This may sound like a bold and ridiculous claim, but going bald can actually increase your self- confidence. As celebrity alopecia sufferer Gail Porter and breast cancer survivor Bernie Nolan would tell you, being bald and proud in public is strangely liberating.

This is an interesting issue, as hair loss in women generally has a devastating effect on the sufferer’s self-esteem and confidence. As hair is so intrinsically linked with youth and beauty in today’s image-obsessed society, losing your hair as a result of alopecia, chemotherapy or even pregnancy can be a frightening and upsetting experience.

Once the initial shock of hair loss wears off, however, it seems that some sort of survival instinct kicks in. Sufferers need to find ways to manage their condition, such as going for hair loss treatment, wearing extensions or human hair wigs, or even just wearing a headscarf in order to regain some sense of normalcy and confidence.

In a surprising number of cases though, sufferers make the incredibly brave decision to let go of their hair, to shave it all off completely and go bald in public. This admirable courage often enables these women to discover their true inner beauty, to embrace attractive qualities about themselves other than their hair or their physical appearance.

Most women take a pride in their appearance and before they leave the house every morning they take their time doing their hair and fixing their make up. However, when you are losing your hair or your hair is starting to thin, this doesn’t mean that you are any less of a woman.

One of the main worries and concerns of women who have lost or are losing their hair is that they won’t be feminine anymore and that there must be something wrong with their femininity which would explain why they are experiencing female hair loss. However this is not the case.

There are many reasons why women lose their hair and for some it can be a stressful or emotional experience that they have gone through. For others it can be a hormonal change in their body. Whatever type of hair loss that you are suffering with and whatever may have caused it, you won’t be any less of a woman because of it.

In order to make you feel more feminine, you might want to consider some of the many hair replacement treatments that are available. There are human hair wigs as a temporary measure or hair replacement therapy for situations when hair loss is permanent.

Alopecia can happen to anybody regardless of his or her age or health and in some instances the alopecia is caused by a stressful or emotional experience. There are many different forms of alopecia and most kinds don’t mean that you just lose the hair on your head. Some people also experience losing their eyebrows and other body hair as a result.

Both men and women can suffer with alopecia and it can be brought on by a number of different factors. Some forms of alopecia are brought on by stress, anxiety and experiences that you are going through, whereas other forms are due to the hormones and chemicals that are going around your body.

Whatever type of alopecia that you have, you need to speak to your doctor to ensure that you have alopecia and find out what type of the disease you are suffering with. They will make sure that you are put on the right medication and are receiving the right treatment. Your GP may also refer you to a specialist at the hospital so that you can get further treatment if required.

Your alopecia will soon start to disappear once you are receiving the right treatment and you take control of your hair loss.

You may have seen the pictures of supermodel Naomi Campbell in the press recently, where an obvious bald patch can be seen under her wig as she attends a photo shoot.

Experts and trichologists suggested that this obvious sign of female hair loss was caused by traction alopecia, a condition where the repeated pulling on the scalp causes the hair follicles to weaken and the hair to fall out.

Whether Naomi has this particular condition or not, she is a prime candidate to suffer from it due to the profession she has chosen. As a supermodel, she is constantly required to change her look and this often means different hair styles such as weaves, braids and tight ponytails – all styles that can damage the scalp over time and cause traction alopecia.

It isn’t just supermodels and women in the entertainment industry who can suffer from traction alopecia, however. One famous hairstyle, the tight, high ponytail, termed the ‘Croydon facelift’ due to the way the scraped-back style pulls the skin on the face upwards, is particularly bad for hair follicles.

If you regularly choose to wear your hair in any of the aforementioned styles, take care that you don’t fall victim to traction alopecia. Ask yourself: is it really worth losing your long, luscious locks over a hairstyle?

There are many confusing terms surrounding hair loss in women, which can be bewildering to someone who has just started to experience a hair loss condition.

In addition to alopecia, the most commonly discussed type of hair loss condition due to celebrity sufferer Gail Porter, you may also hear about telogen effluvium. This rather frightening-sounding condition is actually the medical term for a sudden interruption to the natural growth cycle of the hair, generally due to some form of emotional or physical stress.

You may be surprised to know that telogen effluvium is one of the most common, although it isn’t mentioned in the media as much as alopecia areata. It has a variety of causes, the main one being childbirth.

Other causes of telogen effluvium include:

• Major surgery
• Serious illness or infection
• Fever
• Chemotherapy or radiotherapy
• Eating disorders or crash diets (where the body is deprived of as much iron or protein)
• Anaemia
• Psychological stress or emotional disorders
• Drugs or prescribed medication

Treatment

Telogen effluvium is generally only temporary, unlike alopecia areata. You just need to give your hair follicles time to rest and recover, whilst avoiding stress or any of the above triggers. In the meantime, you may want to consider a hair loss management option such as human hair wigs to boost your confidence.

Have you experience hair loss but you have been unsure why it has occurred and you would like to find out more information about female hair loss? You don’t need to look any further if you require information but to ensure that your female hair loss is properly diagnosed it is vitally important that you speak with a doctor to ensure that your hair loss is not the start of something more serious.

Hair loss for women is not as a common a sight as you see men who have lost some or all of their hair. Most men during some stage in their life find that their hair thins and falls out but typically this does not really happen to women, or so you might have thought.

Hair loss for women is actually quite common but the great thing for women is that it can be very easily covered up and you might not have even noticed that a close friend or family member is suffering from hair loss because they are choosing to wear a wig or they have had hair replacement treatment. Sometimes wearing a wig or hair replacement is to avoid the embarrassment of hair loss but female hair loss is nothing to feel embarrassed about and it is completely natural.