Hormonal Causes

uuuChildbirth – many women notice that their hair during pregnancy looks great, thick and lustrous but this changes after bir th! Like most symptoms relating to pregnancy this is hormonerelated. The raised levels of oestrogen during pregnancy lengthen the growing phase so less hair falls out. After bir th as the oestrogen levels return to normal, all the hair that was expected to fall out during pregnancy but didn’t begins to fall out all at about the same time – so it seems like a lot, though it is totally normal. This hair loss generally star ts at about three months after deliver y, though it can be a bit later with breastfeeding.

Menopause – the hormone changes related to the menopause can also result in thinning of the hair. For some women this is a generalised thinning, and for others it can lead to female pattern hair loss in which the thinning is mostly at the crown of the head. Although thinning is common, with

1 in 3 Caucasian women over the age of 70 being af fected, this tends to be thinning only – baldness is rare. Hormone replacement therapy may help in this situation. Hypothyroidism – having an underactive thyroid gland can lead to hair loss on the head, but the outer third of the eyebrows are also often lost. Hypothyroidism is picked up with a simple blood test and is treated with oral thyroxine, to bring the thyroid hormone levels back up to normal. Once the levels are stabilised, your hair will star t to grow back, though due to the length of the hair cycle, this may take some time. – your hair needs fuel, and ver y low calorie or crash diets are a form of physical stress which may lead to hair loss.