If you thought hair loss was a problem that predominantly affects the male of the species, prepare to adjust your preconceptions. The truth is that around 50 percent of women will experience noticeable hair loss at some point in their lives.
The most common cause is female-pattern hair loss (FPHL), which affects about one in three susceptible women. That equates to about 30 million women in the US.
Hair loss can affect anyone, and a number of famous women whose looks are their livelihoods have battled hair loss and won. Let’s meet some of them and hear their stories.
Rosie O’Donnell went thin in front
America’s most famous comedienne and TV presenter took to social media to share her hair loss problems in 2016. She was only 56 at the time, surely far too young for a woman to start losing her hair. It was a classic example of FPHL and Rosie’s courage in facing it head-on and talking about it openly was a breath of fresh air. It paved the way for the open and unembarrassed discussion of both the topic and its treatment that we can enjoy today.
This type of hair thinning can be treated in various ways, as we will soon see. Rosie’s hair is generally still quite thick, so she has taken the decision to decline treatment and instead disguise her hair loss with skillful styling.
Viola Davis traded footlights for red light
The Oscar-winning star of Fences and The Woman King has been living with alopecia since she was 28 years old. She spent 15 years disguising the condition with wigs and hair extensions before trying out red light therapy.
At the time, the treatment was quite experimental, but for Viola it was a resounding success, and at the 2012 Academy Awards she was able to step out on the red carpet showing off her natural hair for the first time in almost 20 years. A decade later, red light treatment using an FDA-approved hair growth cap is accessible to anyone, not just Oscar-winning Hollywood stars!
Ricki Lake took extreme action
One of America’s best-loved talk show hosts, Ricki Lake initially found fame on Broadway in Hairspray. The irony of her starting too develop FPHL in her mid-20s was not lost on her, and she recently told People magazine she had spent 30 years trying different remedies, including topical treatments, steroids and even plasma injections.
Ricki ultimately found that checking into a hair transplant clinic in Los Angeles was the right solution for her, and her hair is looking better today than it has since the early 90s when Ricki first burst onto our screens.
Keira Knightly is another red light devotee
The star of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, as well as period pieces including Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina, Keira is the archetypal English rose, and is famed for her long blond hair. However the need to dye her hair for all those different roles took its toll, and she started to experience hair loss.
She said she spent five years wearing wigs to hide her bald patches before trying red light therapy, which has since helped her hair to recover to its former health.
Lea Michelle put the spotlight on post-partum hair loss
The Glee actress noticed her hair was coming out in clumps after the birth of her first child. Post-partum hair loss is not unusual and is caused by falling estrogen levels after childbirth. By taking to Instagram, she highlighted a condition that affects around 50 percent of new mothers.
The good news is that post-partum hair loss almost always clears up by itself after six months or so. Those affected usually find that, as was the case with Lea, the symptoms disappear entirely by Baby’s first birthday.
The above cases show that female hair loss is more common than we might think. And from clever styling to red light therapy, there are different ways to successfully tackle the problem.
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