The Hair Loss Learning Center says hair loss affects 21 million women in the United States alone. Unlike men, women with female pattern baldness can begin losing their hair at any age through 50 or later, may not be genetically predisposed to hair loss and may not fall prey to the recognizable thinning over the top of the scalp. Other causes include trichotillomania, or compulsive hair pulling; alopecia areata, a disorder that causes patchy hair loss ranging from diffuse thinning to extensive balding with “islands” of retained hair; triangular alopecia, or loss of hair in the temporal areas that sometimes begins in childhood; scarring alopecia, or hair loss due to scarring of the scalp area typically involving the top of the head; and telogen effluvium, a common type of hair loss that takes place when a large portion of hair shifts into the “shedding” phase. Female pattern hair loss can begin as early as the late teens to the early 20s in women who have experienced early puberty, says the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery. Hair transplants involve removing tiny plugs of hair from healthily growing areas and placing the hair in balding areas. read more

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