or to shave their heads. The fact is, female hair loss is a big problem, but you don’t really hear much about it. It’s kind of a dirty little secret.
Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that there are now very effective ways to regrow, or restore, female hair. It wasn’t always this way. Until pretty recently, the only way a woman could improve the appearance of her hair was to wear a wig. Fortunately, those days are long gone.
The bad news is that women cannot use one of the most popular and effective hair loss medications available today. I’m talking about the chemical finasteride, which is sold under the brand name Propecia.
Propecia is taken orally and you need a prescription to get it. But doctors won’t give out a prescription to women, especially women who might get pregnant or are breastfeeding. That’s because Propecia has been shown to cause abnormalities in babies.
So that pretty much leaves two options for women who want to reverse their hair loss:
• Minoxidil
• Hair transplant
Either one is an effective hair loss treatment for women, but they are very different. Minoxidil is an FDA-approved chemical that you apply to your scalp every day. A hair transplant is a minor surgical procedure.
What follows is a brief explanation of each treatment along with recommendations and resources that you might find helpful. But first, it’s important to realize that the more hair you still have left on your head, the more effective both of these treatments will ultimately be. So try to take action as soon as you notice any hair loss!