Tress Talk: Female Hair Loss

Men losing their hair have the option of “firing it before it quits,” i.e., shaving off the remaining strands for a sleek Patrick Stewart look.

Female hereditary hair loss, or androgenic alopecia, differs from the retreating hairline and bare patches that characterize male pattern baldness, and buzzing it off isn’t a solution most women would consider.

A widening part and thinning breaking hair can affect up to 25 per cent of women in their lifetime, many after menopause, with hormone fluctuations the suspected cause.

Women’s Rogaine (with 5% minoxidil), the only clinically proven topical treatment to regrow hair, is now available without a prescription ($57-$70 for a two-month supply). Successful in roughly 85 per cent of women (even effective at regrowing hair lost to chemotherapy), it’s been retooled from alcohol-based drops into a topical once-a-day mousse.

Rogaine lengthens hair’s anagen (growth) phase and stimulates better-quality new hairs that penetrate the scalp more deeply and can be up to 48 per cent thicker than the hairs they’re replacing.

Results are visible in 12 to 16 weeks with a more noticeable change within six months. But for thicker hair, it seems worth the wait.