Women with Alopecia Share Powerful Photos and Stories

When Brittany Myers was just a little girl, her mother noticed that her hair was falling out while she was brushing it. After several test screenings and by the process of elimination, doctors diagnosed her with alopecia at just 7 years old. Alopecia is a type of hair loss that occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles.

Now at 33, Myers is raising awareness during Alopecia Awareness Month, when many people with the condition take to social media to share their stories. “[Alopecia is] not a sickness. It’s not caused by stress. It’s simply a function of the body that we have no control over,” Myers tells Yahoo Beauty. “Throughout my childhood and into early adulthood, I would only have a missing patch of hair here or there — sometimes more and sometimes less,” she says. “When things were good, I didn’t think about it much. When things were bad, I worried a lot about one day losing all my hair.”

Myers overcame her fear of becoming bald when she was 26. One missing patch of hair grew bigger, so with the help of a stylist friend, she saw this as a sign that it was time to reinvent herself and her look. “Back then, I never imagined it wouldn’t grow back,” she says, “but I’ve been bald ever since.”

Myers says meeting other women with alopecia has been “hugely beneficial.” She explains, “It helped me begin to see the complex beauty in the baldness, in the challenge of it all, and finding that comfort over time helped me to shift focus away from alopecia and baldness.” Other women like Myers are sharing their inspiring journey with alopecia on Instagram, including powerful photos that illustrate how they’ve handled hair loss.

When discussing her resilience, Myers says, “Part of being strong is coming to terms with the fact that these are the cards I’ve been dealt. We’ve all been dealt something. I realized not too long ago that once you stop caring so much, once you stop focusing on it all the time, the rest of the world does too.” She continues, “So much freedom comes from acceptance and letting it go.”

Women open up about hair loss: 'It's not spoken about'

Lauren Engle was just 28 when she noticed her hair falling out. As her strands got thinner, her part line widened and her ponytail shrunk to the thickness of a pencil. When she saw more scalp showing, she knew she had a problem. Engle, who lives in Dallas, Texas, is far from alone. Millions of women in the U.S. suffer from hair loss, caused by genes, age or alopecia areata. In Engle’s case, the culprit was unexplained female pattern baldness.

“There’s tons of us out there, but it’s not spoken about,” Engle, 35, who writes about her experience in the Corner of Hope & Mane blog, told TODAY. “It’s really sad for women. Their hair is oftentimes their crowning glory. That’s what we do to make ourselves look different, feel beautiful … Everything in the media is always women with long, flowing hair and we don’t have that, so there’s a lot of shame.”

August is National Hair Loss Awareness Month — an effort to bring attention to a condition that can cause "dramatic and devastating" emotions in patients, dealing a blow to their self-esteem, body image and self-confidence, the American Academy of Dermatology notes. A thinning mane can be challenging for anyone since hair is associated with identity, sexuality, age and mortality, but it’s definitely harder for women, said Dr. Marc Glashofer, a hair loss expert with The Dermatology Group in West Orange, New Jersey. “For a man to have a bald head or even a shaved head, it’s so common. For women, there’s still a lot of social stigma to it and it’s tougher to accomplish that confidently,” Glashofer said.

When it comes to hair loss, a big culprit is alopecia areata, an auto-immune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its own cells instead of bacteria and viruses. In the case of alopecia areata, it targets hair follicles, Glashofer said. Almost 7 million people in the U.S. have or will develop the condition, according to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. Both genders can get it, though it’s a bit more common in women, Glashofer noted. The trigger is a mystery. Margaret Staib, 49, still remembers the questions swirling in her head when she was diagnosed. “Why me? What did I eat? Will it grow back? Will my husband still love me and find me attractive?” the Long Island, New York, businesswoman recalls thinking. "Our disease does not 'hurt' physically; it's an emotional and mental disease once you get it."

Treatment: Right now, there’s no treatment for alopecia areata that’s sustainable or consistently works for everyone, Glashofer said. That might change in the next couple of years as researchers develop new pills and creams based on a class of compounds called JAK inhibitors that might be the first official medications specifically for alopecia areata. “It’s very exciting that that’s on the horizon,” he said. “We feel like we’re on the precipice of some real success.” These drugs were originally used for rheumatoid arthritis and, by coincidence, it was discovered that some patients who took it for that condition and who also had alopecia aerata grew their hair back. Clinical trials are underway to see how safe and effective this option is, the National Alopecia Areata Foundation says. For now, therapies include cortisone injections directly into the bald patches; topical cortisone; Minoxidil — known to many people under the brand name Rogaine; and anthralin cream. A less-widely available option is topical immunotherapy: certain chemicals applied to the scalp can trigger an allergic rash, which alters the immune response, NAAF notes.

