Beauty, Hair
Subconsciously this is due to hair being a marker of fertility. Hence hair projects youth, health, femininity, sexual desire. It is no wonder then as women approach fifty and they start noticing changes to their hair, they feel less attractive; lose their confidence and start withdrawing from socialising. Women with hair loss often feel so embarrassed that they will only tell close confidants and often as a trichologist I am often the only person that they feel they can talk to about it, which makes hair loss such a taboo subject.
For a woman to lose her hair is therefore one of the most distressing things to happen to her, but its surprisingly more common than you would think.
If it is happening to you, then you are not alone. Far from it, in fact there is a conservative estimate that by the age of 50 years, 25% of women will have experienced hair loss
There are different conditions that may cause hair loss and some types are more reversible than others, but often with the correct diagnosis and treatment hair will regrow or at the least you can maintain what you have and prevent further loss.
If you are affected the best thing you can do would be to see a registered Trichologist for a consultation, diagnosis and advice. Ensure they are members of the Institute of Trichologist and have the letters MIT after their name.
Medications
Around the age of fifty is a time of many changes to your body and often health issues can arise. Hair loss can often be the first symptom that draws any attention to an underlying medical condition that needs to be diagnosed. This can be done usually with comprehensive history taking and blood tests. Once a medical condition i.e. hypothyroidism has been identified, simple treatment i.e. medication/supplementation can begin and consequently hair can become revitalised.
HRT
Many women who take HRT, find their hair density improves too. However, like the contraceptive pill not all HRT is equal and some have negative effects on hair. With this in mind Sara Allison advises to only take HRT if you need to for other reasons and not specifically for hair loss. If you do wish to start HRT Angeliq has very positive reports for hair and could be requested from your doctor if they agree it’s suitable for you.
Minoxidil
The most popular hair loss product for women is Minoxidil and is the only treatment medically approved for Androgenic alopecia (female pattern hair loss). However, it is important to realise that this is not appropriate for all types of hair loss, therefore consult your trichologist first to see if it’s suitable for you personally, because minoxidil is best to use long term and if you decide to stop treatment then you can notice some temporary excess shedding.
Nutritional supplements
Optimum nutrition has the ability to ‘turn off’ gene expression therefore it should be possible to make a difference to genetic hair loss with a good diet and even if you have a ‘perfect’ diet, additional multi vitamins would still be advantageous.
Apart from a good quality Multi vitamin with iron, Vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) is a good additional supplement to take as it’s very difficult to get enough from food and sunlight in the UK is too poor.
Hair transplantation surgery
Has been used for a number of years. Success rates vary, but the results from the best surgeons are excellent and give a natural appearance of thicker hair. Not suitable for everyone though, so discuss this with your trichologist.
Some women will respond quite quickly to any of these above recommendations, however, usually you should allow 4- 6 months for any of these to make a difference to your hair.
Sara G Allison RGN MIT WTS
10 Harley Street London W1G 9PF
