Men often go bald, and while some of them don’t like it, others will embrace their baldness even to the extent of completely shaving their heads to sport the look. But it is unimaginable for a woman to take a positive attitude about a receding hairline. On the contrary, when a woman starts to lose her hair, which is often her standard of beauty, she may become depressed.

A Gradual Process

Generally, a receding hairline is a gradual occurrence. You don’t just wake up one morning and find your hair gone. You could have the condition for years before you notice it, and by that time, it could be too late for successful remedies. With hair loss, the earlier you start treatment, the better.

Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia

Some women develop a condition called frontal fibrosing alopecia, which causes them to lose up to 5 inches from the front of their hairlines, often including their eyebrows. This recently recognized condition, called FFA, may be caused by genetics, environmental factors, or even hormones because it’s most common after menopause.

Differences in Hair Loss

After menopause, generally thinning hair and having a receding hairline are two different issues. About half of all women will have thinner hair after menopause, but they still have hair — thinning hair and loss of hair on top of the head behind the front hairline are called female pattern baldness. But with a receding hairline, you completely lose the hair in front, and FAA can often lead to hair loss behind the ears as well as on the scalp. Once the hair is gone, it usually will not grow back.

Treatment

Early treatment may help prevent further hair loss. You may not be able to get back what you lost, but you can try to keep the remaining hair, explains Dr. Matthew Harries, a dermatologist and research fellow at the University of Manchester, in Mail Online. Steroid injections seem to prevent further hair loss in Harries’ patients. Treatments for female pattern baldness are different from treatments for FFA. For example, doctors may treat female pattern baldness with anti-androgen drugs that block male hormones, but FFA doesn’t seem to be a result of high levels of male hormones, so anti-androgen treatments probably won’t work.

Postpartum Hair Loss

Hair loss may occur in women just after giving birth. When you’re pregnant, you don’t lose much hair because of hormone levels. But after you deliver you may lose some hair at your hairline, which usually grows back. You might notice wispy hair growing along your front hairline, which some women cover by wearing bangs. You’ll probably get all your hair back in a matter of six months, but the new hair may be a different texture, drier or oilier than it used to be.