Menopause and your hair
Hair thinning and hair loss are really common perimenopause and menopause symptoms, which I explained, in detail, last week in my blog, including the signs of menopausal hair. But menopause can affect your hair in other ways, and not just the hair on your head but your hair on the rest of the body too.
Today, I am taking a look at some of the other hair issues which I also get asked about regularly, explaining why they can occur during perimenopause and menopause, and what you can do to help your hair if you experience any of these.
Other hair changes you can experience during perimenopause and menopause
So, let's take a look at some of these other hair issues:
1. Your hair can lose its shine and lustre
Very often, this happens because you are on a fat-free diet or you're using the wrong kind of shampoos and conditioners that are stripping the oil away.
So, if you just look in the mirror and think, "My hair is really dull," then you could look at a flax oil supplement. That can be great for getting the shine back. Also, If you remember, I spoke about this last week, you should try and use natural hair products that are a lot kinder to your hair.
2. You can grow unwanted facial hair
It can just be a single hair that keeps appearing and nothing you can do can get rid of it. Or you may find that you start to get a little bit of a 'six o'clock shadow', or you might find that the hair is starting to grow a lot thicker and more noticeable on your upper lip. A lot of women also find that they start to get that little bit of peach fuzz on the side of the neck and the cheek.
During perimenopause and menopause, as your oestrogen and progesterone start to decrease, your levels of testosterone (the main male hormone), also known as androgens, can become higher, which can cause unwanted facial hair to occur.
For single hairs, you can remove them with tweezers. I also find these tiny, little battery-operated round razors can be really good and very gentle on the skin. If there's a lot more, you can look at things like electrolysis.
If it's really bad and it's happening in other areas of the body, then it may well be worth speaking to your doctor. They may well be able to offer you some androgen-blocking medication if you feel that this is something that may be affecting your confidence or interfering with your daily life.
3. The hair all over your body can change
For some women, their all-over body hair can change, decreasing in some areas and increasing in others.
Your hair can start to disappear on your arms, your legs, and under the arms is a really common one, and also, pubic hair as well.
If it's to do with testosterone levels, you may find that you tend to grow more hair in these areas and again, it can be a lot thicker, wirier, and also darker.
Unfortunately, with this one, there's very little that can help supplement and herb-wise, but again you could speak to your doctor if you are concerned about it.
4. Your hair’s texture can change
This is a really interesting one because apparently, falling oestrogen can affect the size of your hair follicles on your scalp. So, you may find that you used to have lovely, straight hair, and suddenly, it's going curly, or you may find you had curly hair, and now, it's going straight. And that's just the lack of oestrogen affecting the shape, length, and size of your hair follicles.
As the hair grows, it's going to be affected by the size of the follicle. You may find your hair then gets a lot thinner. It gets a little bit wirier. It gets a little bit more fragile, or it could get a little bit frizzier.
Some women find too, because of this, that they lose the strength of their hair so they get split ends much easier than before.
5. Your hair can become more greasy
Some women find their hair gets very greasy and they have to end up having to wash it daily. Several things can cause this issue. Again, it can be due to hormonal changes going on, but believe it or not, it can also be caused by dehydration.
All that's happening here is if you get seriously dehydrated, the body will produce extra sebum to use as protection for your hair. So, if you are experiencing greasy hair, just make sure that you are drinking plenty of water because that can make a little bit of a difference.
Remember to use very gentle shampoos. Go for organic, go for natural ones, purely because a lot of hair care products contain lots of chemicals in them. They can be very astringent., and can strip the hair. And they can make the hair much more brittle and weaker too.
Also, don't use hot water to wash your hair. If it's already started to get weak, continual washing in hot water can strip it of its natural oils, making it more brittle. If you can stand it, try giving your head a blast of cold water just as you finish rinsing your hair because that cold water will quickly shrink the hair follicles and that will produce less sebum as the day goes on.
6. Your scalp can become more sensitive
You might find that your scalp becomes more sensitive and itchier. This is a very common perimenopause and menopause symptom. Many women end up experiencing this and can find that they end up with dandruff, which is something that they have never had before. So, again, check your shampoos and your conditioners. As your skin gets thinner, it gets much more sensitive during menopause and that can be anywhere on the body, so just be careful what products you're using on your scalp.
You could try our Neem Shampoo. Neem leaf is known to be very soothing, so this shampoo can be used to help dry, itchy and eczema-prone scalps.
If you dye your hair, try and make sure that you're using natural dyes if you can or that you're not colouring it every three or four weeks because again, if you're using too many chemicals on your hair, that can cause problems as well.
What else can help your hair during perimenopause and menopause
So, the main thing with all of these symptoms is the majority of them are hormonal orientated and that can be a little bit more difficult to treat. But anything you do to help your hair generally is going to be of benefit, so remember your diet. Your hair needs lots of different nutrients to grow well and look healthy. Make sure your diet is full of lots of different varieties of food, and include plenty of good quality proteins as well because you need protein for good hair growth.
Remember to stay hydrated and also to make sure that you're getting plenty of healthy fats in your diet to have that nice, shiny hair.
I hope you found this one helpful. If you have had problems with your hair such as I've mentioned today and you have found something that's worked well, then please share it with us. We would love to hear all about it.
Until next week, take care.
