HORMONES & HAIR LOSS

HAIR LOSS & HORMONAL IMBALANCE

CAN HORMONE IMBALANCE CAUSE HAIR LOSS?

 

The answer is yes!

 

Hormonal Hair loss can potentially be caused by an imbalance of thyroid hormones or pregnancy, disease, and certain medications. All these changes can influence hair’s growth and the shedding phases.

 

Hormones are cyclical. When the levels of estrogen and progesterone drop, especially during menopausal women, hairs grow more slowly and become much thinner. A decrease in these hormones also triggers an increase in the production of androgens or a group of male hormones. Androgens shrink hair follicles, resulting in hair loss on the head. Shrinkage of the follicles can change the structure of your hair. Most of the time it gets fizzy and curly. Testosterone levels in some men drop by 10% each decade after age 30. A high level of testosterone in the body can create DHT on the scalp and this is the most common male pattern of baldness.

How Does Hair Grow?

On average, hair growth is about a half-inch each month. And, it is normal to lose around 60-100 strands of hair a day, but women can even lose twice or even three times that number when the hair is washed. This said, no need to panic as this is normal and part of the hair cycle. Typical hair care, such as washing, affects the strands that are about to fall out anyway.

Signs of Hair Loss

However, if you are suffering from abnormal hair loss, you may notice your hair starting to thin out at a faster rate than usual. Some women find clumps of hair on their pillows, in the shower, and some find they are shedding more than usual into their brushes and combs.

While men usually see a receding hairline, women tend to lose hair from the top of their scalp. The gap on the part of your hair may widen, or you may notice bald spots when you put your hair up. The type of hair loss is commonly called female pattern baldness and male-pattern baldness.

Though, the issue with hair loss is that you will start visibly seeing signs of hair loss when you already lost a lot. And time is of the essence in tackling hair thinning and hair loss.

Causes of Hair Loss

There are many different causes of female and male hair loss. For women, it often develops after menopause, so hormonal changes can also be a contributing factor.

Some women may have a combination of two female pattern types of hair loss. Androgenic alopecia in women is because of androgens, male hormones, typically present in very small amounts. A variety of factors can cause androgenetic alopecia tied to the actions of hormones, including, ovarian cysts, the taking of high androgen birth control pills, pregnancy, and menopause. Like men, the hormone DHT appears to be at least partially to blame for the miniaturization of hair follicles in women suffering from female pattern baldness. In addition, heredity plays a major factor in the condition as well.

If you are concerned about hair loss, book a free consultation at Nar London, Harley Street.

Heredity

The most common culprit of hair thinning in both men and women is hereditary. The term for hereditary female hair loss is androgenetic alopecia (androgenic alopecia), and you are more likely to have it if it runs in your family.

Androgenetic alopecia usually starts to manifest between the ages of 50-70. Normally when thick strands of hair fall out, they are replaced by a strand of hair of the same thickness. However, with androgenetic alopecia, thinner hair grows in its place. Then after a few years, the follicle simply stops growing new hairs.

Other causes

If your hair loss is sudden, or if your follicles are roughly the same size, then it is likely related to other causes.

Female pattern baldness may also develop due to an underlying condition that affects the production of the hormone androgen. Androgen is a hormone that plays a role in pattern baldness. Also, tumors of the pituitary gland or ovary, which secrete androgen, can lead to hair loss.

Our expert can check if hormone levels, hormonal imbalance, nutrition, stress, or skin disorders could be at fault. You may be directed to have a hair loss blood test or have your iron levels or thyroid hormone levels tested as well.

Some causes of hair loss can be related to:

• Pregnancy
• Autoimmune disease. Alopecia areata is a rare autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the hair follicles leading to hair loss.
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
• Illness. Hair loss may develop after a significant illness, such as severe infection, high fever, or surgery
• Low Iron levels (Anemia)
• Excess of vitamin A
• Thyroid disorders
• Psoriasis
• Seborrheic dermatitis
• Dramatic weight loss
• Emotional stress
• Certain medications. Those that are used to treat cancer, can cause hair loss as a side effect. However, hair usually regrows once medication ceases.
• Traction alopecia. Hairstyles that pull the hair too tightly.

