My Precious Hair is Thinning. How Did This Happen?
Not only happen to men, baldness can also be experienced by women. According to an article published by Harvard Medical School, about one third of the female population has experienced severe hair loss at one time in their lives. Approximately two thirds of women who are in the menopausal phase suffer from thinning hair or baldness in certain areas.
Given the beauty of hair is one barometer of a woman's
beauty, baldness has a far greater psychological impact on women than on men.
This condition can affect social life, emotional health and quality of life of
women.
The type of baldness most experienced by women, is actually
the same as men, namely androgenetic alopecia. In men, hair loss starts from
the top of the forehead, which is the back of the hairline to form a form of
the letter "M". At the same time, the hair above the head is also
usually thinning, until finally bald. Androgenetic alopecia in women begins
with thinning which is increasingly apparent on the part of the hair, followed
by hair loss that spreads on the top of the head. Very rarely the case of the
back of the front hairline, and total baldness (shiny bald) in women.
There are many factors that trigger baldness in women, for
example health conditions, drugs consumed, and mental or stress conditions. To
find out more specifically about the thinning hair experienced, it is advisable
to consult a dermatologist. Thus, proper handling can be done immediately.
Pattern of Baldness in Women
Experts generally refer to the Ludwig Classification to describe the pattern of female baldness. Type I describes minimal hair loss that can be disguised by adjusting the hair style. In Type II, the volume of hair is getting less and thinning is more noticeable around the part of the hair. Type III illustrates thinning that is increasingly spread, so that the scalp is more visible at the top of the head.
Handling Baldness in Women
In general, those who experience baldness will initially look for alternative treatments in the form of drugs, both smeared and drunk. These drugs include Minoxidil, Anti-androgens and iron supplements. There are so many pros and cons regarding the use of drugs to overcome baldness, this is triggered by a number of side effects caused, such as skin irritation, danger posed to the fetus if the woman using the drug experiences pregnancy, loss of libido, weight gain, depression and fatigue.
Hair transplantation is becoming an increasingly popular baldness treatment solution, not least among women. This procedure began to be applied in the United States since the 1950s to treat androgenetic alopecia. In essence, the procedure performed by a surgeon is to take the back of the scalp strip and use it to fill the bald area of ??the head. Currently 90% of hair transplant experts apply follicular unit transplantation, a technique that was first used in the mid-1990s.
The procedure is to take a small strip of scalp on the back (an area that is resistant to the DHT hormone), then break the skin with the help of a special microscope to become thousands of graft. This graft is a group of very small hairs that only contains one to four strands of hair, called follicular units. The graft is then planted in the area of ??baldness that has been perforated. Hair that is produced with this technique will grow naturally, very much better than the old hair transplant technique.
Reference: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/treating-female-pattern-hair-loss