About half of women over the age of 50 start to have some thinning of the hair to the point where the scalp begins to show through, Glashofer said. This is also called androgenetic alopecia or female pattern baldness. “It’s not discussed frequently because it’s a sensitive subject, so everybody thinks they’re in their own personal vacuum, their own agony, that they’re the only ones dealing with it,” he noted. “The reality of it is that a large number of women are dealing with this issue after a certain age.” It’s all about hormones: As women start to reach perimenopause and menopause, the balance of estrogen and testosterone starts to change. Extra testosterone around the hair follicle can lead to decreased thickness of the hair and increased shedding, Glashofer noted. A British journalist recently described how upsetting she found it to lose a third of her hair with age.

Treatment: Minoxidil. This over-the counter topical treatment can help maintain some of the hair you have and decrease the amount of shedding, Glashofer said. There’s inconclusive data about whether Propecia, a drug used to treat male pattern hair loss, can help women, he added. Female patients can try it, but it’s not a first-line therapy. A more recent option is PRP, or platelet-rich plasma. Doctors draw a small amount of blood and separate the platelets from other blood cells. “It’s been shown that the platelets, when injected back into the areas of thinning hair, can help maintain the amount of hair you have, so it can slow down the hair loss,” Glashofer noted.

Thinning hair can run in families. When women in their 20s and 30s see their hair thinning, genes could be to blame. Chances are their mothers and grandmothers experienced a similar problem. Kayla Itsines, a 26-year-old Australian fitness star, recently revealed she has genetically thin hair and wears a clip-in pony tail to add length and volume. Engle wears a topper — “faux hair” extensions that clip to the top of her head — which helps her take back control of the situation, she said. Treatment: Minoxidil may also help with hereditary-pattern baldness. Many women choose to wear clip-in hair. If you are a woman experiencing hair loss for any reason, don’t suffer in silence and don’t become a hermit, Glashofer advised. Talking to a therapist can help. “Life can be challenging in general, but especially when you’re dealing with a chronic condition that’s evident to the whole public,” he said. “Try to gain perspective and then try to share that perspective with other women.”

Meet The Inspiring Woman Embracing Her Alopecia, Even On Her Wedding Day

Kylie Bamberger looks every bit the blushing bride in her wedding photos. She’s wearing a white ball gown, clutching a bouquet of sunflowers and gerbera daisies, flanked by beaming bridesmaids. But there’s one major thing that sets her apart from typical brides: Bamberger is totally bald. Bamberger, 27, has alopecia universalis, an autoimmune disease that attacks hair follicles and causes total hair loss all over the body, including the head, eyelashes, eyebrows, and all body hair. She hasn’t worn a wig or covered up her head for more than five years.

“Being blonde is not who I am,” she says. “I don’t identify with my hair color." When you consider that a bad haircut is enough to send many women into a downward spiral, the fact that Bamberger rocks no hair at all is inspiring. Still, her path to self-acceptance and the unshakeable confidence she boasts today had its ups and downs. Bamberger, who lives in Los Angeles, first noticed a quarter-size bald spots at age 12. Doctors diagnosed her with alopecia areata, which causes hair to fall out in round patches. Three years later, with no warning, her hair began falling out in clumps while showering. “It felt like when you run your hand through a box of yarn,” she says. “I just remember going, ‘This is not normal.’” That was a Monday; by Thursday morning, she no longer had enough hair to pull into a ponytail. The teenager tried cutting her hair short and wearing hats, but eventually shaved her head and started wearing wigs. In college, she would work in the morning wearing a blonde wig, and change into a red wig before class.

Though wearing wigs made her look more conventionally “normal,” Bamberger hated them. “Just walking across campus, it would be so hot that I would take my hair off and dry it under the blow dryers in the women’s bathroom, because I would sweat underneath it," she says. "That was my lifestyle.” One day, she forgot to put her wig back on before class. “I just walked in…I was like, ‘Well, this is me!’” she says. That day, she finally dropped what she calls her phase of being two different people: a blonde and a redhead. The transition from bewigged to bald at times dampened Bamberger's spirits, and often left her frustrated. She felt self-conscious about her appearance, especially when people would stare and ask uncomfortable questions.

To her horror, sometimes she was mistaken for a man in the women's restroom, and on more than one occasion, she was called a skinhead. The turning point in Bamberger's evolution came during collegiate soccer season. Her teammates were out to win games, not to gossip about someone’s hair (or lack thereof). On the field, she developed mental toughness, and discovered her personal power pose: "resting bitch face," as she calls it. Her icy stare intimidated players on opposing teams—and in everyday life, silenced rude whispers about her baldness. “If people were staring, I would stare back," she says. "If you’re going to go out bald, you have to have the confidence to own it. You’re not offending anyone.” Today, Bamberger—who works full time for her family's British food imports business—spreads awareness about alopecia through modeling and motivational speeches. She also promotes self-acceptance and self-love on social media.

