December 16 2005, 10:40 am PT | Posted in: Female Hair Loss
Hi there,
I have read your explanation of hair miniaturization, and have a question. I am a 30 year old female and I am experiencing hair loss. My hair loss seems to be diffused, with areas that are worse which are my hairline, as well as the crown (alot of my scalp can be seen at the crown). I have been obsessively reading about it on the internet and have found it helpful but confusing information. Anyways, back to the question. I have alot of miniaturization hairs throughout my hair. By alot I mean alot, they stick up everywhere. Do these hairs every stay at a certain size, or do they always end up being very small and thin? Some of mine are extremely thin, and others are thicker. Thanks in advance
This is a good and insightful question. The general belief is that miniaturized hairs are impacted by hormone and genetic influences. As some hair is impacted and others are not, I would think that the impacted hairs (the miniaturized hairs) remain impacted and thin, unless things change like hormone balance, or the effects of medications such as Rogaine/minoxidil. As no one has ever actually tracked a single hair in a follicular group when cycling occurs (anogen through catogen phases), one really can not tell the actual answer to this question other than make a good guess (like I am doing here).
Follicular units usually contain a number of hairs. Mature healthy hairs are called ‘Terminal Hairs’ while the small hairs in a follicular unit are called ‘Vellus Hairs’. Miniaturizated hairs are thought to be ’sick’ terminal hairs, not vellus hairs. Does a terminal hair become a vellus hair or visa versa? I doubt that, but do not know for sure. Do the hairs in a follicular unit play musical chairs (opps hairs) and change their appearance over time in a single hair cycle? I can have fun with these types of questions, but that is my intellectual exercising of random thoughts that you stimulated have no particular value to help you with your question.
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Balding Forum
I have thinned over the last 7-8 years diffuse thinning and I am 38 female, I tend to look at other females hair and find that alot of women have thinner appearing hair, or maybe I’m just obssessed with it now, it just drives me crazy, I’m on spirolactone 100mg , its 100 somthing?? and rogaine5% this regime from probably 5 years, and my hair kept thinning, it it would have remained the same I’d be happy, but that is not my case My dermatologist Dr. Janet Roberts out of Portland Oregon is my dermatologist, specializing in hairloss, she has me on propecia for experiment, she said there isn’t any side effects, so I could try it of course I’m not going to get pregnant. nothing seemed to slow down the hairloss, also she has me on iron suppl. becasue my storage would be low sometimes, by reading this you know that I have tryed everything and she has really tried to help me. My regular doctor althought tested for thyroid, TSH think was .4, I’d have to ck, but for 7 years I’ve stayed away from BCP because I heard they cause hairloss, or could, I was at the end of my rope tried everything and seems Othro-cept (i’ve never ever been on BCP has somewhat slowed down the process, although when I start my period it starts up then goes away when I’m back on the pill, weird, for me it seems a little too late, I find my seld not looking in the mirror, not going places, ect, I used to be very attractive, long hair and am still in good shape 125 five foot eight height, married to a dr. my life is good and I should be thankful, but all I want to do in hide under my sheets and fade away, I’m really not crazy, from reading all this is there something you think that I am missing and if it is the hormones from the BCP that is somewhat decreasing the shedding, will it ever grow back, I probably loose about 20 hair a day , its just that i don’t think it is growing back thats why the diffused look, what do you think about is it called retinA in combo with minoxidol, its the only thing I haven’t tried, what do you think of gelatine, I’m hoping you will e-mail me a resonse, I’ve had a hair punch,and it showed miniturizationand a sparse superficial dermal infiltrate of lymphocytes??? Anagen hair 17 miniaturized 24 total 42 Lymphohistiocytic infiltrate0-1+
follicular units~13 follicular structure?mm2 3.34 terminal:vellus 1:1.3 Anagen:telogen% 98:2%
their comments: chronic telogen effluvium can have a wide vairiety of histologic appearences, so I am unable to definitively diagnose superimposed chronic telegen effluviem??? I’m pretty hopeless like this is the end of my life, as selfish as that sounds, from reading this is there anything you can come up with ??? I have bloodtest results if you would like them my thyroid shows normal, although I have some antibodies, that means I could eventually go hypothyroid , normal menses, no PCOP’s I don’t color my hair when I was 20 I put Aferican american hair staightener on my hair and it basically fried my hair I only kept it on for 2 min. because it burned, and when I was in my 25-30 I did color my hair some, tha is all I can think of in my shoirt life and basically a complet background, I hope you read this, if I were you I probably wouldn’t, thanks though if you do