Becoming a Bald Woman | Navigating Female Hair Loss
If you’re a women and you're losing you hair, you might be wondering, do women go bald? Becoming a bald woman is not something I thought was in my future but boy was I wrong.
You might be surprised to learn that female hair loss is almost as common as male pattern hair loss. In this blog post, I wanted to take a moment to share my a bit about journey in the hopes that it might help another woman.
Although, there are many reasons female hair loss, one thing remains, becoming a bald women isn't easy, especially, if you are young.
Table of Contents
Female Hair Loss Statistics
Female hair loss may not seem common but it is. I found it comforting to learn that I definitely wasn't alone. Here are some of the statistics that I found interesting:
- Female hair loss impacts 21 million women
- 40 percent of women will have visible hair loss by the time they are age 40, according to the American Academy of Dermatology
- 60 percent of women with hair loss will wear a wig
- 25 percent have thinned or lost hair
- 95 percent of female hair loss is androgenetic, also known female pattern baldness
- During menopause, 4 out of 10 women hair will thin
- Over 50 percent of women over age 65 have reported thinning hair
- In a 2012 study by the National Institutes of Health, 29 percent of women suffering from hair loss reported two or more symptoms of depression
- 21 million American women currently suffer from some form of alopecia
- 12 percent of women with hair loss pursue restoration treatment, as compared with 20 percent of male alopecia sufferers
- 80 percent of women experience noticeable hair loss by the age of 60
- 40 percent of all alopecia patients are female
These numbers suggest that female hair loss is a widespread issue but it is rarely discussed or seen because we are all wearing hair and we don't want to talk about it!
Types of Female Hair Loss or Alopecia
Alopecia doesn't need much introduction because about 2% of the worlds populations will experience it at some point in their lifetime. Nearly 6.7 million people in the U.S. and 160 million worldwide have alopecia or have had, or will have it. About 700,000 people in the U.S. currently have some form of alopecia.
Alopecia is a medical term that refers to hair loss in the form of a patch or spot, caused by an autoimmune condition that attacks hair follicles.
There are different types of alopecia, each with its own unique challenges. Androgenetic alopecia is the most common type of alopecia, also known as male or female pattern baldness. It occurs when hair follicles shrink over time, leading to thinning hair or baldness. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair to fall out in small, round patches. In some cases, it can progress to total scalp hair loss, known as alopecia totalis, or even loss of all body hair, including eyelashes and eyebrows, known as alopecia universalis. Telogen effluvium is a type of hair loss that occurs when a large number of hair follicles enter the resting phase of the hair growth cycle simultaneously, causing hair to shed extremely fast. Finally, traction alopecia is caused by repetitive pulling or tension on the hair, often due to tight hairstyles or hair extensions, and can lead to permanent hair loss if not treated early. Scarring alopecia is a rare type of permanent alopecia that destroys hair follicles and replaces them with scar tissue, preventing hair growth.
It’s important to note, that alopecia is really just a fancy word for hair loss and there are many other reasons for hair loss. For example, lupus, cancer/chemotherapy, thyroid, burns, infections and other autoimmune conditions can cause hair loss as well.
My Journey To Becoming A Bald Woman | Pregnancy & Hair Loss
I never thought much about my hair until I lost it. Sure, I enjoyed it, but I wasn't obsessed with it—it was long, straight, and thin, but I had a lot of it (thanks to my Italian heritage). I didn't have to think about my hair that much; it air-dried beautifully, curled wonderfully, was healthy, shinny, and moved with the wind. To think that one day, in a flash, it would all be gone but female hair loss is not something that I was aware of.
My second pregnancy with my son was a dream, until one day it wasn't. Eight months pregnant, I found myself sick with the flu. No big deal, right? Well, I lost 15-20 pounds in less than two weeks; it was extreme and my son's birthrate went below 10%. Dangerous because the last two months of a pregnancy are critical for brain development—I found myself in and out of the hospital every other day to monitor my son's health. It was stressful, to say the least.
