Whether it’s a punier ponytail, a noticeably wider parting or even being able to see your scalp, most women will notice hair thinning as they age. Helen Foster finds out why – and what might help
have you looked in the mirror and noticed that you have, well, less hair than you used to? If so, don’t panic. The good news is that in many cases of age-related hair loss, the hair isn’t actually falling out at all. Instead, the way it’s growing is changing. ‘As we get older, the shaft through which hair grows gets thinner and the hairs become finer – and that can make it look as if you’ve got less hair,’ explains hair health specialist Sally-Ann Tarver, from Cotswold Trichology. The bad news is that this natural hair thinning can also be compounded by a second problem, androgenetic alopecia, which can cause additional hair thinning on the top of the head, particularly around the parting.
‘In women susceptible to this condition, the hair follicle becomes sensitive to a substance called dihydrotestosterone, created when we break down testosterone,’ says Sally-Ann. ‘This shortens the hair’s growth cycle and lengthens the resting cycle, meaning you have less hair on your head at any one time.’ This can happen at any age but is more common during the menopausal years, as the fall in oestrogen levels makes testosterone more dominant.
Both of these problems develop very slowly, so if you suddenly start noticing more hair in your brush, something else is afoot: a mismatch between the amount of hair growing and falling out. Normally, 85% of your hair is growing and just 15% is shedding.
But if something disrupts this balance, more hair falls, explains trichologist (a hair health specialist) Dawn Hilton, who practises in West Yorkshire. And one common cause of this in midlife and beyond is a shift in hormone levels. This can be caused by rapidly declining levels of oestrogen, stopping hormonal contraception, or deciding to come off hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
‘Oestrogen is hair-protective,’ explains Dawn. ‘If levels are high, more hairs are kept in the growing phase; if you remove it, you’ll shed faster.’ But there can be other triggers;
Dawn says she’s seen more women post- Covid, ‘as illness, particularly high fever, can interrupt the hair growth cycle’.
Stress can also trigger the hair to shed.
But by far the biggest culprits, says Dawn, are nutritional deficiencies. Low levels of protein, iron, B12 and vitamin D can all upset the growing cycle and accelerate the appearance of hair thinning.
TREATMENTS TO RESTORE HAIR GROWTH
None of these issues lead to total hair loss, and there are steps you can take to help restore hair growth. While you wait for these treatments to work (see right), sometimes all you’ll need to regain your co
