Alopecia World
Female Pattern Baldness
Join today to meet, support and share information with others who are living with female pattern baldness.
What do you consider female pattern baldness?
What do you consider your female pattern baldness? Is it a disease? A condition? A genetic abnormality? A cosmetic inconvenience? A simple fact of life?
I am struggling to decide how I view it. On one hand, for those of us with androgenic alopecia, I am not sure our hair loss can qualify as a disease. We have female pattern balding, and as much as it sucks, is it an illness? I would never consider a balding man to be sick. So is a balding woman ill?
And in thinking about it further, since our hair loss is essentially a genetic condition, is it even accurate to view it as a situation to be modified or corrected? Or is it just a part of who we are… a way of being to be reconciled along with all of our other genetically-based traits?
I believe that most genetic traits - like eye color, body shape, skin color, height, etc. are not “conditions” or “diseases” to be corrected. They are what makes us each unique, and beyond that they are completely outside of our control. I thought I believed that genetic traits should not be rejected or lamented. But then again, hair loss is a genetic condition, and I most definitely lament mine. And of course there are genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia that are considered diseases, and rightfully mourned and controlled. So where does female androgenic alopecia fit in?
I don’t know if this is “politically correct” to admit, but sometimes I find myself having feelings of jealousy for those of you with other types of alopecia, because your hair loss is so clearly a biological, medical condition. You can look to your autoimmune system as the culprit. A doctor hands you a diagnosis, your condition shows up in medical journals, your alopecia is so legit. I image somehow that it might be easier to explain and come to terms with my own hair loss if it was overtly a medical condition. Maybe that is an unfair to feel, and maybe I am totally out of line, but somehow I think it might be easier to have autoimmune hair loss over hormonal and genetic hair loss.
I guess I am still feeling like my hair loss is a genetic defect. I feel sad and depressed when I think about what it is and why I have it, as though somehow deep inside myself at the most basic level am defective or abnormal.
So, I welcome your thoughts on the subject. How do you define your hair loss to yourself? Also, how do you explain it to others?
Especially for those of you with androgenic alopecia (female pattern balding), what are others' reactions to your diagnosis?
I am struggling to decide how I view it. On one hand, for those of us with androgenic alopecia, I am not sure our hair loss can qualify as a disease. We have female pattern balding, and as much as it sucks, is it an illness? I would never consider a balding man to be sick. So is a balding woman ill?
And in thinking about it further, since our hair loss is essentially a genetic condition, is it even accurate to view it as a situation to be modified or corrected? Or is it just a part of who we are… a way of being to be reconciled along with all of our other genetically-based traits?
I believe that most genetic traits - like eye color, body shape, skin color, height, etc. are not “conditions” or “diseases” to be corrected. They are what makes us each unique, and beyond that they are completely outside of our control. I thought I believed that genetic traits should not be rejected or lamented. But then again, hair loss is a genetic condition, and I most definitely lament mine. And of course there are genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia that are considered diseases, and rightfully mourned and controlled. So where does female androgenic alopecia fit in?
I don’t know if this is “politically correct” to admit, but sometimes I find myself having feelings of jealousy for those of you with other types of alopecia, because your hair loss is so clearly a biological, medical condition. You can look to your autoimmune system as the culprit. A doctor hands you a diagnosis, your condition shows up in medical journals, your alopecia is so legit. I image somehow that it might be easier to explain and come to terms with my own hair loss if it was overtly a medical condition. Maybe that is an unfair to feel, and maybe I am totally out of line, but somehow I think it might be easier to have autoimmune hair loss over hormonal and genetic hair loss.
I guess I am still feeling like my hair loss is a genetic defect. I feel sad and depressed when I think about what it is and why I have it, as though somehow deep inside myself at the most basic level am defective or abnormal.
So, I welcome your thoughts on the subject. How do you define your hair loss to yourself? Also, how do you explain it to others?
Especially for those of you with androgenic alopecia (female pattern balding), what are others' reactions to your diagnosis?
Lexi
Aug 17, 2010
LA
The hair loss was new and out of nowhere, but other similar issues like acne, for example, I have been treating since I was 12 (I'm 39 now). I have done a lot of reading of research articles and have come to the conclusion that I have some sort of chromosomal defect that causes my body to react incorrectly to normal amounts of male hormone. It's all very technical and without an endocrinologist who is willing to buy into this, I'll never know. A gynecologist thought I was onto something though. Very frustrating, in the sense that, if I knew, maybe something could be done!
So I guess to answer your question, I define it as a chronic medical condition or maybe a birth defect. I can reduce the symptoms by messing around with my hormones and that the hormonal treatments work, confirms for me that something is wrong there and this has helped me to have more acceptance. It's something I was born with and it's real, despite my mother's insistence that it's stress! grumble grumble
I really can't explain it to people. Like Lexi commented, they just don't get it. My scalp hurts and stings and my hair is always everywhere, so I rarely get to forget about it, which seems to be the hardest thing to get people to understand.
For me getting to the bottom of the cause (or as close as I can without being an endocrinologist) has been my way to cope. While it may be a defect, I have some answers and this makes me feel better.
Aug 28, 2010