During this time, I noticed a small bald spot. Alarmed, I told my husband and doctors. They all said it's probably just extreme malnourishment. Basically, every nutrient was going to the baby and my health was suffering. Because my sons state was so fragile, the Doctors couldn't do offer me anything to help with the hair loss. The only thing I really cared about was having a healthy baby boy, but, every free second that I had was spent googling, female hair loss.
My hair loss was rapid; within 30 days, I lost 80%. My transition to becoming a bald woman felt like a rapid car crash; one second you're crossing the street and the next you're in the hospital. In between doctor visits for my son, I was rushing to see various dermatologists. In a flash, I was diagnosed with alopecia. What's that, I thought? Steroids, both topical injections and oral pills, are the main treatment for rapid hair loss, but my doctor's would not let me take any steroids because I was pregnant and my son's birth weight was so low. I just had to let it happen. It was like a bad dream and I was in complete denial about the whole thing. I recall thinking that I am healthy, happy, and not insanely stressed out. I just got sick so there is no way this is a permanent thing. I increased my prenatal vitamins, biotin and drank 3-4 green juices a day. I didn't want to brush my hair; seeing my hair on the floor was by far the hardest part. I saved it, placing it in plastic ziplock bags. Why? I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do; after all, it was my hair.
The next thing I knew, I cut my hair chin length and bought a "customize" topper from some weird guy in the Mission of San Francisco. A topper is just the top part of the wig. I literally could not handle the word "wig." Visions of the Golden Girls kept popping into my head. I just couldn't believe I was going bald—I mean, I'm young, healthy and Im a woman! I workout regularly, ate healthy, and walked everywhere. How and why is this happening to me? I am mentioning this to you because this is the stage we all go through. The worst part was that my doctors had no clue or solution for me. Basically, the only thing they could tell me was that I have alopecia and mine was rapid/aggressive and that I would probably lose all of it and there is nothing they or I can do about it.
Little did I know that it was only going to get worse. My son was born healthy and full of life, which to this day, I am grateful for! On the other hand, my postpartum hair loss was even more rapid and I felt like my life was falling apart.
After my son's birth, my female hair loss continued and within a few weeks of his birth, I needed a wig. I can't tell you how much I hated shopping for a wig with a newborn by my side. It was the last thing I wanted to do but it had to be done. I was still in denial about my hair loss and figured that anything would work. I quickly learned how complicated wig life is for women and awful it is to shop for a wig. My first experience shopping for a wig was heartbreaking. I breast-feed my son in the car. A man firmly greeted me and told me to sit down, that I could try on only three wigs and that I had thirty minutes to make up my mind. I still can't believe he treated me the way that he did. I wanted human hair, which he had but something didn't seem right. My gut told me to move on. I ended up finding a wig from two guys in the mission (separate from the guy who over-sold me my "customized" topper, which I later learned was not custom). Anyway, I hated my first wig—it was soul-sucking; it almost ruined me. It was two sizes too big and with the wind in San Francisco, I was consistently wearing a hat or holding the wig down. It was itchy—so itchy. I could barely stand wearing it for more than two hours and the "lace front"—how could someone get away with designing such a thing? It was awful—itchy, huge dots that looked like pimples—and the color of the lace was nothing like my skin tone. I recall thinking, this can not be what women are wearing. This cannot be the only option. Omg, why are wigs so awful?
I became obsessed with learning as much as I could about wigs- starting with YouTube videos. I decided to attend an alternative hair industry training program in San Diego, known as Jon Renau's training program and that is where everything changed for me. I met a woman with my condition, Alopecia Universalis, who helped me embrace my alopecia and who encouraged me to open a wig boutique. I operated that business for two years before I grew tired of the limited options that were available to women with hair loss and started a new venture, which ultimately led to the creation of what is now known as Encelia Hair. I created Encelia with no connections, little financial backing, and no one except my clients to guide me along the way. In short, my alopecia turned my world upside down but if I had to do it all over again, I would. Although I have made many mistakes and the journey has been long, two things remain: my mission to make wigs that are so comfortable that the woman wearing them can relax and forget she is wearing one, and my dedication to inspire and empower the alopecia & hair loss communities, especially young girls, by showing them that alopecia doesn't have to be a life-altering terrible thing; instead, maybe it can be your superpower!
xoxo, Allison
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