I Want Real Advice for Treating Female Hair Loss

Hello Dr. Rassman,

I wrote you before about 4 yrs. ago I think. I am a 59 year old female.

I’ll try to be brief. After being treated for breast cancer in 1999 (no chemo involved) I began experiencing episodes, usually once a year, of increased shedding that lasts from 2 to 3 months then tampers off and stop. Losing between 80 to 100 hairs a day. I was diagnosed with chronic telogen effuvium but I’m wonder if it is female balding, though none of the women in my family show any signs of balding. I’ve had all the blood work for thyroid, iron levels, hormones etc…they all come back normal.

I had pretty thick hair at one time and I can’t tell you how much I miss it. It depresses me at times. However, I still have pretty good coverage and I think if you just saw me walking into a room you wouldn’t think I had hair loss problems. Of course upon a closer look you would.

My question is…I know you mostly work with men, but if I were your wife, sister, daughter ,etc…what advice would you give me to try and save my hair that seems to get thinner every year. Doctors I’ve seen just say “try rogaine” but I’ve read so many conficting things about rogaine…if doesn’t work well for women, it does work well for woman. And I can’t help wondering if it worked so well, why wouldn’t Rogaine use real success stories in their commercials instead of actors?

Is there anything I can do to save my hair? Please, please help. Thanks so much.

I never like giving advice to women for treating hair loss, as there are so many possible causes of female loss and every woman responds differently to the various therapies available. With men, the great majority of the time it is just genetics.

Rogaine (minoxidil) is the most popular hair loss medication used by women around the world (and the only FDA approved treatment for women)… but you need one doctor who is willing to work with you. Seek out a caring dermatologist and work with him/her on your hair loss problem.

I didn’t know that Rogaine’s commercials use actors. The only commercial I’ve seen lately has been for Rogaine Foam, and features a man with good results who is apparently an actual user of the topical.