Hair loss is, and has never been, just a man’s illness. Women’s hair can thin just like men’s and for a variety of reasons, yet the topic is still far less openly discussed than male hair loss. In many cases, the hair loss is diagnosable and treatable, making it particularly important for women to talk about hair loss with their doctors. Here are some common factors that can cause and contribute to hair loss:
- Thyroid disorders: Both an overactive and an underactive thyroid can lead to hair loss.
- Low estrogen levels: Many women experience hair loss during and after menopause, when estrogen levels begin to drop. Other hormonal changes – changes in oral contraceptive use, for example -- can also trigger hair loss.
- Post-pregnancy hormonal changes: Similarly, new moms may find that they’re shedding a lot of hair in the first one to six months after delivery, when their estrogen levels return to normal. Actually, what seems like excessive hair loss is really hair’s natural growth cycle regulating itself, as high hormone levels tend to keep women from losing normal amounts of hair during pregnancy.
- Telogen effluvium: This is the general term for sudden, temporary hair loss as a result of recent stress or surgery, which typically occurs around two months after the causative event or illness. (It may also be used to describe sudden hair loss as a result of other factors on this list, such as post-pregnancy hormonal changes.)
- Low iron levels: Iron deficiency, with or without anemia, can lead to hair loss. Do not simply start taking an iron supplement without having your iron checked by a physician because too much iron can also lead to health problems.
- Medications: Many medications may lead to hair loss. If this is a concern, talk to your doctor about potential alternatives
If you are experiencing hair loss, the first step is to determine the underlying cause and eliminate it. The best place to start is with a doctors exam with blood work. Your physician can then determine your iron levels, thyroid levels, and estrogen status – and that will help in recognizing or ruling out many of these causes. If your physician does not uncover a easily reversible cause for the hair loss, though, it may be the unavoidable result of genetics, or other forms of alopecia. We will learn more about in the weeks ahead, as well as offering information for support groups, and such. If you don’t already know, I have a mild form of alopecia, so I know a little bit about this one.
On a lighter note this week, remember it’s Earth Week, and there’s is no better than now to think about reducing, reusing and recycling. We are doing as much as we can at our salon, and we are working on redoing our Web site to reflect some of our practices, so check it out often. In this regard, I would like to challenge all of our readers to do just one more to help our environment than they have before. Change a light bulb out to a CFL. Turn off your computer every night. Do your laundry in cold water, whatever. If everyone does one more thing, we will be that much farther ahead. Will you? Let us know. Have a beautiful day.
