Hair Thinning in Women

Women are generally more attentive to the appearance of their hair and notice the see-through quality of thinning hair early on. Most women with thinning hair don’t lose enough all at once to clog the drain, so problems with styling may be the first sign of the female genetic balding process. This is fortunate because the slow onset of thinning allows women to adjust their styling to compensate for their hair loss.

Most women are able to conceal thinning with a new hairstyle, up to a point. Layering, a pulled-back style like a pony tail, or a bun can hide thinning hair fairly well. Regardless of how well they may be able to hide it, hair loss is a psychological challenge for women who fondly remember the luscious, thick hair of their youth and see it coming out in bunches on their hairbrushes. Thinning hair can make a woman feel older and less sexy.

This article looks at genetic female pattern hair loss and other causes of women’s hair loss.

Differentiating between possible causes

There are a number of types of identifiable hair loss in women, and they differ based on their causes. The cause of female hair loss is reflected in the pattern, so doctors look to the pattern of loss to get an idea of the cause and how to treat it.

About 10 percent of women experience the classic pattern of genetic hair loss, which is an intact frontal hairline for the first 2⁄3 inch or so and hair loss behind that persistent hairline. Another recognizable pattern of genetic hair loss in women is hair loss confined to the top of the head, sparing the leading frontal edge of the hair line. Some women with genetic hair loss experience a diffuse hair loss, which is a thinning of the hair all over the head (including the sides and back of the head) and isn’t confined to any particular area. This is more common in postmenopausal women, although it does show up in younger women as well.

Perimenopausal women frequently experience pattern thinning that’s usually worse in the front of the thinning area, about 2 to 3 inches behind the hairline. Over time, it progresses as far back as the swirl (the place in the crown where hair changes direction and produces a vortex); the thinning areas may spare the sides and back of the head.

For perimenopausal women, thinning tends to be diagnosed in the 30s or 40s. It is present but less frequent with women in the 20s. The good news is that once the thinning is recognized in these women it is generally stable over time and does not show the progressive nature of the male balding patterns, at least until they reach menopause.

On the other hand, an advanced presentation of uniform hair loss, called diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), leads doctors to narrow the type of hair loss down to a few distinct possibilities, including female genetic hair loss or senile alopecia.

Generalized thinning isn’t always genetic, and women should undergo a complete medical examination including a wide variety of laboratory tests.