Remedies For Female Pattern Baldness, Hair Thinning, Post Delivery Hair Fall & Hair Loss

I am one of the victims of Female Pattern Baldness. Yes, I HAVE GONE through a severe phase of female pattern baldness. I know how it feels. I know how depressing it can be. It’s something that takes away your crowning glory. It makes you look older than your age. It makes you look dull & unattractive, and I am being dead serious here.

I am going to share my journey from denial to acceptance and then correction, what I tried, what seemed to work, and what finally worked? I am writing this because, I see a lot of women silently suffering from it. They might be still in denial mode, or might have just accepted the fact that they have to live with it. No you don’t have to live with female pattern baldness. I refuse to live with it and you too don’t have too.

What Is Female Pattern Baldness / Hair Thinning / Hair Loss?

So they say, loosing 50 strands per day is alright. Maybe, but what if you lose them from a single spot every day? like your crown area. If you are someone who experiences hair fall issues 365 days per year, this is not normal. I know you know that.

How does female pattern baldness look like? Women that suffer from this disease tend to loose 50-100 strands per day that too from the same spot. The hair growth rate slows down. The hair follicles shrink which leads to hair thinning and if left untreated, it may lead to baldness. in specific areas.

Does Female Pattern Hair Loss Strike At A Specific Age?

Female pattern hair loss can strike at any age starting from teens to middle age and later. It is not entirely based on your genes, but could there are several other factors too which can induce this issue in females:

Low on Iron, Vitamin D3: I have been tested low on iron depository and dangerously low on Vitamin D3 (>10). Not just hair fall and hair loss, these low levels could lead to several other health problems.

Overactive/Underactive Thoiroid: My TSH was found to be about 12 when I got tested a few months back which should be under 5. So I am relating my hair fall, hair thinning to an underactive thyroid as my TSH level is high. Similarly an overactive thyroid, could induce excessive hair fall.

Diseases & Medical Treatment: Certain chronic diseases such as Typhoid etc. can cause temporary hair fall and hair thinning, though as you get your health back, there are chances to get your hair back. Some medical treatments, can also cause hair thinning inducing female pattern hair loss.

Female Pattern Hair Loss is slowly induced and can speed up if the underlying causes are not corrected. I remember, my hair density has been quite low since childhood, and as I grew up, it became more prominent. Few years back after my delivery, my hair started looking really really thin. And that’s when I realized, it was serious.

Why 95% women lose hair post-delivery?

Breastfeeding women lose hair because they get deficient of Iron, Calcium, Magnesium and other essential minerals. This is a temporary hair loss phase and is reversed automatically as the mineral deficiency is corrected by having a balanced diet.

Post-delivery, my hair loss showed its real colors. I was literally bald from my crown hair. My hair parting was wider than ever. No matter how I tried to style my hair, I was only seeing my scalp. After a year I decided to go to the doctor. The doctor officially declared that I was going through female pattern baldness. I was dumbstruck.

Hair Treatments That Didn’t Work For Me

Google is the first thing we do when we come across any issue. I googled how to stop hair loss, how to prevent hair loss, how to reverse hair thinning and what not. I got some  typical results no matter what I searched:

Oil Massage

Coconut oil, almond oil, sesame oil and every single oil present on the earth. I have used these oils altogether for years but I never got desired results.

Essential Oils :

If you pick the right essential oil, it can really help you address you concern To treat hair loss problem due to yeast infection Tea Tree oil is a great essential oil. Lavender oil too is a nourishing agent and can work on itchy scalp. But I hardly noticed any progress in reversing my Female Pattern Baldness.

Anti Hair Fall /Loss Shampoo, Conditioner & Masks

Using an anti-hair fall/ hair loss shampoo seems like the easiest thing on the earth but these are the least effective solution to your hair loss problem which are deep-rooted. No shampoo ever worked for me. Shampoos are just supposed to clean your hair and scalp. Don’t expect much from it. Similarly an anti-hair fall/loss conditioner is the biggest market myth as a conditioner should never be applied on scalp and is just meant to be used on your hair. It can act as a detangler and hence can prevent breakage due to rough hair. A mask on the other hand might be more effective if it contains really nice nutrition for hair. MamaEarth Hair Mask definitely works well in controlling excessive hair fall, but it failed to get me new hair growth.

Tugain 5% Hair Solution

 The most commonly used solution for male pattern baldness is Minoxidil and it is also used to treat female pattern loss in less concentrated quantity as 1%, 5% etc depending upon the severity of the case. This is an ultra drying solution. I used to hate putting this on my scalp every night as the next day my hair would feel like a straw. This solution helped me. It got me new hair within 2-3 months, but I did not want to continue using such strong medicine in long term, hence I discontinued it after 6 months. Another 6 months and my hair loss problem were knocking back on my head.

Onion Juice

Yuck, right? But I have done this too. But not for long enough to see results. The pungent smell of raw onions is something only strong spirits could live with. I gave up too soon. My fault. Instead I used Ryaal Onion Oil which kind of helped me with hair fall. I ditched this oil too because, I came across an ingredient that was going to give a happy ending to my hair loss story.

What Treatment Worked For My Female Pattern Baldness

You can never reverse Female Pattern Hair Loss 100%, but you can control its severity.

The golden rule to detect if a hair care regimen is working for you is to give it at least 2-3 months. Don’t judge the product/routine before that, Hair has a growth cycle and it takes time for new hair to show up on the surface (scalp). I am following this routine for more than 2 months now and now I can say it is working perfectly for me. I am not taking a medical treatment but I am definitely addressing this autoimmune disease my way. First comes nutrition and then comes on the spot treatment.

Hair massage (with oil or dry fingers) increases blood flow hence stimulates hair growth too. I take coconut oil and add a few leaves of fresh curry leaves. Sweet curry leaves are full of nutrition that directly delivers nutrition to the hair roots and hence it makes a huge difference to my hair loss problem. Within 2 months, I could see new hair growing on my crown area. My partition is not as wide as before. I am yet to gain my desired hair density, but I am sure, continuing the treatment, I will be there soon.

How To Make Curry Leaves Infused Coconut Oil?

1. Pick some fresh curry leaves, maybe 8-10. Wash them and put them aside.
2. Heat 3-4 spoons of coconut oil (I use Patanjali’s) in a pan on medium flame.
3. Add curry leaves to the oil, let the oil soak in the goodness of curry leaves for 3-4 minutes.
4. As the leaves turn brown-black, switch off the heat and let the oil stay in the pan as such for some 5 minutes.
5. Now massage this oil gently.
6. Wash with sulphate free shampoo and condition as you do.

This curry leaves infused coconut oil is definitely helping me big time. This is the oil for fast hair growth and regrowth. do try it if you too are facing similar issues like me. It is such an inexpensive treatment.

Diet To Control Hair Loss

I don’t eat a balanced diet I admit. It’s practically not feasible for me. I am a vegetarian hence my protein & omega 3 fatty acid intake is very low. And these two vital nutrients must be included in your diet anyhow. I don’t eat pulses every day, but yes, I try to include them in my diet 3-4 times per week. I am more of a vegetable person, hence enjoy my meals with cooked vegetables. Very conventional

To supplement the vital minerals, protein, and other nutrients, I eat nuts, almonds, and walnuts mostly. I munch few(8-10) nuts twice a day. I try to eat them on an empty stomach because that’s when they are most beneficial. Balanced diet sorted.

I didn’t even realize and the article became very long. Just wanted you to run through my journey where I tried everything ever mentioned to me but nothing worked. Finally a simple ingredient worked along with some diet addition. Please share this article as this may really help someone in need.

Nisha…