Hair loss is one of the most dis­heart­en­ing con­di­tions that can affect any woman regard­less of colour or eth­nic­ity. In order to treat it effec­tively, we must first under­stand its causes. Early, accu­rate diag­no­sis is essen­tial when attempt­ing to treat the con­di­tion, as dif­fer­ent types of hair loss require dif­fer­ent treat­ment. In all cases, the ear­lier it’s caught, the eas­ier it is to treat the con­di­tion. Many hair loss con­di­tions that affect black women are fully reversible if treated early and in the right man­ner. Here are the most com­mon types of hair loss that affect black women:

Trac­tion alopecia

Caused by exces­sive pres­sure, weight or strain put on the hair over a period of time, this con­di­tion affects women who wear their hair in tight braids, corn­rows or have long heavy dread­locks, as well as those who use tight weaves, clip on hair exten­sions or draw­string pony­tails. If you wear your hair in a tight pony­tail, you could also be affected. Trac­tion alope­cia is often mis­taken for other types of hair loss in black women but is actu­ally extremely com­mon. It often affects the hair in the hair­line area, where the hair is most tightly pulled when styled. Trac­tion alope­cia is treat­able and, if caught early enough, usu­ally reversible. Apart from remov­ing the cause (i.e. wear­ing the hair in softer, less tight styles), treat­ment involves increas­ing cir­cu­la­tion to the scalp and stim­u­lat­ing and nour­ish­ing the hair fol­li­cles to pro­duce more hair. This can be done by using any stan­dard hair loss treat­ments, from sham­poos to prod­ucts like Regaine that con­tain minoxidil.

• Cen­tral Cen­trifu­gal Cica­tri­cial Alopecia

A hair loss con­di­tion nor­mally affect­ing the crown of the head (although if untreated it will spread fur­ther). This con­di­tion is also the result of harm­ful hair styling, although this time exces­sive heat treat­ment is the cul­prit, rather than ten­sion and weight. This is actu­ally an inflam­ma­tory con­di­tion, so a visit to a doc­tor is nec­es­sary for treat­ing it. The doc­tor will pre­scribe anti-inflammatory drugs such as steroids that will most likely be given topically.

Andro­ge­netic Alope­cia (or Andro­genic Alopecia)

Also known as “female pat­tern bald­ness” this con­di­tion also affects the crown of the head, with the rest of the hair usu­ally remain­ing unaf­fected. This con­di­tion affects the major­ity of post-menopausal women, although it affects around 13% of pre-menopausal women as well. This is a more seri­ous con­di­tion that is caused pre­dom­i­nantly by genet­ics and hor­mones. Your doc­tor can give you some pre­scrip­tion drugs for treat­ing it and there are food sup­ple­ments said to also help. Top­i­cal treat­ments are com­monly used to treat the con­di­tion along­side the inter­nal treat­ment. There are both nat­ural treat­ments and prod­ucts con­tain­ing minoxidil.

Other hor­monal hair loss conditions

Women expe­ri­ence many hor­monal changes through­out their lives as the result of stress or ill­ness, but also as part of the nat­ural processes they go through in life – preg­nancy and child­birth, the menopause and even the monthly cycle. Some of these hor­monal changes can result in hair loss and most can be treated by a com­bi­na­tion of over the counter food sup­ple­ments, pre­scrip­tion med­i­cine and top­i­cal treat­ments. Dis­cuss your options with your doc­tor if you thing you may be suf­fer­ing from hor­monal hair loss.