In March, she participated in #WhatIModel, a joint social media campaign from Health and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit celebrating body diversity and positivity. Her video was among the most popular of the entire campaign, amassing more than 80,000 views. “I model acceptance. I model the ability to show your inner beauty, and that you don’t necessarily need all of this to have all of that,” she says in the video. “When I lost my hair, I was so focused on what I had lost, that I hadn’t necessarily realized what I had gained. I had gained the ability to finally love myself…. No one should ever be alienated because of the way that they look.” The stares and uncomfortable questions still happen, but Bamberger says she also receives compliments and, sometimes, even hugs. She’s come to appreciate the attention she gets while walking her bald. “As much as random hugs in the grocery store might not seem appealing, there’s something about the power of a hug, where even if it might not benefit me, that person who had to give me a hug really feels good about it," she says. "If I can be—as my husband calls me—the tortilla chip to their guacamole, if I can be the carrier for that good feeling, then let’s promote good feelings."

Ultimately, she hopes being bald can become as accepted as trends like unicorn hair are now. First, though, must come more acceptance, which she hopes she can have a hand in fostering. “Hair loss doesn’t make you unhealthy, and it doesn’t make you ugly,” she says. “Those are two massive, massive misconceptions. I am not sick. I’m only stronger. If you’re out there, bald, it just means you’re becoming stronger. If you’re out there embracing your bald, you’re stronger. Period.”

8 Amazing Tips to Prevent Hair Loss in Women

For many women, there are few things more alarming than a noticeably sparser hairline or lackluster locks that seem to have lost their volume. While it’s normal to lose anywhere from 50 to 100 strands of hair a day, more than that can indicate an issue. The culprit is usually harmless and can be caused by anything from genetics to how you are styling your hair. Luckily, thinning hair is usually more of a cosmetic concern rather than a healthy one.

Because this is an issue that increasingly affects women as they get older, there are also a variety of products and tips that can help combat hair loss in women. If you’ve noticed your hair seems to be on the thinner side lately, try using some of the tips below to remedy the problem. If you don’t start seeing results within a few months, a simple blood test by your doctor can determine if the hair loss is caused by an underlying health condition.

1. Avoid hairstyles that pull on the hairline 
Tight ponytails, cornrows, braids, and anything else that pulls on the small hairs that make up your hairline can cause hair loss. The stress caused by these tight hairstyles pulls too strongly on the delicate hairs of your hairline and hair loss/thinning can occur. If you do need to put your hair up in a ponytail, use an elastic that doesn’t have metal like the Goody’s Ouchless line of hair products. It helps ensure your hair won’t get tangled in the elastic and pull out your hair when removing your ponytail.

2. Ditch hair tools that use high heat
Heat is always hard on hair. It causes bonds within the hair strands to fracture, causing brittle hair that breaks and falls out. If you decide to use a hair straightener or curling iron, make sure not to leave it on one area of your hair for too long and move it every ten seconds or so. Also keep in mind that if you hear sizzling or burn your fingers, the heat setting is too high and you are also burning your hair. Try to let your hair dry naturally as often as possible and when you do use styling tools, make sure to use a heat-protecting spray that will lessen the damage the tools are inflicting on your hair.

3. Be wary of chemical processing 
Just as heat is very harmful to the hair, so are a variety of chemical processing treatments offered by salons. Chemically straightening your hair, bleaching, and lightening your hair can all cause damage to the hair shaft, weakening the hair and causing hair loss. Always try to stick to your natural style and color as closely as possible if you are experiencing hair loss or thinning or the problem will just get worse. If you regularly use chemical processing, make sure you treat your hair to a deep-conditioning treatment at least once a week for optimal results.

4. Peruse your pantry 
Foods high in vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 can all help revitalize thinning strands. Make sure your diet includes plenty of leafy greens, nuts, beans, fish, and lean meats. If you’re having a hard time getting enough nutrients in your daily diet, a good dietary supplement can help cover whatever your diet is lacking.

5. Use hair products targeted to restore hair growth 
Because thinning hair and hair loss is a huge cosmetic concern for women, many companies are now creating products specifically aimed at restoring hair growth. This list of hair loss shampoos offers a variety of products that contain numerous oils and minerals that may aid in hair growth, destroy bacteria that can cause hair breakage and loss, increase blood circulation to the scalp, and more.

6. Consider a topical medication
Minoxidil, the active ingredient in Rogaine, is an over-the-counter medication that can be applied to the hair in liquid or mousse form. The medication works by stimulating the hair follicles and promoting regrowth in as little as six months. If six months seems a little long for results, you can also use a hair-thickening spray in the meantime that coats the existing hair and gives the appearance of a more voluminous mane.

