Your hair can be greatly impacted during perimenopause and menopause, becoming thinner and losing more hair than usual. This week I take a look at, why menopause can cause thinning hair and hair loss, the signs to look out and what you can do to help your hair.

They say our hair is our crowning glory. And it’s true, isn’t it? When you have bad hair days, oh my goodness, that can affect the way that you feel for the whole day. It can affect your confidence. It can affect the way you feel about yourself and also, how you interact with other people.

The problem in menopause is that a lot of things can happen that can affect your hair and that in turn will affect your mood and how you feel about everything in the world around you.

Why does menopause cause thinning hair and hair loss?

So, let’s take a look at why this happens and the common causes during perimenopause and menopause:

Hormonal changes

It’s known that falling oestrogen levels can affect your hair growth in quite a lot of different ways. It can cause thinning hair and it can cause hair to grow more slowly.

It is also known that falling oestrogen levels can affect the size of our hair follicles. So, if they start to shrink, your hair is going to get a lot thinner. It’s going to get a lot more brittle. It’s going to fall out much more easily as well.

Nutritional needs increasing

It can also be to do with nutrition. You may think your hair is really important, but as far as your body is concerned, your hair is the last thing on the list of priorities. When going through menopause, your nutritional needs go sky-high because of all the physical changes that are going on, and your body will use the nutrition that you give it to deal with the important things.

If you’re not giving your body enough nutrition, then your hair is very often the first thing that suffers. So, the condition of your hair can often be a good indication of what the rest of your body needs.

Stress

Many women experience heightened stress in perimenopause and menopause, one way or another, either physically or emotionally. And that in itself can have a big impact on your hair because it also burns up nutrients. So, in this situation, again, there’s going to be far fewer nutrients to spare for your lovely, beautiful hair.

Other health issues

It could also be due to other health issues. Low thyroid function can affect our hair quite dramatically. Low iron can also cause hair loss and hair thinning. So especially if you’re in perimenopause and you’re getting more heavy frequent bleeds, that can very quickly have an impact on your iron levels and hair.

Signs of menopausal hair loss and thinning hair

Everyone loses hair every day, but there are a few signs to look out for which indicate your hair is thinning or you are losing more than before. These include:

• You find that you’re having to clean your hairbrush more frequently
• More hair is trapped in the shower drain than there used to be
• You may find that there’s more on your pillow or your clothes, or that you seem to be picking up a lot more hair when you’re hoovering
• You find more hair on your pillow, clothing, around the house, in the hoover
• If you’ve got long hair, you notice that your ponytail is getting thinner
• Your hair is not growing as long as it used to
• You might find that you’re getting a lot of split ends as well
• You might find that your parting is getting a bit wide, so especially if you have dark hair, you can see more of the scalp
• You may also find that it gets thinner around the crown of your head and your temples
• Your hair is flatter, with less body and fullness to it.

Is menopausal hair loss permanent?

So, a lot of women ask me, is this permanent? Menopause symptoms often resolve as time goes on and your body gets more used to less oestrogen, but it depends on the main cause of your hair loss.

So, if poor nutrition and stress are causing or making hair loss worse, then this is something that you really have to address. It’s not going to resolve on its own. So, as soon as you get any signs, that’s when you need to step in to stop things from deteriorating.

What can you do to help your hair in perimenopause and menopause?

There are several things you can do to help your hair and reduce or prevent menopausal hair loss. Here are a few things I recommend:

Reduce the stress: I know that’s a lot easier said than done. But things like magnesium and stress remedies can help support your nervous system and ease stress.

And who would have thought that half an hour’s rest and relaxation a day will help your hair? But rest and relaxation are really important.

Eat well: Remember what I said about our nutritional needs – it is so important to eat well. Add loads of dark green leafy vegetables, fruits, healthy grains and protein to your diet.

Your protein needs go up quite considerably in menopause and postmenopause, so you need to make sure that you’re getting enough for your hair as well.

Eat more phytoestrogen-rich food. Try to include these in your diet daily to help balance oestrogen naturally. To find out more about these types of food, head over to my blog 5 oestrogen-rich foods for menopause.

Protect your hair from heat and chemicals: Try and reduce the use of things such as hairdryers and hair straighteners to reduce the amount of damage caused by heat.

Also, what kind of products are you using? Are you using shampoos, conditioners, hair sprays, and everything else that has lots of chemicals in them? If your hair is thinning and it’s getting a lot weaker and brittle, then these hair products can really cause further damage. So, look at going for organic or natural products, and these can really make a lot of difference.

Look at natural supplements: For me, at one point through my menopause, I found my hair was starting to thin and I thought, “Okay, I’m obviously not taking care of myself as much as I should. I need supplements. I need to get extra protein into my diet as well.” So, I found a supplement called MSM, really helpful, and I still take that daily.

B vitamins are really important for hair growth as well and they’re also involved in supporting your nervous system. So, if you’re stressed, B vitamins can help both your nervous system and your hair.

With the protein, if you’re vegetarian or vegan, or you don’t want extra meat or fish in your diet, then a good quality, plant-based protein powder daily can sometimes make a difference.

And you can also get really good hair complex products at your local health food shop. So, you pay a visit and they will offer you one that will help in your particular situation. Very often, there’s one specifically for females that contains a combination of things like MSM, B vitamins, and other nutrients that are important for hair growth.

Urticalcin has a number of uses as a herbal food supplement. Silicea, in combination with extracts of freshly harvested stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), helps to support healthy hair growth. I recommend A.Vogel’s Urticalcin Silicea & Nettle Extract (£6.99, avogel.co.uk).