One perennial question we get is how will menopause affect my hair? The short answer is, it’s complicated, but hair loss is not certain to happen.
1. Normal Aging Process
We all are born, we age, and then we die. Menopause is part of the normal aging process. Menopause signals the end of menstruation and child-bearing years for a woman, and along with it comes many subtle body changes, including, alas, some hair loss for many women.
2. Hormonal Changes
We know that there are several hormones that influence hair loss including DHT (dihydrotestosterone), estrogen, and thyroid hormones. There are many hormonal changes during menopause that affect all three of these hormones.
3. Heredity
As we mentioned last time, your genetic makeup also influences female pattern hair loss (FPHL). Do you have lots of female relatives that had thinning hair later in life? While we cannot change a person’s genetic predisposition, we can alter how different genes are expressed.
4. Calories and Nutrition
Many women notice a slowing down of their metabolism and associated weight gain during and after menopause. Adequate calories, protein, and nutrition, however, is essential for healthy hair. Some recent research suggests that altering a woman’s diet during and after menopause could possibly prevent the female pattern hair loss commonly associated with menopause.
It’s important that the diet should include all of the nutrients and trace minerals needed for healthy hair. This means there needs to be, for example, enough vitamin C for creation of hair shafts and enough vitamin D, which promotes hair follicle differentiation.
A diet low in heavily processed foods and sugar and high in colorful fruits and vegetables is a good first step. Even if you’ve never really cared much about what you ate when you were in your twenties and thirties, it’s not too late to make some healthy changes to prevent further hair loss during menopause.
The good news is that as they age, women do not typically see the same damage to hair follicles that men do, which makes it often easier for women to regrow hair than it is for men.
Any woman experiencing sudden or significant hair loss should see her family doctor. We would recommend blood work to see the levels of different hormones and whether she has any vitamin deficiencies. We are here for you when you’re ready to start treatment for hair loss.
If you have any questions about treatment for hair loss or any of our products, we encourage you to call us directly at (844) 280-4680.
