How To Protect Your Hair And Stop Further Hair Loss
When hair loss happens, it can have a serious impact on your self-esteem. Styling your hair can become more difficult, and you may no longer feel like yourself. Many women with aging-related hair loss experience some degree of mental distress.
The good news is that pattern hair loss is treatable, and the earlier you start treating it, the more likely you are to experience positive results.
Below, weve shared hair loss treatments that you can use to protect and potentially regrow your hair, as well as habits and lifestyle changes that you can use to keep your hair thick, dense and healthy as you age.
Do High Testosterone Levels Cause Hair Loss
More than 25% of women over the age of 50 experience significant hair loss. Perimenopause causes a number of physical and emotional changes to the body, one of which is hair loss. In some women, hair loss during menopause can trigger profound self-confidence issues. Hair loss is usually caused by hormonal imbalances, such as high testosterone.
Causes Of Hair Loss In Women
Androgenetic alopecia, a type of hair loss commonly called male or female pattern baldness, was only partially understood until the last few decades. For many years, scientists thought that androgenetic alopecia was caused by the predominance of the male sex hormone, testosterone, which women also have in trace amounts under normal conditions. But while testosterone is at the core of the balding process, dihydrotestosterone is now thought to be the main culprit.
DHT, a derivative of the male hormone testosterone, is the enemy of hair follicles on your head. Simply put, under certain conditions DHT wants those follicles dead. This simple action is at the root of many kinds of hair loss.
Testosterone converts to DHT with the aid of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase. Scientists now believe that it’s not the amount of circulating testosterone that’s the problem but the level of DHT binding to receptors in scalp follicles. DHT shrinks hair follicles, making it impossible for healthy hair to survive.
The hormonal process of testosterone converting to DHT, which then harms hair follicles, happens in both men and women. Under normal conditions, women have a minute fraction of the level of testosterone that men have, but even a lower level can cause DHT- triggered hair loss in women.
Hair loss can also be caused by an imbalance of thyroid hormones or pregnancy, disease, and certain medications, which can all influence hair’s growth and shedding phases.
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Pcos Can Be A Trigger
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in women in which the body manufactures more androgens, or male hormones, than it normally should. It is a potential cause of hormonal hair loss in women. Women who suffer from this condition may grow facial hair and extra body hair. One of the other symptoms of this condition is thinning of hair on the head. Women affected with PCOS may also experience weight gain, acne, menstrual irregularities, ovulation problems, depression, and infertility. Hair thinning may be the only outward sign that a woman is suffering from this condition.
What Can I Do
- The appearance of menopausal hair loss can sometimes be improved by cosmetic practices, e.g. reducing the use of straighteners, hair dryers and other heat damaging tools. This along with the use of thickening shampoos and conditioners may improve hair appearance.
- A healthy, varied diet is a contributing factor to a healthy body, so a nutritional review may be helpful.
- Topical solutions to increase hair growth can be purchased. These take several months to take effect and must be used on an ongoing basis, or hair loss will return.
- Laser devices that emit low-energy laser light may stimulate hair growth to help fight thinning hair. Laser therapy is best carried out by a hairdresser or therapist with experience and training on these devices. The long-term safety and effectiveness are unknown.
- Some medications have side effects that could include hair loss. Make sure to talk to your doctor if youve noticed significant hair loss and you think that your medicine might be the cause.
- An important function of hair is to protect the scalp from sunlight it is therefore important to protect any bald areas of your scalp from the sun to prevent sunburn and to reduce the chances of developing long-term sun damage.
- Be reassured. Most menopause related hair loss does slow down with time.
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Hormone Replacement Therapy For Menopausal Hair Loss
Hormone replacement therapy, sometimes called menopausal hormone therapy, is a popular treatment among menopausal and postmenopausal women who wants to supplement the estrogen that the body loses upon reaching menopause age.
