You can have your hormones off balance and not know it until the high or low levels manifest themselves in some kind of physical presentation. For women, having a hormonal imbalance can often lead to several health issues – including one that many women consider the most upsetting.
That issue is embarrassing hair loss. This is usually one of the most common symptoms that occurs with a hormone imbalance that drives women to the doctor to get their levels tested.
When hormones are out of balance, it can cause hair loss for a number of reasons, but there are treatments available. Finding out the hormone responsible is key to stopping the hair loss from continuing to happen.
Sometimes, hair loss can occur when hormones fluctuate – such as during pregnancy or during menopause. If that’s the case, the problem is usually caused by changes in the level of estrogen in your body.
Restoring the estrogen levels stops the hair loss. Many women find that as they grow older, their hair begins to thin noticeably. This is because women can begin to experience lower levels of estrogen as early as forty years of age.
By the time they reach perimenopause, the estrogen levels are simply too low for healthy hair production. But you don’t have to reach the perimenopause stage to experience hair loss.
There are other reasons behind the condition. You can have off balance progesterone levels as one cause of hair loss. Certain birth control pills can also cause a woman’s hair to begin to thin – and in some cases, can lead to hair falling out in patches.
For women whose bodies produce too much androgen, which is a male hormone, this can cause hair loss that’s commonly associated with men. In situations like this, a woman will often notice male pattern baldness or a receding hair line.
Having too much androgen, especially combined with low estrogen, causes the hair you have to fall out and works to prevent hair from growing back. You must have both male and female hormones in order to have good hair health.
If one or the other is out of balance, it will cause hair loss or hair growth in various parts of the body depending on which hormone is the most prevalent. For women with too much male hormone, the hair on the head will thin, but hair on the face will grow.
If the hormones that are produced by your thyroid are out of balance, this will lead to mild thinning hair when it first begins. When it goes untreated, it leads to noticeable thinness due to hair falling out. Both an underactive as well as an overactive thyroid can affect hair growth.