Hormonal imbalance and hair loss

Although, as said heredity is by far the most common cause of balding in both men and women. Though, hair loss can also be related to hormonal imbalance and/or stress. As an indication, thinning hair can serve as one of the first signs of a hormonal imbalance.

For instance, women who are going through menopause or have been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid, or anyone who experiences a traumatic event are susceptible to hair loss.

When hormones are functioning normally, they regulate various functions, such as your appetite, fluid balance, sex drive, fertility, moods, as well as your hair growth. Throughout our lives, hormones perform vital functions for our overall health and well-being. However, our bodies can, at times, either produce too many or too few of the hormones we need. As a result, these imbalances can throw normal processes out of whack, including the natural hair growth cycle.

How Do Hormones Affect Hair Growth and Loss?

As a fact, multiple hormones can impact the growth, strength, and health of our hair. Therefore, the most common problems with hormone imbalances that can contribute to hair shedding and hair loss include:

• DHT: DHT plays an active role in sexual development and physical appearance. However, if too much testosterone gets converted into DHT, then the natural growth cycle of hair is disrupted. Consequently, it causes hair follicle shrinkage or elimination and ultimately results in shedding or thinning hair.
• Menopause:  Women going through menopause produce lower levels of estrogen and progesterone. Those are two hormones critical for hair growth and the health of hair follicles. As these hormone levels decrease, hair growth slows while follicles become thin, brittle, and more vulnerable to damage. Even worse, the decrease in hair-promoting hormones is followed by an increase in androgens. These hormones trigger follicle miniaturization on the scalp. As a result, miniaturisation makes hair more susceptible to falling out.
• Insulin Resistance. When the body fails to regulate insulin production properly, the body can build up a resistance to this hormone. In turn, this can lead to an increased risk of androgenetic alopecia, or pattern baldness.

Can Menopause Cause Hair Loss?

Menopause is an inevitable part of life for women. Women naturally produce a large amount of the estrogen hormone as well as a small amount of testosterone hormone. However, as their estrogen levels decrease during and after menopause, their testosterone increases. As a result, the testosterone within their hair follicles is converted into a strong hormone – dihydrotestosterone (DHT) – which can inactivate hair follicles, thus leading to hair loss.

How Does Stress Cause Hair Loss?

Stress hormones can be just as harmful. Your hair follicles need a continuous supply of oxygen, protein, vitamins, and minerals to nourish their cells. With excessive stress, blood is diverted from your skin to your muscles and brain as part of the natural “fight-or-flight response”.  Consequently, the blood vessels supplying your hair follicles will constrict. The resulting reduction in the flow of nutrients causes your hair to lose its luster, and to become thinner.

In addition, stress also disrupts the natural life cycle of your hair follicles, causing them to enter the telogen or shedding phase.  As a consequence, you lose more hair than usual. Usually, follicles around your head are all in different growth phases, so some follicles shed their hair while most are growing normally.  Normally, you only lose a certain number of hairs per day however if the body has experienced a stressful event, you will likely shed many more hairs suddenly. The good news is that it is often temporary.

Hair Restoration in London, Harley Street

If you suspect that you have a hormone imbalance, or if you are noticing much more hair loss than usual, book a free consultation at Nar London. If either hormonal imbalance or stress is causing noticeable hair loss, there are treatments such as PRP or PRF and Mesotherapy that can stem the tide and restore your hair to its more youthful appearance

So how do we find the underlying cause and is it possible to treat it?

At Nar London, we offer Advance Blood Tests to find out the underlying issues of hair loss & thinning. And we have some great treatments to improve.

Remember hormones affect our body and hair, but they are not the only reason for hair loss.

At Nar London, you can book a Hair Loss Consultation (£50 that can be redeemed against the treatment).   At that appointment, we can assess your condition and take you through the possible tests & treatments. Alternatively, book directly your treatment online.