Hormones and Hair Loss

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“I am interested in learning more about hormones and hair loss—like different types of hormone problems and which problems can result in hair loss. At my age, 61, lots of things are happening.”

 

Hormones and Hair Loss

Your hormones can wreak havoc on your hair.  A hormonal imbalance can lead to shedding and thin hair and even to bald spots!  Hormones are little chemical messengers that move around inside of your body.  Your hormones are produced by various “endocrine” glands, and these little chemical messengers move around your body, controlling many of your body’s most important functions!  Your hormones help control and regulate your weight, your blood sugar, and your ability to reproduce.

 

What Happens When You Have a Hormonal Imbalance?

Sometimes, your hormones can get out of whack—you start making too much of or not enough of a particular hormone.  This is called a hormonal imbalance.  Hormonal imbalances can be caused by many internal issues, including diabetes, injuries and trauma, thyroid problems, tumors, medications, and many other things.

 

Causes of Hormonal Imbalance:

• Menopause
• Pregnancy
• Birth control medicines
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)

All of these hormonal issues can be related to hair loss and thinning of your hair.  It’s normal to shed up to about 100 hairs everyday.  But hormonal imbalances can cause you to shed much more hair than this.

 

Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalances

• Exhaustion
• Dry Skin
• Weight gain
• Weight loss
• Irregular periods
• Infertility
• Muscle tenderness/weakness
• Changes in your bowel habits
• Excessive hunger or thirst
• Depression
• Changes in your sex drive
• Anxiety/Irritability
• Hair loss

 

Hormonal Causes of Hair Loss in Women:

1. Testosterone

We often think of testosterone as being the ‘male’ hormone. But women produce a certain amount of testosterone too.  Our ovaries and adrenal glands can produce testosterone.  When a woman is producing too much testosterone, she can have hair thinning on her head, and hair growth where she doesn’t want it—like on her face. In conditions like PCOS, your body may produce too much testosterone, causing hair loss on your head.

 

It’s actually a chemical called DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) that causes hair loss by shrinking your hair follicles.  DHT is produced from testosterone.  So, if you’ve got too much testosterone, you’ll have too much DHT and your hair follicles will suffer, shrinking and producing less hair.

 

2. Estrogen

Estrogen is often thought of as our “female hormone.”  During pregnancy, our estrogen levels rise, causing our hair follicles to enter a growing phase (anagen) and our hair to grow longer, fuller and more lush.  After pregnancy, however, our estrogen levels drop, which can signal our hairs to shed, a condition called telogen effluvium, which can lead to thinning hair and even bald patches.

 

Menopause is another condition that is associated with falling estrogen levels.  In addition to weight gain, mood swings and night sweat, the drop in estrogen that occurs during menopause can lead to hair loss.  Many women use products like minoxidil to help treat this type of hair loss.

3. Thyroid Hormones

Your thyroid gland produces hormones that help control your body’s metabolism.  Your thyroid is incredibly important.  It helps control your heart rate, how well your digestive system works, your cholesterol levels, your energy and mood, and  whether you lose or gain weight.  An imbalance in your thyroid hormones can also cause hair loss and thinning.  Thyroid imbalances can also lead to brittle fingernails.  Unfortunately, thyroid problems are not terribly uncommon, and thyroid hormone levels are often checked to make sure that you don’t have an imbalance.

 

4. Insulin

Insulin is the hormone that we think of when we think of diabetes.  Insulin helps move the sugar in our bloodstreams into our cells so that it can be used for energy.  In diabetes, your body many not make enough insulin or has problems using insulin effectively.  If you have diabetes, or problems with insulin, the excess sugar in your blood can damage vital organs (like your kidneys) and also can damage your blood vessels.  If the blood vessels around your hair follicles are damaged, your follicles won’t have the oxygen and nutrients that they need to grow healthy hair!  Diabetes can cause hair loss by slowing the rate that your hair grows and can also make you lose more hair than normal.  Excessive shedding of your hair can lead to hair thinning and even bald spots.

 

People with diabetes can also suffer from conditions like telogen effluvium, stress related hair loss, and alopecia areata, which can cause bald spots on your head.

 

 Treating Hormonal Hair Loss 

Hormonal related hair loss is NOT rare.  If you think that you’ve got hormonal related hair loss, it’s important that you see your doctor for treatment.  Simple blood tests can check your thyroid, estrogen and testosterone levels, as well as help determine if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes.  If you’ve got a hormonal imbalance, your doctor can recommend medication or therapy to address the issue.  Hair loss from hormonal imbalances is sometimes treated with medications like Rogaine or Minoxidil.

 

Some people with diabetes or other chronic conditions may have low levels of biotin.  If your biotin is low, supplementing it may help with hair loss.  You can also try to eat a biotin rich diet as discussed here.

 

 

If you’re suffering from hair loss, remember that you can also camouflage it with wigs or with topical products like Toppik which can fill in bare areas.  Check out this post to see how a video of how Toppik works.

 Finally, try your best to manage your stress.  Stress can lead to hair shedding and hair loss.  Practice self care and relaxation techniques to help regulate your mood and hormonal issues.