7. Don’t skip the scalp massage 
An easy way to incorporate a scalp massage into your hair care regimen is to perform it while in the shower, after applying shampoo or conditioner. Scalp massages have been found to improve circulation to the scalp, stimulating hair growth. By moving your fingertips in a slow, circular movement around the whole head, you’ll reduce stress and promote hair regrowth at the same time.

8. Consider essential oils 
Essential oils have long been touted for their natural benefits and they might just be the ticket to help your hair. Oils such as carrot seed, cypress, lavender, and rosemary - just to name a few - all have regenerative, soothing, and balancing properties that can improve the condition of the scalp and promote hair growth. Because essential oils are increasingly popular as a healthier alternative, these are easy to find online or in health stores. A few drops added to your scalp during your scalp massage is a great way to enhance your massage’s effectiveness and take advantage of all the benefits the oils have to offer.

Female Pattern Baldness, Thinning Hair & Alopecia

Our client Sharon shares her honest story of her struggle with Alopecia and female pattern baldness. Watch as Ricky transforms her hair into a beautiful full head of hair.  Ricky uses a customized cap to give Sharon the confidence in her personal and professional career.  With the hair system in place, she can scuba dive, swim and travel all over the world with no worries about her hair.

HAIR LOSS HEARTBREAK: Women and men struggle with emotional toll of alopecia areata

Kyleen Joan Oswskey was 14 and living in Foxboro when she first noticed bald spots behind her ears.

Now 21 and living in Pine City, Minn., “I don’t have much hair left,” Oswskey said.

She has been dating for about a year, she said, but her boyfriend has yet to see her without her wig.

“I don’t even like to look at myself with no hair,” Oswskey said. “It’s really heartbreaking to a girl not to have hair.”

Oswskey has alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease in which the individual’s white blood cells attack his or her hair follicles.

“Your autoimmune system is designed to flush out anything harmful to your body,” said Gary Sherwood, spokesman for the California-based National Alopecia Areata Foundation. “Sometimes, it works too well.”

It’s often referred to simply as alopecia, Sherwood said. Technically, though, alopecia means any hair loss. It can include male pattern baldness.

‘ALL MY HAIR CAME OUT’

Though more specific, alopecia areata affects more people than you might think: about 2.1 percent of the population, Sherwood said. About 6.6 million Americans have, have had or will have the disease, he said.

Among them is Cheryl Johnson, 55, a barber’s daughter who lives in western Duluth.

Johnson first developed what she calls pinpoint bald spots when she was a child. They weren’t really noticeable, she said.

That changed when she was in her early 30s.

“In 1993, I think it was, all my hair came out,” she said. “It was probably over the course of seven months. I would sit on the couch and run my fingers through my hair, and by the end of the night I’d have a pile of hair next to me.”

EARLY COMB-OVER

It doesn’t affect only females. Tyrone Folliard-Olson, a lawyer who lives in Northeast Minneapolis, said his barber first noticed he had a quarter-sized bald spot when he was 13.

It was bigger the next time.

“We decided to go to the doctor and have it checked out,” Folliard-Olson related.

The doctor suspected alopecia areata, and a dermatologist confirmed it.

As an adolescent, Folliard-Olson could compensate for the condition. He jokes that he has had a comb-over since he was 13. But that came to an end when he was in his early 20s.

“My first year of law school, in my early 20s, my hair started falling out a lot more,” said Folliard-Olson, who volunteers as a legislative liaison for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. “I got so many bald spots I wasn’t able to cover them with the hair I had. I had my head shaved for the first time ever. It was about the most freeing thing that I’ve gone through in my entire life.”

ADOLESCENT ANGST

It seems to affect males and females about equally, Sherwood said, and can show up at virtually any age — even in toddlers. The youngest children tend not to be bothered by it, he said, and their friends get used to it, too.

“Where it really starts to become a problem is, let’s say you’re in junior high or high school … (and) on top of all the pressure, now your hair falls out,” he said.

At that age, Sherwood said, it can be as hard for boys to deal with as girls.

Dr. Lynne Goldberg, a dermatologist who is a professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, often sees patients with the disease.

“Some of these visits, when it’s first happening, are some of the most difficult patient visits,” said Goldberg, who also directs the Hair Clinic at Boston Medical Center. “It’s distressing for the patients. They look in a mirror, and they don’t recognize themselves. It often requires counseling.”

Although having alopecia areata doesn’t threaten one’s physical health, it can be harmful in other ways, Folliard-Olson said.

“Yes, it is a physical condition, but that’s not the difficult part,” he said. “It really is the psychological and the emotional toll it takes on people.”

STRESS AND HAIR LOSS

Oswskey said it was distressing in her teenage years. Other girls at Superior High School picked on her, she said.

She was threatened via text messaging, phone calls and Facebook, Oswskey said, and she thinks the stress accelerated her hair loss. Her mother pulled her out of school during her sophomore year, she said.

