Alopecia: When a Woman Loses Her Hair

It has been said that a woman's hair is her crowning glory. Women invest a lot of time, money, and effort in maintaining a good appearance. This is particularly true when it comes to a woman's hair. All of those weekend trips to the beauty shop to get the latest hair styles, not to mention all of the money spent on hair care products. A woman's hair is a great part in how she feels about her physical appearance. So when a woman loses her hair, in a sense her crowning glory has been stripped from her along with her self confidence and self esteem.

While men may just accept that hair loss runs in their family, losing one's hair is especially different for women. For one thing, it is common and socially accepted for men to be bald. Some men actually prefer to be bald and shave their heads regularly. If a woman walks into a room completely bald she has to endure lots of stares, whispers, and speculations that she is being treated for some type of cancer. A lot of people don't know what alopecia is. For that reason, people tend to make jokes about baldness and see it as a source of humor rather than a serious medical condition.

Although alopecia is not life threatening, it is still considered to be a medical condition. Alopecia is defined as hair loss or baldness. This term is general as there are different forms of alopecia ranging from some baldness and hair thinning to complete baldness. Alopecia areata is thought to be an autoimmune disease in while the body mistakenly treats hair follicles as foreign tissue and suppresses or stops hair growth. This type of alopecia usually causes baldness in spots on the head and is often referred to as spot baldness. In conditions where baldness spreads to the entire scalp, it is called alopecia totalis. There are even some cases when hair loss results on the entire body in a condition known as alopecia universalis.

There are several causes for alopecia and in some cases, doctors are not sure what caused it. Known causes can be heredity, long term use of chemical products such as perm on the hair, excessive braiding and pulling of the hair, and prolonged heat from curling irons and other devices used to straighten hair.

Whatever the cause, no woman wants to lose her hair. There are some treatments available but not all of them work for all women. Like with other disorder, sometimes treatment is just trial and error where you see what works best for you. We've all heard of Rogaine with monoxidil treatment for hair loss. That used to just be a treatment option for men dealing with hair loss but they have a formula for women as well. Unfortunately, not many women report much success. If you're a woman experiencing hair loss they first thing you should do is see a dermatologist. Not only will they try to find the underlying cause of your hair loss, they will work with you to find a treatment. Among the most successful options is surgical hair restoration where hair is surgically implanted. Naturally this isn't cheap so not all women will be able to afford such an option.

What is there to do when there isn't a treatment option that is readily available to you? What can you do to hide your embarrassment of your bald scalp? Well, most women take to wearing wigs all of the time in order to cover their baldness. Although some wigs may look very pretty and natural, they aren't always comfortable. They can be extremely itchy to the head and scalp and you have to be careful how you care for them. Washing certain kinds of wigs can lead to the style being permanently messed up. And there's always the possibilities of a wig mishap like it coming off if you don't have any hair to pin it too. You're always self-conscious about your appearance, especially about comments regarding your hair. For those who know or suspect that you wear wigs, they may make inappropriate comments about your hair although they do not know your reasons for wearing them. And your reasons are none of their business. Locks of Love is a program where people donate their hair to make wigs for people who are bald due to illness or disorders such as alopecia. Some women take to wearing hats and head scarves a lot to try to cover their baldness or take attention off of their wig. There are some women who accept their new look and walk around boldly and proud with their heads held high. These are women to be admired. Why should they be admired? Because they are proof that a woman's hair isn't necessarily her crowning glory. She can be a queen without it.