Menopause is a time in women’s lives when they experience changes in their hormones. These hormonal changes can cause a change in hair texture and color, hair thinning, or even baldness. The most common reason for these changes is your hormone levels. The change in hormone levels causes the scalp to produce less oil, which makes hair dry and brittle.
Another reason could be that your body becomes more sensitive to certain medications that you take for other health conditions.
We have put together this useful guide to how menopause can affect your hair texture. Keep reading to find out more about what to expect, why it happens, and what you can do.
Why Does Hair Go Gray?
As you get older, hydrogen peroxide begins to build up in your hair follicles. This means that the hair bleaches itself, causing it to turn gray. This causes a change in hair texture, as gray hair tends to be coarse and thick. It can be quite wiry and hard to control.
A lot of people decide to dye their hair to minimize the gray. Others may choose to go gray. If you decide to try going gray, keep in mind it can be very stylish if you know what to do with it. The right haircut can turn your graying hair from a disaster into a delight. Speak to a hairstylist about how to work with your gray hair. Short hairstyles often work best for gray hair.
How To Keep Gray Hair Healthy
It can be challenging to keep gray hair in good condition. It is usually drier and doesn’t feel as smooth or silky to the touch. As your hair goes gray, make sure you use a leave-in conditioner to help it retain some of its moisture and shine. You can buy shampoo, conditioner, and styling products made specifically for gray hair, so it might be worth trying those. You can also use a protein treatment to restore the health of your gray hair.
One of the biggest tips for making the most of your gray hair and keeping it healthy is to embrace your natural texture. Gray hair is stubborn, so if you try to over-style it with heat then you will be fighting a losing battle and could do a lot of damage to your hair in the process. If your hair is wavy or curly then embrace it- choose products to lean into the style rather than fight against it.
Another top tip is to use an oil or serum to tame gray hair. A little bit of hair oil rubbed into your palms and smoothed over your hair can keep flyaway hairs in place and give your hair a more shiny and glossy appearance. It also smells amazing!
Why Do Hormones Change Your Hair?
When women go through hormonal changes it can have a big effect on their hair. A lot of women say that being pregnant made their hair super healthy, thick, and shiny due to their hormones. Unfortunately, menopausal hormonal changes tend to have the opposite effect. Your hair could become thin, coarse, and difficult to manage.
As you go through menopause, the levels of estrogen and progesterone in your body will become lower. Your oil glands will produce less oil which makes your hair drier. This not only changes the texture of your hair but could also cause your hair to fall out.
A third of women will experience alopecia in their lifetime, but after menopause that rises to two-thirds. Stress and thyroid issues can also cause changes to your hair.
Most women begin to notice these changes in their mid-40s, which can lead to low confidence and self-esteem. Telltale signs of hair loss include excessive hair in your hairbrush, hair left behind on your pillow, and more hair in the shower drain. You might also notice that your ponytail appears thinner or shorter, and you might even see patches of hair missing.
So how can you cope with these changes?
How To Manage Hormonal Changes To Hair Texture
There are medications that you can take to try and counteract these changes to your hair. You can also take different vitamins and supplements to keep your hair looking healthy.
For example, the B vitamin Biotin is good to help thicken your hair. Omega 3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, D, and E are also really good when it comes to keeping you healthy.
You should also ensure that you are drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, as this will help your hair to retain moisture.
If you want to spend a bit more money on maintaining your locks then you could consider laser devices or laser treatment to stimulate regrowth.
You can also spend money on hair products that are designed to boost volume and thicken your hair, though the results are only temporary.
There are some more simple solutions you can try. Keeping your hair well-conditioned and avoiding excessive heat styling can keep it looking healthier and slow down the thinning process.
You could also try a blunt hairstyle to make your hair look thicker. Layering thin hair makes it look even thinner. A short hairstyle could also help to reduce the weight of your hair and give it more volume.
A lot of people try to blow dry their hair to give it more volume. However, blow drying your hair will often take away a lot of the natural volume of the body of their hair.
You should try to let your hair dry naturally, then style it to make the most of any natural volume and body. Heat styling will also make your hair drier, which could encourage it to fall out even faster.
Avoid styling your hair in a way that puts pressure on the roots and follicles. Loose styles are better than tight ones, and you should try not to pull or twist your hair too much. Brush your hair gently without tugging and putting strain on it.
If you need to tackle a tricky knot, make sure you brush from the ends of the hair and work your way up, holding your hair above the area you are brushing to protect the roots.
It is important to wash your hair to keep it clean and in good condition. However, over-washing it can lead to dryness, and being too vigorous when scrubbing the scalp could cause more hair loss.
Why Do Some People Experience More Hair Changes Than Others?
Some people seem to suffer more greatly from the hormonal changes of menopause and the effect that this has on your hair. It doesn’t seem fair, but it all comes down to biology.
Your genes will have a big effect on how your hair deals with hormonal changes. If your hair follicles are stronger, they will have a better chance of standing up against the challenges of menopause.
Hair is made of protein, which means that the strength of your hair depends on the bonds of the amino acids that form the protein. If your amino acids have strong bonds then your hair will be stronger. Some people’s hormones will change and fluctuate more than others, or at a faster rate. This will also have an impact on how the body reacts to menopause, including hair.
If you have any pre-existing medical conditions then this will also change your body’s capability of reacting to the changes in hormones.
Lifestyle choices also have a part to play. If you eat a poor diet with little nutrients then your hair will not be getting the vitamins and nutrients it needs to stay healthy, which means it will dry up and change texture much faster.
If you have a long history of heat styling your hair then it will already have sustained a significant amount of damage, leaving it vulnerable.
Menopause And Facial Hair
To add insult to injury, whilst you are losing hair from your scalp there is a good chance that you might begin to grow some on your face. It is common for women going through menopause to grow hairs on their nose, chin, or upper lip.
While this is normal, it can make some people feel self-conscious. If this is the case, then there are several methods you can use to remove the hair. You could carefully tweeze the hair. You could also shave the hair, though this will result in a bit of stubble as it grows back. Alternatively, you could use hair removal cream. Make sure you carry out a patch test on a small bit of skin before you cover a large area, as you could have a bad reaction to the chemicals in the cream.
Summary
Menopause can cause lots of changes to your hair. It could change color, change texture, become thinner, or even fall out.
While this can be upsetting, there are things that you can do to keep your hair healthy and reduce the impact of these changes.