Dr. Christine Shaver, head of Bernstein Medical’s Manhattan office, has seen complex and varied causes of female hair loss over her career as a dermatologic surgeon. She recently spoke to SheFinds.com about whether women can use minoxidil, a hair loss treatment that is more often recommended for men with genetic thinning.
While men and women both experience hair loss, the diagnosis and treatment can look quite different for each gender. Female hair loss is more likely due to other than purely genetic causes. For example, hair loss in women can often arise from changes in diet, hormones or medications.
If hair loss is genetic, the only proven topical treatment is minoxidil. Serums that contain this compound may be useful, those without it are unlikely to work. And, of course, one can buy minoxidil in the pharmacy without a prescription.
“For women, I often recommend using 2-3 droppers (2-3 milliliters) of [minoxidil] to fully coat the entire area of concern. It needs to contact the scalp for 4-6 hours to be effective,” Dr. Shaver said.
Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), Scalp Micro-Pigmentation and Platelet Rich Plasma are other useful treatments for hair loss in women.
