Baldness can be embarrassing to the men and women who experience it, and forehead hair loss is difficult to conceal. Fortunately, there are several available treatments.
The Facts
Men and women can both experience forehead hair loss. Baldness can be caused by a variety of factors, from hereditary pattern baldness to scalp infections and hormone imbalances. Those experiencing baldness in an especially noticeable area such as the forehead often turn to their doctors for a solution. Depending on the cause of your hair loss, your doctor may prescribe one of a wide range of treatments.
Medical
If your forehead hair loss is caused by pattern baldness, then there are non-surgical treatment options. Medications are available that decrease androgen activity, the hormones responsible for forehead baldness, and are usually a doctor's first choice for treatment. Men and women both can use Rogaine, a topical medication available in both over-the-counter and prescription strengths that tends to work better for women. Men also have the option of using the oral medication Propecia to treat forehead hair loss.
Surgical
If medical treatments do not work, your doctor may suggest surgical options to treat forehead hair loss. In hair transplant surgery, your doctor takes donor hair follicles from the back and sides of the scalp and places them in the scalp at your forehead. A newer surgical treatment is scalp reduction surgery, in which your doctor removes the bald scalp from your forehead and stretches scalp that has hair to cover the area where skin has been removed. This is often combined with hair transplant surgery to create a more natural hairline.
Imbalances
Hair loss, including in the forehead region, can be caused by underlying medical issues such as a hormone or endocrine imbalance. Women and men who are experiencing hypothyroidism may lose hair at the front of their scalp, and women with polycystic ovarian syndrome experience an increase in androgens, the same hormone involved with pattern baldness. In these cases, seeking treatment from your doctor for these underlying imbalances will help clear up hair loss.
Other
Forehead hair loss that is caused by a too-tight hairstyle, such as cornrows or ponytails, can be treated by simply changing how you style your hair.
Baldness can also be brought on by a fungal infection of the scalp, and treating the infection will treat the baldness as well.
Occasionally, forehead hair loss can be caused by psychological triggers, including high stress or trichotillomania, an impulse-control disorder that can lead a person to pull hairs out by the root. Counseling is necessary in this case but if successful usually reverses hair loss.
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