Women with female pattern hair loss most commonly use camouflage techniques in hairstyling for hair loss.This condition begins in adulthood, with noticeable thinning appearing around the age of 40. These women experience hair loss throughout the scalp, but thinning is most prominent in the fronto-parietal areas while maintaining a thin fringe along the frontal hairline.
Camouflaging hair loss over the top of the scalp presents a greater challenge than camouflaging hair loss over the sides of the scalp. This means that Doctors should make every effort to provide appropriate medical treatment for hair loss before considering cosmetic camouflage methods.
What are the best hairstyles for women with female pattern hair loss?
Selecting a careful hairstyle can minimize the appearance of female pattern hair loss.Since predominantly thinning occurs on the top of the head, styling techniques should focus on adding volume and fullness in this area. The perception of thick hair is based on the distance that the hair stands away from the scalp, but appropriate hairstyling can create the illusion of fullness. Two styling techniques that are valuable for creating the illusion of hair volume are curling and backcombing.
How should you curl the hair to create the illusion of hair fullness?
Curled hair appears fuller because it does not lie as close to the scalp as straight hair. This styling technique is valuable for patients with thinning hair. Heat styling with a blow-dryer and a round brush, setting wet hair on rollers, wrapping hair around heated rollers, or using an electric curling rod can create temporary curls. Tighter curls will result in more hair fullness. The curl size depends on the diameter of the curler, with smaller diameter devices producing tighter curls.
How should you comb the hair to maximize hair volume?
You can safely achieve maximum hair volume by backcombing,This technique involves combing the hair in the opposite direction from its normal lie on the scalp. In most females, the hair pattern is such that the hair on the top of the scalp lies forward. Combing the hair backward from the front of the head to the crown lifts the hair, creating the illusion of volume. The hair will not stay in this unnatural position for long, so styling aids are necessary for the hair to hold this shape.
Which hairstyling techniques should patients with pattern hair loss avoid?
Mature women, especially, commonly use teasing as a technique to increase hair volume. This damaging hairstyling technique, which gained popularity in the 1960s for creating ‘beehive’ hairstyles, involves combing the hair from the distal to proximal hair shaft using a fine-toothed comb or teasing brush to create tangles between the hair shafts. These tangles, known as ‘rats,’ allow the hair to stand away from the scalp. However, teasing can disrupt the hair shaft cuticle and accelerate hair breakage. Avoiding hair breakage in areas where the hair is already thinned is crucial. However, teasing, despite being a quick method for achieving hair fullness, ultimately leads to accelerated hair breakage and loss. A better method for getting the hair to stand away from the scalp and creating volume is through the use of newer hairstyling products.
Which hairstyling products do doctors recommend for patients with female pattern hair loss?
Female pattern hair loss patients find value in hairstyling products to aid in creating the illusion of fullness by allowing the hair to stand away from the scalp. Available styling products include styling gels, sculpturing gels, mousses, and hairsprays. People generally apply styling gel, sculpting gel, and mousse to towel-dried hair, while using hairspray to improve the hold of the final hairstyle. Sculpturing gels provide a stiffer hold than styling gels, which, in turn, provide better hold than mousses.
How should you apply the styling product to create hair volume?
The key to creating hair volume is the application technique of the styling product. Massaging a small amount of gel or mousse into the base of the hair shafts by the scalp achieves this. Then, drying the hair with the head upside down is done using a hand-held blow-dryer set on low fan speed and low heat, held about 8 inches from the hair. Combing the hair with the fingers away from the scalp during the drying process encourages the hair to set in a position away from the scalp, creating the illusion of volume. Once the hair is dry, it will maintain its shape until rewetted, and it can be styled as usual.
Can you air dry hair and still maintain volume with fine hair?
You can use a technique known as ‘scrunching’ to create hair fullness while allowing the hair to air-dry. Apply sculpturing gel generously to the scalp and proximal hair shafts, with a small amount applied to the distal hair shafts. Section the hair, and randomly mash it into 1-inch clumps, affixing them with a hair clip and allowing them to air-dry. This will create random waves in the hair, producing the illusion of fullness. You can also use this styling technique to set the hair overnight while sleeping.
Which hairspray is best for male and female patients with thinning hair?
For the male or female patient with thinning hair, hairspray is probably the most important styling product. It is used to keep the final hairstyle in place. For example, after backcombing the hair, you can liberally spray it to allow the hair to fall backward instead of forward on the forehead, creating the illusion of volume. Hairspray can also keep the hair in place over thin areas of the scalp. The newer flexible polymer hairsprays, which allow the hair to move while maintaining the desired style, are considered the best. These hairsprays will say ‘flexible’ on the label. They prevent hair breakage by allowing you to comb and style the hair without tearing the individual hair shafts stiffened by hairspray. Flexible hairsprays can also be combed out of the hair and restyled without the need to shampoo.
Can a person with thinning hair undergo a permanent wave procedure?
Performing permanent waving properly makes it a safe and advisable procedure for patients with thinning hair. Permanent waving increases apparent hair volume by adding curls, allowing less hair to cover more scalp. Thus, a permanent wave in the frontoparietal area can nicely camouflage female pattern hair loss. However, chemical curling damages the hair shaft by decreasing its strength, degrading its structure, and causing protein loss.
How can patients with thinning hair avoid hair damage during a permanent wave procedure?
To decrease hair shaft damage in a patient with thinning hair during a permanent wave procedure, follow a few simple pointers. First, wrap the hair with minimal tension around the mandrels to prevent hair shaft weakening. Second, select larger mandrels to create a looser curl. Third, use a shorter processing time, as fine thinning hair will process more rapidly. Lastly, it is advisable to allow as much time as possible between permanent waving procedures to minimize hair damage. Persons with thinning hair can successfully undergo a permanent waving procedure, provided that they follow these guidelines.
Can male and female patients with thin hair use hair dyeing?
To effectively camouflage hair loss, you can lighten hair color by providing better blending with a lightly colored scalp. Among all available hair coloring types, only permanent hair dyes can achieve color lightening, but they are also the most damaging to the hair shaft. Thus, it is advisable to lighten the hair minimally, just enough to minimize the contrast.