Goldberg said she thinks stress can be a trigger for hair loss. “There are definitely precipitating events: emotional events, physical events, hospitalizations, too,” she said.

The cause is unknown, but there appears to be a genetic component, Goldberg said.

Esther Peterson, 80, of Cloquet said she believes her sudden hair loss resulted from a new medication she started using about five months ago.

“I was kind of losing my hair a little bit over the years,” Peterson said.

But less than a month after she started taking the medication, she said, her hair loss was noticeable to her hairdresser.

“It went on and on and on,” Peterson said. “Now there are just a few strands on top and some fuzzy stuff on the side.”

‘MULTIPLE DIFFERENT TREATMENTS’

There are no FDA-approved drugs for alopecia areata, Goldberg said, but there are treatments. What’s used depends largely on the extent of the hair loss and the age of the patient, she said. Steroids often are the treatment of choice — typically topical agents applied to the scalp for children and injections for adults.

“All of us who have had alopecia for any number of years have tried multiple different treatments,” Folliard-Olson said.

He adapted to the shaved-head look, Folliard-Olson said, but didn’t like it when his eyebrows and eyelashes started falling out. To fight that, he submits to monthly steroid injections in his eyebrows by a dermatologist, to some effect.

“I would say I have patchy eyebrows at best,” he said.

Oswskey said she tried a steroid cream when she was younger, but it didn’t work for her.

WIGS, SCARVES, HATS

For many female patients, coping with alopecia areata includes shopping for a wig.

That can be a time-consuming process, Goldberg said, so it’s a good idea to start early.

“I’ll try to counsel them on looking for wigs before they can’t leave the house,” she said.

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation has a fund with which to help people who can’t afford wigs, Sherwood said. But not everyone wants to choose that route.

“A lot of people will go with wigs,” he said. “Some people will go with scarves. Some, hats. Some will go au naturel.”

Peterson said she already had a wig, but will wear a cap at home. Johnson has a wig but often chooses to wear a scarf, she said.

Oswskey, who works as a personal care assistant and is studying to be a veterinary technician,  said it’s hard for her to go out in public with her wig on. So she plans to get a nonsurgical hair replacement from Hair Club. But it costs $2,000 to join plus a $300 monthly fee, she said, and isn’t covered by insurance, so she’s saving her money.

That works for some people, Goldberg said.

“I’ve had patients who are happy with the Hair Club,” she said. “I’ve had patients who are very dissatisfied. … It can be helpful and a good service, but it’s very expensive.”

LESSON IN EMPATHY

Although as a legislative liaison Folliard-Olson advocates for spending research dollars on alopecia areata, he said he actually has become grateful that he has the disease.

“Alopecia areata has taught me at a young age to have a great sense of empathy for people who are going through difficult times in their lives,” he said.

Johnson also appears to be reconciled to the condition.

She recalled that she lived in Germany when her hair first was falling out, and she remembered another woman at church offering to pray for her.

She explained to the other woman that she had alopecia, not cancer, but she would appreciate prayer anyway.

Several years later, Johnson said, she was living in Washington state when a neighbor approached her about a friend who had alopecia, asking if Johnson would talk to her friend.

They met at a church, and Johnson saw that it was the woman who had offered to pray for her in Germany.

“Her husband, her son were all like: Mom, it’s fine; your hair isn’t who you are. We love you,” Johnson recalled. “I told her: God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle. The hard part is when you’re not willing to embrace it. Just embrace it and trust God.”

Oswskey said it’s a hard thing to live with because people are so judgmental. But she works to cope with it.

“I just try to live my life and think positive,” she said. “If someone has it (alopecia), they shouldn’t be ashamed because a lot of people do have it (and other people) wouldn’t know it.”

SIDEBAR: Female hair loss not uncommon

Female hair loss is a “fairly common complaint,” a Duluth physician said.

“Half of women claim some hair loss, usually after 50 to 60,” said Dr. Addie Licari, a family doctor at St. Luke’s P.S. Rudie Medical Clinic. “It’s not as visible as male pattern hair loss. It’s more the thinning of the hair.”

When hair loss occurs in younger women, it’s more likely to have specific causes, Licari said. Those can include physical or mental stress, having surgery or vitamin deficiencies.

Sometimes, women can be their own worst enemies.

“Washing hair multiple times through the day, styling, pulling on hair for a different hairstyle,” Licari explained. “We see a lot of patients who have concurrent anxiety disorders.”

A specific condition, she said, is trichotillomania, a neurotic pulling out of one’s hair. Certain areas are more commonly targeted, Licari said, such as the back of the neck and the eyebrows.

In many cases, the best prescription for hair loss in younger women is patience, Licari said.

It takes two to eight months after a hair follicle falls out to grow back to full strength, she said.

“If there’s no external cause, it’s really just time,” she said. “Making sure you’re eating and drinking well. Getting plenty of sleep. Reducing stress.”