HRT can improve the effects of menopause and provide relief from its discomforting symptoms. Likewise, it can offer benefits for serious health complications that older and postmenopausal women may be at risk for such as osteoporosis and colon cancer. There are two main types of hormone therapy:
How To Manage Symptoms Of Hair Loss During Menopause
The good thing about menopausal hair thinning and hair loss is that it is not a permanent condition. Your hair will still grow back but it may take some time. Fortunately, there are ways that can help manage its symptoms and prevent severe hair loss. Here are some tips to keep your hair healthy during menopause:
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What Can I Do To Prevent Menopause Hair Loss
1. Eat plenty of good foodsA balanced diet fill of vitamins and minerals and is low in saturated fat.
2. Add SupplementsA daily multivitamin or mineral supplement to get the nutrients you may have missed in your diet and help to replenish key nutrients.
3. Exercise RegularlyExercise can help in keeping your mood swings in check, maintaining your weight, and helping you sleep, all of which help to contribute to hormonal balance and promote healthy hair growth.
4. Stay HydratedStaying hydrated can keep your skin and hair healthy and also improve blood circulation, which keeps your follicles nourished.
5. Look after your hairUse a gentle, moisturising shampoo and conditioner when you wash your hair. Choose products that are made specifically for dry or damaged hair that will increase its elasticity.
Estrogen Increases The Amount Of Time That Hair Spends In The Growing Phase So When Estrogen Declines Hair Loses These Protective Effects
Estrogen increases the amount of time that hair spends in the growing phase, so when estrogen declines, hair loses these protective effects. Additionally, androgenic effects of testosterone can also be intensified where testosterones metabolite dihydrotestosterone can produce progressively weaker hair due to the follicles failure to thrive . When menopausal symptoms are present, a simple-to-collect saliva test can assess the levels of estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone, and help both patient and practitioner decide on the best therapeutic strategy.
PCOS: This is a common female endocrine disorder based on a cluster of symptoms, with hyperandrogenism taking center stage . In PCOS, the Alice in Wonderland equivalent reality of elevated androgens, women lose scalp hair, while simultaneously growing hair in places where men usually get it and where women certainly dont want it face, chest and back. Although there is no cure for PCOS, treatment is usually focused on managing symptoms. A laboratory workup is typically performed for saliva steroids and blood levels of HbA1c and fasting insulin.
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What Is Hair Loss
Hair loss is a common problem these days and no single factor can be attributed to it. Hair loss afflicts millions of peopleand not just men, though their hair loss is often the most noticeable. Most women, too, experience some degree of hair loss as they grow older. The causes of hair loss are several and vary from person to person. Creative Image Laser Solutions in Brownwood, Texas will help get your hair, and confidence back. Contact us today to schedule a consultation for hair loss treatments.
How To Talk To Your Doctor About Compounding
We work with many doctors who understand the importance of compounding, and how to prescribe compounded medications. But if the doctor you see and with whom you have a great doctor-patient relationship is unfamiliar with our process, were happy to discuss compounding with him or her.
To make it easier to open up the conversation of compounding with your trusted doctor, weve created this webpage for doctors to understand the importance of custom-made compounds.
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Implications Of Hormone Therapies In Hair Loss
Many authors, including those of this review, suggest authors hypothesize that hair loss in addition to acne and hirsutism are side effects attributable to the androgenic effect of progestogens . Additionally, some data have suggested an association between androgenic progestins and alopecia. A postmarketing surveillance study of Norplant, a levonorgestrel implant, noted statistically significant increased rates of alopecia in patients with the implant compared with controls . In another study aiming to assess the incidence of hair loss in women after insertion of a levonorgestrel IUD, the adverse effect of hair loss prompted some women to remove their device upon removal, some women experienced recovery of their hair loss, which suggests a causal association . This study was met by the severe limitations of reliance on physician reporting of hair loss and inadequate follow-up. In a Finnish study of almost 18,000 women, 15.7% of women with levonorgestrel IUDs reported hair loss . However, authors did not provide details that could support causality, such as timeline of insertion and removal of device, duration and severity of hair loss/growth, and other risk factors for alopecia.
