You are currently viewing Hair loss in women: facts about hair transplantation and a taboo.

Hair loss in women: facts about hair transplantation and a taboo.

Hair loss affects millions of women all over the world. But women often don’t talk about it or don’t want to talk about it. The fact that they see the issue as a completely male-oriented problem causes them to overlook the important treatments, exciting developments and innovations made in recent years. Even though women usually talk about “everything” among themselves, it doesn’t come to hair loss and thinning. In other words, there is a situation of “not asking questions and not talking about/not telling your problems”, a situation of hiding and denial.
Approximately 15% of women complain of hair loss and thinning at some point in their lives. This rate has been increasing in recent years. Because permanent straightening hair applications (such as Brazilian and Japanese blow dryers), daily hair blow-dry, hormonal treatments, hair color lightening or darkening processes can disrupt the natural touch, character and style of the hair and damage the hair. Despite all this, the vast majority of women see hair loss as a male problem and refrain from even talking about it as a taboo. He tries to cover the spilled and lost areas with different hairstyles.
The most common type of hair loss in women is “androgenetic alopecia”, that is, male-type hair loss. In this type of shedding, thinning of the hair on the upper parts and the hairline is noticeable. This situation affects approximately 1/3 of the entire female population and becomes more effective after menopause. Complete hair loss, baldness, or an affected patch-like bald area is not seen in female pattern hair loss (in men, the hair on the front and top is affected, while the hair on the nape is affected). no shedding or thinning). In other words, thinning / shedding of all hair strands can be seen commonly in women. But there is no complete hair loss or anterior hairline loss.
Many reasons such as genetic predisposition, autoimmunity, hormonal fluctuations and changes due to menopause, postpartum period, heavy diet practices, discontinuation of birth control pills can be counted among the causes of hair loss in women. Among many diseases and causes, from iron deficiency anemia to thyroid diseases, frequent hairdressing services for hair style change may also be the cause of hair loss. Knowing these causes is important in determining the treatment scheme.
Among the treatments to be applied in female pattern hair loss, hair transplantation methods applied in male pattern hair loss can be counted. We can consider these in 2 categories in general. The first is the FUT method, which we used frequently before, which involves removing hair follicles from the scalp cut in the form of a skin island and leaving a scar after the operation. The other technique, which has been popularized in recent years and leaves no traces, is the method in which the hair follicles, which we call FUE, are removed one by one, without incisions, without stitches, and which does not cause additional distress to the patient. With this technique, hair transplantation results are also very satisfactory and with near-perfect results. Hair loss in women is commonly seen on the entire scalp. In cases where there is less shedding and thinning in the nape, the nape is generally used as the hair root donor site in women as well as in men. In other words, the hair follicles taken from the nape are transferred to the upper and lower parts of the head, where a more dense hair appearance is obtained.
In women, it is possible to stop the thinning of the hair and to thicken the hair from the top with sprays containing the active ingredient minoxidil, which is used in hair loss. It is possible to have a serious effect with the use of such sprays in the morning and evening for about 4 months. Steroids can be used as a treatment in autoimmune diseases under the control of a doctor and hair loss can be reduced. Surprising results can be obtained with laser light therapy. In red LED (light emitting diode) light treatments, it seems possible to revitalize the hair follicles by increasing the blood supply to the hair follicles. The use of anti-androgen drugs in conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, in diseases where androgenic hormones increase, reduces hair loss in women by blocking male hormones. In addition to these, surprise results can be obtained with PRP treatment and mesotherapy applications, which have become popular in recent years, and a sudden and permanent improvement in hair. can be provided. The main problem of such applications is that we do not have scientific data about their results and different results can be obtained for each applied patient. In other words, a standard in treatment has not yet been established.
As a result, although hair transplantation is still a treatment option for women with hair loss, it is essential that there is no thinning or shedding of the hair on the nape. In addition, hair transplantation should not be preferred for female hair loss due to autoimmune diseases.
In the light of all this information, what needs to be done is to take a careful physical examination and history that can reveal the causes of hair loss in women, to scan the patient with blood tests and to create a treatment scheme for the patient.