Category: Female Hair Loss

Hello Dr. Rassman,
I have been having eyebrow loss for over ten years now. It started after a period of overzealous plucking as a teen (I am now 29). The hair grows out and then after a few weeks to months it gets very weak and limp and falls out. This has been going on for years. My primary doc said it was age and possibly alopecia (though I have no problems on scalp and hair loss is diffuse not patchy). my dermatologist said seb derm but my symptoms are not that similar and the meds he prescribed didn’t help. Any ideas what it can be? And am I a candidate for transplant surgery? Please help! Thank you.

I really couldn’t make an attempt at an answer to what you are asking without examining you myself. So I’m not sure what it could be. If it is indeed seborrheic dermatitis, treatments are usually limited to antifungal shampoos. You didn’t mention which meds you were prescribed, so I’m kind of at a loss there, too.

As for whether you’re a surgical candidate, again, that’s not something that can be determined without an exam. A hair transplant into the eyebrow will reflect the thickness of the hair in the donor area where it is taken from (back of the head area).

Snippet from the article:

In most cases, the cause is a genetic condition called androgenic alopecia, which is when hair follicles shrink because of a loss of estrogen and/or increased sensitivity to testosterone. Unlike men, who tend to experience androgenic alopecia as receding hairlines, women generally get thinning at the temples and the tops of their heads.

Once it starts, it usually gets worse, so it’s best to seek treatment earlier on when there’s more hair to save, Redmond said. Androgenic alopecia strikes some 25 percent of women in their 20s and 30s, and more than half of women over 45, when estrogen levels fall, he said.

Other possible, though rarer, causes of hair loss include alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the hair follicles, causing patchy round bald spots. It affects less than 1 percent of the population and typically appears in the teen or young adult years.

Read the full text at Chicago Tribune — Why do women sometimes lose their hair?

These types of articles get published by a major newspaper every other month or so, and while they’re good reminders about the causes of female hair loss, they don’t offer any new solutions. There are so many possible causes of hair loss in women that it’s difficult to determine why you’re thinning at first glance (unlike men, which have genetics to thank in the great majority of cases). There’s a partial list of those possible causes here.

Hello, I am a recent transplant from New York City to Istanbul. I was a model for 10 years and have been losing my hair since my late teens. As a woman, and one paid for her looks, I do not have to belabor the point of how this has ruined my life. I have worn every possible type of hair extension and now a custom made hairpiece covering my crown and hairline in addition to extensions in the back. I have lost roughly 70 percent of my hair and the remains resemble a troll doll’s fluff. The cost (approximately 300.00 every 2 months) and the constant fear that the extensions will fall out or move in such a way that my scalp will show have left me feeling so hopeless.

I am in my late 20s and can hardly imagine what I will have to face in 20 years when the wig and extensions will cause traction alopecia and pull out the rest of my hair. I cannot wear full wigs since I cannot pull them back into ponytails when working out and they are just not a livable solution. I have traveled all over the world for consults regarding transplantation but I just don’t have enough hair to make the operation worth the expense. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding real solutions – realistic hairpieces, best extensions, etc? I think that I also ran through all of the possible drugs too, up to and including Proscar – I do not plan to have children. Drugs don’t seem worth it either as it is not just about preserving the hair that I have but the fact that I will never have a normal amount of hair to begin with.

It is also noteworthy, I suppose, that my hairloss is both genetic and I know discovered due two 2 courses of Accutane in high school that was prescribe like candy to kids that had minuscule amount of acne (I grew up in the entertainment industry…) Thank you for reading and I would be so grateful for any thoughts or advice.

Your questions are not uncommon and your history is typical of many women. There is little that doctors can do for you unless you have an identifiable hormone defect or medical problem like thyroid disease. I wish there was more I could offer.

As for realistic hairpieces, extensions, etc — If any readers have advice for this young lady, please leave a comment!

Snippet from the article:

Although past research has suggested a correlation between iron deficiency (ID) and female pattern hair loss (FPHL) or chronic telogen effluvium (CTE), a recent population-based study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology finds no such association.

Elise A. Olsen, M.D., of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and colleagues assessed 381 women with FPHL or CTE and 76 controls to see what, if any, role ID plays in the two conditions.

Read the rest of the story — Iron Deficiency Not Likely Culprit in Female Hair Loss.

The study shows that while iron deficiency is commonly found in women, it doesn’t appear to be increased in those women with hair loss or telogen effluvium. This goes against what we previously believed to be one of the many possible causes of female hair loss.

I’m sure there will be more research to come, and I’ll post more about this as I find it. Read the abstract in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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