From Lady Godiva to the Breck Girl, from Farah Fawcett to Jennifer Anniston, hair is often a defining point in personal style. This is why so many women panic at even the thought of losing a few hairs with each shampoo.

Those fears are not unfounded. Each year more women are forced to deal with the possibility of serious hair loss. In the United States today, over 30 million women suffer with some form of loss occurring at earlier ages. Today, doctors are seeing women as young as 15 or 16 develop hair loss.

The term androgenic alopecia was formerly used to refer to balding women. Today it is being referred to as female pattern hair loss because this encompasses the many possible causes. Some are linked to an excess of testosterone (birth control) and some are not.

Female balding is still largely misunderstood. There is evidence that many other types of enzymes as well as hormone receptors and blockers may be at work in women.

Once clue that there is a difference between male and femald balding is the pattern in which the hair loss occurs. Female pattern balding goes around the whole top of the head - it is diffuse. Most men lose hair on the temple, the crown or the bald spot in the back. Not coincidentally, the hormone and enzyme receptor sites are also different in varying areas of the scalp - another reason doctors believe the loss patterns are caused by different factors.

Another important difference is that while balding in men is almost always the result of a genetic predisposition coupled with age, in women it can happen at any time. In addition, underlying medical conditions can also be the cause of hair loss, even when true androgenic alopecia is the diagnosis.

The most common cause for balding in women is medically related. Often they may be suffering with polycystic ovary syndrome and sometimes their hair loss is the only sign of this. Autoimmune disorders result in a different and often less dramatic hair loss problem known as alopecia areata, an inflammatory condition that causes hair to come out in clumps or patches. Telogen effluvium, a change in the natural hair growth system that often follows childbirth, crash dieting, surgery or emotional trauma can cause temporary hair shedding problems.

Thyroid disorders, anemia, chronic illness or the use of certain medications can cause hair loss in women.

The number one rule of treating female hair loss is in getting the correct diagnois. If there is an underlying physical problem, it has to be corrected first. Women should see a doctor who specializes in female pattern balding and be checked for possible underlying medical conditions via blood tests, and if need be, a scalp biopsy. Often times the diagnosis is made by excluding what problems they don’t have. But, it’s still essential to to the complete workup. If it turns out the problem is irreversable, there are salons such as Fantasia that can help with female hairloss solutions. Today there are many solutions which will allow you to continue living life to the fullest!