Peri-menopause and Hair Loss: Why Your Hair May Be Thinning After 35
Peri-menopause starts affecting our bodies very quietly, long before bloodwork indicates that anything has changed. The natural aging process can cause changes in hair texture, density, and overall hair health that can become concerning. Understanding how hormones affect our hair, and what signs to look for, can empower you to identify changes early and take the most effective steps toward giving your hair the support it needs.
3 signs hormones may be affecting your hair
Your part is widening - There could be a couple of factors at play here. For women, genetic hair loss typically follows a pattern that makes hair noticeably thinner toward the face, and thicker toward the back of the head. Also, shifting hormones can shorten the hair growth cycle and lengthen the hair shedding cycle, which leads to less hair density overall.
Your scalp is more visible - You may notice that it is becoming harder to cover your scalp around your hairline. Your bangs may look thinner or become harder to style the way you've always styled them. When you put your hair in a ponytail, it looks sparse on the sides, or it may become harder to disguise a receding hairline. Collagen is crucial for anchoring the hair into the follicle and our levels steadily decline after our 20's. This not only leads to the thinning of our hair, but also to the loss of the "underbrush," so to speak. These are tiny little hairs covering the scalp that are abundant when we're younger but aren't really noticeable to the naked eye until they're gone. To add insult to injury, anti-aging beauty products and even chemical sunscreens can worsen this problem.
You have areas of hair that won't grow - These are little short hairs, usually around your face, that never seem to grow past a certain length. Sometimes the cause of this can be ponytail elastics that are too tight or excessive heat styling on these fragile hairs. If these things aren't a factor, the cause is most likely the shortened growth cycle related to hormonal fluctuations.
All of these factors can be confirmed by looking under the microscope and doing a full Hair+Scalp Assessment. Once we know what you're working with it becomes much easier to focus on the specific factors that are affecting you, instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach and hoping for results.
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