Female Pattern Baldness

I’m sorry to share with you that yes, female pattern baldness, aka androgenic alopecia, is a thing!

Totally unfair but the good news is that we can prevent or at least slow it down.

The latest figures that I have read, states that approximately 50% of women will experience this issue in their lifetime so it a good thing to be aware of.

Who gets it?

There is a strong genetic link to female pattern baldness which can be passed my either parent. Its usually starts mid life with menopause being the start for many women, as it can be linked with our hormones.

This is not the only reason for possible hair loss in women. It can also be from medications, auto-immune issues or illness to name a few. Today though I’m concentrating on female pattern baldness.

So what can we do about it?

First thing as always, is look after our health. As with most things in life, what you’re fueling your body with is how you’re going to look and feel. Your diet can show up in your skin and therefore your hair as well.

Whatever your dietary beliefs all know we need to eat less processed foods, lots of raw stuff and make sure its varied so your getting everything you need. If you just ate Kale you would not be well, thank goodness for that! Vegans I have been told, cannot source certain vitamin B, so you need a supplement for this.

OK that’s the food bit sorted.

Its important to change your part every so often. Your body is fabulous at protecting you from things. When the sun hits your scalp in the same place, your skin can toughen up a bit and make it harder for the hair to get through your scalp. I myself have just had to do this because I’m starting to thin and I’m only 42, that’s still young right?

Make sure you are using a shampoo that is right for your scalp. The best bet here is to get professional advise. Even if you’re using professional products, ideally don’t pick them off the hairdresser shelf your self. Chat with your hairdresser about whats best so they can use their years of knowledge to prescribe the best thing for you.

There are specific ranges out there to help with these scalp issues. I prefer to get specialised hairdresser level products for scalp issues. I have found some off the medical grade ones that doctors prescribe, will help your scalp but can be a little rough on the actual hair. This of course is a choice you need to make for yourselves, with your own beliefs in mind.

In my business I use and recommend Activance Professional which is powered with an ingredient called Rhodanide.

Rhodanide performs several vital functions including stimulating growth, strengthening hair and fighting off damaging chemicals.

To put it simply, if you are looking after yourself with good food and health, you are nurturing your hair and scalp from the inside out. Then with the use of something like the Activance Professional, we can help nurture from the outside in. 80-20 rule at its best.

There is also a drug on the market called Minoxidil that can be topically applied to the scalp that can help regrowth sometimes. Minoxidil claims it can regrow hair, slow down the loss and sometimes have no effect at all. It’s important to weigh up all the pros and cons before trying this.

When taking any drug either orally or on the skin, we need to realise there are often side effects, so professional advise is necessary. Even though Minoxidil only goes on the scalp, the entire body absorbs it like with all medications.

As always I am not a health professional, so before taking any advise you should check in with your go to doctor or Naturopath.

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love, I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.