She also suggests washing one’s hair every other day or even every third day instead of every day, and using fewer styling products.

That can be a hard sell, but it allows your hair to rest and develop its own more natural lubrication, Licari said.

And the numbers, she said, are on her side.

 “We lose about 50 to 100 hairs a day,” Licari said. “If you wash your hair, 250.”

Licari said we have approximately 90,000 to 150,000 hairs on our head.

What Causes Women's Hair Loss? 10 Things That Might Be To Blame

1. Hormonal Changes

2. Birth Control Pills

3. Childbirth

4. Thyroid Conditions

5. Certain Kinds Of Hairstyling

6. Extreme Stress

7. Vitamin Deficiencies

8. Certain Medications

9. Auto Immune Disorders

10. Genetics

Tips for Buying a Wig

Ever wonder about what to look for when purchasing a wig? Rachel talks about her experience and offers tips for people searching for the perfect wig.

9 Sneaky Hair Loss Culprits

9 Sneaky Hair Loss Culprits
By Rachel Bender

If you’re noticing more hair circling your shower drain than you’re comfortable with, you may be shedding more than the typical 50 to 100 strands per day. Certain surprising factors, from not wearing a sunhat to losing more than 15 pounds, can trigger hair to fall out faster.

You’re on a crash DIET

Your body needs HEALTHY FOODS to thrive. When you don’t get your necessary nutrients — particularly, iron, zinc, and biotin, which play important roles in hair growth, as well as protein — alarm bells go off.

“Nutrients that allow the hair to grow are sensed by stem cells [in the hair follicle],” Anthony Oro, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology at Stanford School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Health. “These stem cells are surrounded by little fat cells that monitor the energy and metabolism of your body. If the nutrients are not there, they shut down [hair] production.”

Eating a healthy, BALANCED diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, can get things back up and running again. It’s also a good idea to make sure you’re getting enough of the nutrients your hair needs, such as iron, as well as ruling out iron-deficiency anemia. Your dermatologist or primary care physician can check your iron levels. If they’re low, your DOCTOR can recommend iron-rich foods, such as lentils, pumpkin seeds, and spinach, and in some cases, an iron supplement.

You don’t WEAR sunhats

The sun’s UV rays don’t just accelerate skin aging and put you at higher risk for SKIN CANCER. They also damage the structure of hair follicles, making hair more fragile and likely to break off and fall out. Protect your locks by wearing a solid, wide-brimmed hat every time you step outside (even on cloudy days) or spritz on a hair sunscreen that blocks UVA and UVB rays.

It’s in your genes

The most common cause of hair loss is hereditary thinning or baldness, affecting about 80 million Americans, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). For women, the first sign is often a part that’s getting noticeably wider, which is caused by the hair thinning. Your DERMATOLOGIST can do a thorough exam and, if female pattern baldness is diagnosed, recommend medication such as topical minoxidil to stop hair loss from progressing.

You’re under a LOT of stress or recently experienced a traumatic event

Emotional and physical trauma such as going through a divorce, losing a loved one, or being in a car accident can speed up the hair’s growth cycle and increase the shedding phase, causing HAIR TO fall out faster. But this doesn’t happen right away. “If you have a stressful event now,” says Oro, “the hair follicle environment will sense it, note it, and you’ll see the effects one to three months later.” Once stress levels are back under control, your hair should return to its normal growth cycle.

Your hormone levels are out of whack

Both insufficient and excessive hormone levels, as well as the drop in estrogen that occurs around menopause, can lead to hair loss. Your physician can run a battery of tests to see what’s going on hormonally. By treating the health problem, such as in the case of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, hair loss can usually be halted or reversed, according to the AAD.

Your ponytail is too tight

Braids, cornrows, and ponytails that are too tight yank on your locks, leading to a type of HAIR LOSS that’s called traction alopecia. Try to avoid hairstyles that pull hair too tightly, or at least limit how often you wear them, and look for other styles that are gentler on the hair shaft.

There’s an autoimmune disease at play

In some cases, the immune system mistakenly identifies hair follicles as foreign entities and start attacking them, causing hair loss. The disease, called alopecia areata, tends to happen to people in their 50s and 60s, according to Oro. Those with a family history of autoimmune diseases, such as TYPE 1 DIABETES and rheumatoid arthritis, are also more likely to have it. “If someone is losing their hair and it’s associated with itching or burning, that can be a sign of autoimmune hair loss,” Oro says. “Often just by looking and doing a scalp exam the dermatologist can tell or we can take a little piece of skin, look at it under a microscope, and you can make a diagnosis.”

While there’s no cure for alopecia areata, there are medications that can help, such as anti-inflammatory corticosteroids and topical minoxidil to help promote hair growth.

