Hair loss is not commonly thought of as a problem for women, however female hair loss effects a significant percentage every year. Women who lose their hair often feel that they are becoming bald like men, and that this is due to hormones making them more manly, however patchy baldness and total baldness, are unrelated to hormones and occur as often in men as in women.
Thinning of the hair is common in women after the menopause, it actually starts in the mid 20's and by age of 50 over 50 percent of all women have hair that is thinning, but after the menopause thinning is more pronounced. This is due to the fact that hair follicles respond in a similar way as in men with testosterone, it is very unlikely that a woman will go completely bald.
From these causes come some solutions to female hair loss or slowing down hair loss. Potentially changing diet could have a restorative effect, it is important to find out whether levels of iron are low, this could be done by asking your doctor to get a blood test. If so then a change in diet, favouring iron-rich foods such as red meat, eggs or dark green vegetables would improve the iron-deficiency, also it would help to increase your intake of Vitamin C if it is at a low level as this will help the body to absorb the iron.
Bleaches and hair relaxers should be avoided. It is also possible to disguise thinning of hair by using hairspray, perming or certain hair dyes. It may be advisable however to not use darker shades of coloring as these may make the thinning more obvious.
Potentially HRT could affect hair depending on which version it is, you could ask your doctor whether you are on a third generation type progestogen, as this is less similar to male hormones and could positively effect the thinning hair.
Rogaine/Regaine (minoxidil) makes a difference in about half of the women with thinning hair, there are varying strengths but only the 2% strength is suitable for women as more may cause facial hairiness. Also about 5 percent of women notice hairiness on the face from using the 2% strength, if treatment is continued then the facial hairiness usually will reduce over a year, while if the drug is stopped, it goes away within 6 months.
Hair loss after pregnancy is normal as there will be a natural drop in estrogen levels, this absence of estrogen will cause a shedding phase to occur. Other hair follicles on the head will ten to enter into resting phase, this is why there may be a temporary greater hair loss than may be normal. This should correct itself with time, and no other action is needed to be taken other than a balanced diet. Although it can be alarming to see so much hair coming off in the hairbrush the readjustment takes a while, and then the normal hair growth cycle reasserts itself.
Alternatively a hair transplantationcan be considered, this is where hair is moved from places where hair is abundant (generally on the back of the head) to places where it is sparse.
There are also alternatives which could be looked at include Spironolactone (British Journal of Dermatology 2005;152:466-73), Finasteride (British Journal of Dermatology2005;152:466-73).