"Don't Take Photos of Me" — A Thinning Crown... What Happens If MZ Women Take Men's Hair Loss Pills? [Smart Wellness]

[Financial News] #. A woman in her 20s, identified only as Kim, always feels uneasy standing under bright lights. Recently, while looking at a photo taken from above, she noticed that her scalp was clearly visible through the part in her hair. When she checked the mirror, her hairline at the forehead was still intact, but the hair around the part had become noticeably thinner. Because her hairline had not changed, she had not realized she was losing hair until she saw the photo. Kim quickly visited a clinic specializing in hair loss.

The days when hair loss was seen as the preserve of middle-aged men are over. More young women are now visiting hospitals for hair loss, driven by stress, hormonal imbalance, and excessive dieting.
Hong Joo-hyung, head of Moheal Clinic, who has treated hair loss and performed hair transplants in Apgujeong for 20 years, said, "In clinical practice, I can feel that the onset of hair loss is happening earlier and that the number of female patients has increased noticeably." He added, "Female hair loss can be caused by genetic predisposition, but acquired lifestyle factors such as chronic sleep deprivation and nutritional imbalance can also worsen hereditary hair loss or trigger telogen effluvium, a temporary form of hair shedding."
In fact, hair goes through three stages: growth, regression, and rest. When sleep deprivation continues, the growth hormone and melatonin secreted during sleep decrease, suppressing the activity of hair follicle cells. Research has also shown that if daily sleep falls below six hours, the proportion of follicles in the growth phase drops by about 15% on average, while more hairs enter the resting phase, accelerating hair loss.
Excessive dieting is another major cause. As obesity treatment injections that suppress appetite, such as Wegovy and tirzepatide, have become popular, more people are trying to lose weight rapidly. But if intake of essential micronutrients such as protein, iron, zinc, and biotin drops sharply, the hair growth cycle can be disrupted and lead to acute telogen effluvium. Hong said, "Clinical reports show that in female patients whose serum ferritin levels fall below normal, hair diameter becomes more than 10% thinner and growth also slows." He warned, "Not only extreme calorie restriction, but also an unbalanced diet centered on fast food and ultra-processed foods is a major threat to scalp and hair health."
Chronic stress is also one of the main causes of hair loss. When exposed to stress, the body releases cortisol, which constricts microvessels and reduces the nutrients and oxygen supplied to hair follicles. This can turn thick, strong hair into strands that are thin and weak.

Regardless of the type of female hair loss, there are limits to prescribing finasteride or Dihydrotestosterone, which are used to treat male pattern baldness. In particular, women of childbearing age must never take these drugs, because if they are absorbed into the body they can cause genital malformations in male fetuses.
For this reason, Minoxidil topical solution, which improves scalp blood flow and supports hair growth, is the standard treatment for female hair loss. More recently, non-surgical regenerative treatments such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which concentrates growth factors from a patient's own blood and injects them into the scalp, and Mesotherapy nutrient injections have also been widely used to help regenerate hair follicles.
Recently, non-surgical regenerative treatments such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which extracts concentrated growth factors from the patient's own blood and injects them into the scalp, and Mesotherapy, which delivers complex nutrients directly to hair follicles, have also been actively used.
If hair loss becomes prolonged and scalp exposure at the crown and part line becomes severe, an autologous hair transplant may be considered. However, female pattern hair loss tends to thin hair throughout the back of the head as well, so before surgery, doctors must precisely assess the density and thickness of follicles in the occipital area and, if necessary, combine the procedure with preoperative strengthening treatment to achieve satisfactory results.
Experts stress that lifestyle correction must go hand in hand with treatment. Hong said, "Even if two people inherit the same genetic predisposition from their parents, the timing and speed of hair loss can differ completely depending on their lifestyle habits." He added, "If genetics determine the possibility of hair loss, then lifestyle habits and early treatment are the key to slowing it down and protecting the hair."

[email protected] Kim Hyun-sun Reporter