You’ve lost a lot of weight

If you’ve dropped more than 15 pounds, the dramatic change in weight can be a shock to THE SYSTEM, triggering hair loss. You may notice some hair loss within three to six months after losing the weight, according to the AAD. As long as your body, including your hair, is getting the nutrients it needs, your body will adjust and your hair will eventually regrow.

You’re getting too much vitamin A

If a little is good for you, then more must be better, right? Not when it comes to vitamin A. Overdoing it, such as by taking supplements that exceed recommended amounts, can lead to hair loss, according to the AAD, as well as DIZZINESS, nausea, headaches and orange-tinted skin. For most adults ages 19 to 50, 700 micrograms for women and 900 micrograms for men is the recommended daily amount of vitamin A, and the upper limits of the vitamin for adults 19 and older is 10,000 IUs daily. The good news? Stopping vitamin A supplements reverses the problem.

Hair Loss: Not Just a Man's Issue

By Anna Medaris Miller

When Thea Chassin lived in Los Angeles, she liked to treat herself to great haircuts in Beverly Hills. So when she moved to upstate New York in 1992, her hair style took a hit.​ “I said, ‘Oh my Lord, I’ve gone back in time like 20 years,’” she says. “The 80s color palette in LA had come and gone, and it was just arriving in Albany.”

It wasn’t until Chassin moved with her family to Westchester County outside New York City four years later that she looked in a three-way mirror and realized the real problem was her thinning hair. “I said, ‘This is why I can’t style my hair anymore,’” she ​recalls. “I hadn’t seen what was really going on all the way around.”

Chassin, who’s over 50 years old (she requested to keep her age private), is one of about 6.6 million people in the United States with alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin condition that causes hair loss on the body and head, according to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

However, androgenetic alopecia, or ​female pattern​ hair loss – the woman’s equivalent to male pattern baldness – is much more common than alopecia areata, affecting about one-third of women who are genetically predisposed to it, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.

Such conditions can be especially devastating for women, who have fewer viable treatment options and face more social stigma.

“Male pattern hair loss is something that is much more at the forefront of the societal conscious, but for women, it’s a harder thing to deal with,” says Nicole Rogers​, a dermatologist at Hair Restoration of the South in Metairie, Louisiana. “A lot of times, women don’t feel comfortable talking about it, they don’t feel comfortable asking their doctors about it, they don’t always get a correct diagnosis.”

That’s why Chassin launched​ Bald Girls Do Lunch, a nonprofit that provides women with alopecia areata and other types of hair loss with support and accurate information.

“We want to live our own life and not let [hair loss] keep us from doing things,” Chassin says. “Women stop swimming, women stop playing tennis, women stop going on a bike. Why? Because they haven’t figured out how to do it and be comfortable.”

The Long and Winding Road

Chassin first learned she had alopecia areata in 1978 when a hairdresser ​spotted a bald spot on the back of her head. The condition is characterized by small, round patches of hair loss that come and go unpredictably. At the time, Chassin treated it with cortisone injections – a common short-term treatment for isolated patches – and didn’t think about it again until that moment looking at the three-way mirror. She’s since lost all her head, face and body hair.

For many women with hair loss, however, the path to a diagnosis is more complicated. “I always call it the long and winding road … because there are so many different causes of hair loss in women,” Rogers says. “A lot of times, it’s finding ​a needle in a hay stack.”

In addition to autoimmune conditions like alopecia areata and run-of-the-mill hair loss related to genetics, female hair loss can be triggered by childbirth, extreme stress, fad diets and going on and off hormonal birth control. Sometimes, these and other lifestyle changes prompt more hair follicles than normal to go into a resting state, in which the loss is called telogen effluvium – a temporary and reversible condition.

Other times, hair loss is a sign of a nutritional deficiency or reaction to hair products. It can also be a symptom of rheumatic​ conditions like lupus, androgen disorders like polycystic ovaryian syndrome or endocrine conditions like thyroid disease, ​says Rhoda Cobin,​a clinical professor in the endocrinology division at Mount Sinai Hospital.

But for most women, female pattern hair loss is the culprit, ​though they often cycle through slews of medical providers before realizing it. “The majority of time for women with female pattern thinning, their thyroid is OK, their hormones are OK, their stress is OK – it’s just that it’s in their genes,” Rogers says.

Even in that case, time is of the essence since treatment can help slow the condition's progression. “The sooner they can get ... an accurate diagnosis," Rogers says, "the better they're going to be."

Treatment Options

When women wind up in Rogers’ office, they’re often in tears. “The emotional aspect is a very big deal,” she says. “I can’t tell you how many times I pull out the tissue box when I’m treating female pattern hair loss.”

Many women are so distraught because they believe there’s nothing to do be done. To some extent, that’s true, says ​Spencer Kobren​, founder and president of the American Hair Loss Association and author of “The Truth About Women’s Hair Loss.” "There are a lot of limitations when it comes to treating female pattern hair loss," he says.

