Category: Hair Diseases

I am a 23 year old girl and have patches of severely thinning hair on my crown. I started losing my hair at the age of 20. Prior to that I had very thick and long hair but it has thinned very rapidly for reasons I am not sure of. My grandmother on my dad’s side is bald and I am afraid that I might have inherited that from her. However, I also had chicken pox when I was 21 years old and lost a lot of hair then. It never completely grew back after that. Also, I have applied aurvedic hair oil all my life, so does having an oily scalp cause thinning? I also have acne, so is it hormonal? How will I know what exactly is wrong with me? Please help. Thank you very much.

First, you need to have a complete medical work-up, because hair loss in women is often a side symptom resulting from some other problem. Female hair loss is inherited and some women report relatives with similar histories at similar ages, but first assume that the problem is one that has a cause which might be fixed. It is a difficult problem to address, because there are very few medical treatments available for female genetic hair loss, but if (for example) you had a thyroid problem causing the hair loss, then it needs to be addressed before expecting changes in the hair situation. If your hair loss condition is affecting your life, you should want to consult a good doctor who understands hair loss, but first any doctor can do the test defined elsewhere in this blog.

Chicken pox may have been a medical stress that may have caused you to lose hair or to accelerate a genetic pattern inherited as discussed above. Oily skin and special shampoos and hair products, however, are not generally associated with hair loss.

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I am a twenty year old female who have been diagonised with scarring alopecia after going to a dermatologist in regards to my hair breaking off in the center of my head. About a year and a half ago, after I took out the braids I had in my hair, about two of my braids that was located in the center of my head came out. I figured this happened because my hair might have been braided to tight so I didn’t worry to much about it. Well a few months later I got my hair braided again and when I took my braids out this happened again. After a months of waiting for my hair to grow back which it didn’t it just spreaded and became so noticeable that I had to get my hair cut to length of the bald spot, at this point I decided it was time to see a dermatologist.

At my first visit he couldn’t see if any thing was wrong with my hair because I don’t have total baldness, just in the area where my hair came out at it is thinner and dryer than the rest of my hair. So, he suggested to do a biopsy and the results of biopsy was that I have scarring alopecia. The PA gave me my results and told me that there is nothing I can do,but I plan on seeing another dermatologist. My questions to you is what you think I can to do to help my hair grow back or what can I do to stop it from thinning and is there any treatments for scarring alopecia.

Thank you very much for taking the time out to read my question!

Stop braiding your hair.

The classic scarring alopecia diagnosis reflects an autoimmune process and it may occur from a wide variety of medical conditions, but what you are describing sounds like traction alopecia from the braids and scarring reaction to it. You need to get some insights into the biopsy that was done. Go back to your dermatologist and have that conversation with him/her. For more information click here.

I am a 43 year old women who has always had long, fine hair. About the age of 30, I noticed that my hair was starting to thin in the top of my head. I had enough hair to cover it, but it was still thin.

I found out shortly after that I had hypo-thyrodism. So, now I am on synthroid — and my hair is even thinner. I don’t know what to do about it (is there anything that can be done). I am really scared that within the next four-five years, I will hardly have no hair. It’s thinning around the edges. I do get perms, but I get them every 4-6 months. I hardly put heat on my hair because I know that heat can ruin hair as well. What can I do?

Many women have the same problem as you and I sympathize with your concerns. Unfortunately, there has not been a medical breakthrough in hair restoration options for women and their unpatterned hair loss as there have been for men with male pattern hair loss. The first thing is to have your hypothyroid condition well managed. The next step may be to see a doctor who can assess the pattern of hair loss and the degree of miniaturization to understand what is going on, and to check if these measurements change over time. Beware of doctors who are eager to sell you a hair transplant surgery. Women are generally poor hair transplant candidates.

hi im 23, female and for 3 years now my hair has gradually become noticly thin all over my head i have been told by a dermatologist my scalp is ok and that my hair has only thinned out due to stress but i feel its through dht, as my hair falls out from the root and regrows finner especailly the sides where it was effected first. my hair around the sides of my head to the back of my ears look near enough bald now even though theres hair there. please HELP i feel like i cant cope with my hair loss its effecting my life so much im highly thinking about taking propecia cause my hair is so important to me i dont wont to where a wig the thought of it makes me sick. please note i have polycistic overies and have been told that can cause thinning of the hair, i have also had alot of blood tests except dht which have all come back normal once again pease help me. regards kelly. x

ps, the loss of my hair has caused me to look so unatractive, and was applying to be a model but i now feel it can only be a dream. i wish and wish for a mirical every day.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) can produce some masculine hormonal changes, including hair loss on the scalp and hair growth in areas like the face (i.e. upper lip) and some body hair growth. You need to get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to outline just what is happening to your scalp hair, where on the head it is happening, and to what degree. Drugs like finasteride (Propecia) may work, but if you should become pregnant on this drug, there is a likelihood that your child will develop abnormal sexual characteristics like hermaphroditic changes. There is a report in the literature that women with PCOS and hair loss have been helped by finasteride, but be warned not to get pregnant if you go that route. The metrics obtained with mapping of your scalp hair will show the value of any treatment modality, therefore it is critical to get the measurements in hand before any treatment is started. With that positive note, you probably have genetic female hair loss which can impact the course of treatments as well, and just like men with hair loss and finasteride treatments, there are no guarantees that it can work. Any approach to this requires a really good doctor to manage your hormonal problems.

For more info on PCOS, see:

• NetDoctor.co.uk
• US Dept of Health and Human Services – 4Woman.gov