Hormone Changes Can Lead to Hair Loss in Women
Dr. Raymond Konior is a leading hair restoration specialist in the Chicago area, helping men and women who are dealing with hair loss, female hair thinning, and male pattern baldness.
We receive a number of questions from women concerned about hair thinning and hair loss. Let's take a moment right now to address hormonal imbalances, the most common reason why women experience changes in their hair growth and hair density.
Hormones Can Have an Impact on Hair Growth and Hair Loss
When men or women experience changes in their hormone levels, this can lead to hair growth and hair loss in varying degrees. These hormones often have an affect on the cycle of hair follicles, resulting in changes to the growth and rest phases, which can lead to hair thinning. When the hair is shed from these follicles, new hair will not grow back to replace it until the follicle's rest phase changes.
For women, these hormone changes tend to be the most common cause of hair loss and hair thinning, which is different than the pattern baldness experienced by men.
What Causes Hormonal Changes in Women?
There are a number of different things that can cause hormonal changes in women. These include the following:
- Menopause
- Pregnancy
- Childbirth
- Thyroid issues
- Side effects from medications
- Eating disorders
- Nutritional deficiencies
It is also possible for a combination of the above to result in hair loss or hair thinning. Also keep in mind that after childbirth, women often shed hair, though they also experience fuller hair as a result of pregnancy, which means that hair loss after a birth of a child may simply return a woman's hair to its original thickness/density.
How Extensive Is the Hair Loss?
This can vary from patient to patient based on a whole variety of factors. Since hair loss is typically not noticed until almost half of one's regular hair growth is gone, the changes in hair thickness can be quite significant.
Will the Hair I've Lost Grow Back?
Yes, in the vast majority of cases the hair that you have lost will return if hormone levels return to normal. With some conditions, however, the hair may not grow back due to lasting changes in hormone levels. You can discuss these issues in greater detail with your general practitioner or hair loss specialist.
Treatment Options for Addressing Female Hair Loss
In a number of cases, the best options for treatment are taking multivitamins to address nutritional deficiencies or the use of drugs that help regulate or treat hormonal imbalances of various kinds. Dietary changes and other lifestyle alterations may be recommended as well to help improve hormone levels and general wellness. These are non-surgical therapies, and in general these approaches lead to satisfactory results and some degree of hair regrowth.
Some hair restoration specialists may recommend the use of topical minoxidil to help reduce the rate of hair loss and promote hair growth as well. It's is very rare for hair restoration surgery to be recommended in these cases simply given the more dispersed nature of female hair loss.
Contact Chicago Hair Institute
To learn more about the causes of female hair thinning and what options are available for reversing the progression and effects of hair loss, it's important that you contact our hair restoration and transplantation center today. We at Chicago Hair Institute will help you have a full and healthy head of hair.