Hair Loss During Menopausal Transition
Hair loss during the menopausal transition can be just as dramatic as menopausal hair loss. The two are both related to the same changes in hormone levels. The menopausal transition is the time leading up to menopause and can last several years. During the menopausal transition, fluctuating hormones can cause some of the same symptoms typically associated with menopause.
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Estrogen And Oral Contraceptive Drugs
The role of estrogen and progestogen drugs in the treatment of hair loss and growth is also unclear. Estrogen is made when androstenedione or testosterone are modified by the enzyme aromatase. It is synthesized in the ovary and other peripheral tissues and then travels to its receptors, some of which are located in scalp hair follicles . At the scalp follicle, estradiol has been reported to induce aromatase activity . Estrogen has been hypothesized to have a protective role against hair loss on the basis of the observation that patients with lower estrogen levels during menopause, postpartum, or treatment with aromatase inhibitors or selective estrogen receptor modulators are more likely to develop FPHL . Another supporting observation is that in the frontal hairline of women, which tends to be spared with FPHL, there is a higher level of aromatase enzyme when compared with the rest of the scalp . This variation in hair loss could be the result of locally increased levels of estradiol or decreased levels of testosterone and DHT that is secondary to greater amounts of conversion.
Hormone Replacement Therapy As A Hair Loss Treatment
Menopausal women may have another treatment option for their hair loss: hormone replacement therapy. Although controversial, these hormones available in estrogen and progesterone creams, pills, and patches can help prevent hair loss as well as ease menopause symptoms.
When women experience thinning hair and balding on the scalp, they have a number of options.
Women may opt for a topical treatment like minoxidil or ketoconazole shampoo as their hair loss treatment.
But women who are menopausal, experiencing severe hot flashes, and are prescribed hormone replacement therapy for their menopausal symptoms may get a double-whammy benefit: HRT can be a good treatment for hair loss, as well.
About Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy involves taking female hormones, typically estrogen and progestin together. Women may get these hormones in varying forms, including estrogen and progesterone creams, pills, and patches.
HRT is most often prescribed to help women combat the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause, including:
- Difficulty sleeping
- Hot flashes and night sweats
- Moodiness
- Loss of libido
Menopausal women may also take hormone replacement therapy to ward off osteoporosis, a bone-thinning condition that is common in women after menopause due to a drop in estrogen levels.
HRT and Hair Loss
So for women who have hair loss caused by low estrogen levels, hormone replacement therapy may restore estrogen levels, ward off menopausal symptoms and slow hair loss.
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What Is Androgenetic Alopecia
To understand the issue of transgender hormone replacement therapy and hair loss, it helps to start at the beginning. Androgenetic alopecia is a common cause for thinning hair in both men and women. The hair loss follows a pattern. For women, its a general, overall thinning that rarely leads to total hair loss, and womens hairlines are also not usually affected. For men, androgenetic alopecia hair loss starts in an M pattern that gradually fills in, generally leaving a semi-circle of hair on sides and back.
Hormonal Hair Loss: Improvements With Topical Minoxidil
With hormonal hair loss, the hair follicles are not being attacked by the immune system so hormonal hair loss is not an autoimmune disorder.
According to the American Skin Association, alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease where the hair follicles are damaged and often destroyed. âThere can also be short hairs that look as if they have broken off, called exclamation point hairs,â St. Surin-Lord says.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, topical minoxidil is the most common treatment for androgenic alopecia or hormonal hair loss as opposed to corticosteroids for non-hormonal hair loss treatment. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation and lower the immune response in alopecia areata.
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How Does Dht Cause Hair Loss
The androgens are actually known as hair growth hormones because they have anabolic effects on human hair. However, hair follicles at certain body sites respond negatively to DHT a phenomenon is known as the androgen paradox.
DHT stimulates facial and body hair growth, but also it activates several negative mediators in the human scalp, which cause the shrinking of the hair follicles. The hair gradually thins out leading to baldness.
The levels of DHT can increase if 5- reductase activity and T are high. However, increased sensitivity of its receptors in the hair follicle can speed up hair loss and lead to alopecia even if DHT levels are normal.
Evidence suggests that the sensitivity of these androgen receptors is largely determined by genetics