Is Hair Loss in Women Normal?

By 

HEIDI MITCHELL

Women are often surprised to find they are losing their hair. At drugstores, they will spend untold amounts of money on products that claim to build back volume or reverse the damage of hair loss. One expert, Paradi Mirmirani, a dermatologist and assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco, explains how hair changes as we age and why we should chow down on protein.

Never Say ‘Bald’

In women, just as in men, the most common type of hair loss, or alopecia, is hereditary thinning. It is popularly believed to be inherited from one’s mother’s side, but actually could come from both parents, says Dr. Mirmirani, who specializes in hair disorders. It is as likely to affect women as men. “Fifty percent of everyone will develop some degree of hereditary hair loss by 50, but it can start as early as age 20 or even the teens,” she says.

In women, the pattern of hereditary thinning is different than in men; it is referred to as female pattern thinning. “Women don’t go bald or have a receding hair line,” she explains. “Instead you might notice some thinning on top of the head as opposed to at the back, or that your scalp is more visible or your pony tail isn’t as thick.”

Everyone experiences a normal five-to-seven-year cycle of growth and shedding of hair. At any given time, 10% of the hair is in the resting phase and not growing; the follicle, or hair root, will push out the old strand with a new, short strand.

Around 100 to 200 strands of hair loss a day is normal. “That is the amount that you should be able to replace daily, and that shedding is fine,” says Dr. Mirmirani.

Stress, such as a death in the family or having a baby, might trigger a normal “shedding episode,” especially for those predisposed to alopecia, according to Dr. Mirmirani.

“But those follicles aren’t dead,” she says. “The hair will recover, but it may take six to nine months.”

Blame Hormones

Hormonal changes can cause hair loss. In puberty, male hormones, called androgens, kick in for both men and women.

If a woman is genetically predisposed to female pattern thinning, that increase in androgens may encourage the follicles to shrink as early as during her teenage years.

In and around menopause, women’s estrogen goes down, which is the time most women with hair loss start to notice thinning.

Thinning is related to follicle size. “Think of your hair as a plant: That smaller root would cause a smaller plant to grow, so over time you get finer, thinner hair that won’t grow as long,” Dr. Mirmirani says.

Because a woman has gone through as many as eight hair cycles by the time she’s 40, Dr. Mirmirani says, her hair is going to be very different than when she was in her teens—just as her eyes and skin will be different. Still, hair loss is often traumatic.

“Women usually come to me with what I call a ‘midlife hair crisis,’ ” Dr. Mirmirani says. “It may seem dramatic to you when your long, dark hair is all over the bathroom floor. But for the vast majority of women, hair thinning is slow and gradual.” Later in life, around age 60 or 70, aging can typically cause further thinning.

Hair, like nails, is made up of protein, so eating adequate amounts of protein will help keep hair in peak condition.

“I have some vegetarians and vegans who have trouble with hair growth,” says Dr. Mirmirani.

In Treatment

There are over-the-counter treatments for hereditary thinning, such as minoxidil.

“Before you try any product, talk to your doctor to make sure nothing else—medications, recent surgery—is contributing to shedding or loss,” says Dr. Mirmirani. For extreme cases, there are cosmetic and surgical solutions, like transplants.

There is not a lot of data about the effects of supplements, she says, despite pharmacy shelves crowded with products making claims of hair growth. “We know biotin deficiency, which is a very rare genetic disorder, will cause brittle hair. The question is, will biotin supplements help reverse that? Science just doesn’t know yet,” she says.

Substance from honeybee hives may help with hair loss

Could honeybees help with human hair loss?acs.org

A substance from honeybee hives might contain clues for developing a potential new therapy for human baldness: a material called propolis that encouraged hair growth in mice.

Propolis is a resinlike material that honeybees use to seal small gaps in their hives. It works as a physical barrier – but also contains active compounds that fight fungal and bacterial invasions. People from ancient times had noticed propolis’ special properties and used it to treat tumors, inflammation and wounds. Research has also shown that the substance promotes the growth of certain cells involved in hair growth, though no one had yet tested whether that in turn would result in new locks.

When researcher Ken Kobayashi and colleagues tested propolis on mice that had been shaved or waxed, the mice that received the treatment regrew their fur faster than those that didn’t. The scientists also noticed that after the topical application, the number of special cells involved in the process of growing hair increased. Although they tried the material on mice that could grow fur, rather than balding mice, the researchers note that hair loss conditions often result from abnormal inflammation. Propolis contains anti-inflammatory compounds, so they expect it could help treat balding conditions.

They add that further testing is needed to see whether the beehive material affects human hair follicles. The study appears in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry .

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/01/11/4456979/substance-from-honeybee-hives.html#storylink=cpy