Menopause can affect hair texture in a few key ways. As estrogen levels decline during perimenopause and menopause, the hair growth cycle may change, leading to alterations in hair texture. Some key things that may happen include:
- Hair coarsening - Many women notice their hair becoming drier, more brittle, and feeling coarser in texture. The hair strands tend to become a bit thicker.
- Increased shedding - Hormonal shifts can trigger telogen effluvium. This leads to increased daily hair shedding rates, sometimes up to 3-4 times higher than normal.
- Loss of curl - For women with curly or wavy hair, the texture sometimes straightens out to become straighter during menopause. The decrease in hormones likely impacts the structure and shape of the hair follicle.
- Unmanageable hair - Many menopausal women struggle with hair that seems uncontrollable, dry and frizzy. Products don't seem as effective. Styling becomes more difficult.
Why menopause alters hair texture
- Estrogen levels dropping - This major hormonal shift impacts hair follicles. Estrogen normally promotes thicker, faster hair growth. As levels decline, that changes.
- Hormonal imbalances - Besides estrogen dropping, relative increases in testosterone levels can contribute to hair texture issues. Imbalances are common in perimenopause.
- Aging processes - Advancing age leads to structural changes in hair strands and follicles. Combined with hormonal aging, this further alters hair texture.
Key ways to manage texture changes:
- Protein treatments - Keratin, collagen and other conditioning treatments boost moisture and smooth out coarse, dry hair texture.
- Scalp massage - Massaging the scalp improves microcirculation, stimulates growth factors and can reduce shedding rates.
- Laser devices - Low level laser treatments can help grow thicker hair while making it shinier and healthier.
- Nutrient support - Ensuring adequate intakes of iron, zinc, vitamin D and protein supports healthier hair growth.
- Medications - In some cases, short-term hormone medications (like DHEA or testosterone) may help stabilize hair changes.
If you're struggling with textural hair changes during menopause or perimenopause, know that you're not alone. Many women are impacted. Getting to the root cause via testing, boosting nutrients, treatments and seeing a specialist can help get your hair health back on track during this transition.
The experts at
Wellness Hormone Clinic specialize in customized care plans to help address hair and other changes related to perimenopause, menopause and
andropause. We offer advanced hormone testing, including our patent-approved
Perimenopause Panel to dig into your unique hormonal situation. Based on your hormone balance and symptoms, we tailor bioidentical
hormone therapy, nutrient plans, hair restoration treatments like PRP and laser devices along with lifestyle changes to help you feel your best again. Contact us today for a free 15-minute consultation to learn about our individualized solutions.
