Menopausal Hair Loss is a vexing problem for many women. Thinning hair is the cause of so much emotional distress and body image alteration that women spend substantial sums of money in attempts to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, if the underlying cause is medical or physiological, simple topical treatments may be insufficient to get satisfactory improvements.
My office is full of women who complain bitterly of thinning hair with aging, particularly as they pass through their 40’s and 50’s. They become frustrated with the lack of improvement with everyday over the counter remedies and the answers that they get from their family doctors. I clearly remember my mother, from way back when I was young, crying in absolute agony on the bathroom floor about her hair falling out and not knowing what to do.
The good news is that there are solutions! As I mentioned in a previous blog on this subject, eating a healthy, non-inflammatory diet is important. Eating gluten free and taking a well-balanced pharmaceutical grade multi-vitamin can help tremendously. And proper hair hygiene, using a top-quality hair product such as Monat® can produce exceptional improvement in many people. However, there are some women who just do not get results with the remedies just mentioned. For them, there is the likelihood of a metabolic or physiologic deficiency. These issues require the help of a trained and experienced physician.
One of the most common metabolic deficiencies is a lack of thyroid optimization. I am not necessarily saying “hypothyroidism” because many people may have normal thyroid levels and still experience symptoms that are suggestive of thyroid deficiency (for a full discussion of thyroid deficiency go to: https://youtu.be/ZeTeU7-rY8o) . So, in my office one of the first things I do to correct hair loss is to optimize thyroid levels to those levels that alleviate thyroid symptoms (including hair loss). Many times, this is dramatically successful.
At times, despite thyroid optimization, the hair loss continues. In these instances, I may find the person to be deficient in iron or, more specifically ferritin. Ferritin is essential in hair growth and stability. Women, who we know are already at risk for iron deficiency, seem to be affected quite often by ferritin deficiency. A simple blood test will show this issue and it can be corrected by proper supplementation. My favorite iron support is a prescription medication called Integra Plus®.
As another step in the treatment protocol of Menopausal Hair Loss, I will often prescribe a hair specific nutritional supplement. My favorite supplement for hair support in menopausal women is Nutrafol Core for Women Plus® (https://nutrafol.com/science). It is specially designed for women before, during and after menopause and it is formulated with natural ingredients that target key underlying causes of compromised hair growth. In my office, I have seen spectacular results with this product. And one sure way I can tell it works is by the number of refills I get. With Nutrafol Core for Women Plus®, my patients refill month after month after month. It is a good product.
Menopausal Hair Loss in women is a common and often very frustrating problem. However, there is hope for restoring a heathy head of hair in most women. Proper treatment begins with a good nutritional program and proper hair hygiene. If these simple measures are insufficient, there are several medical interventions that a properly trained physician can implement to increase the likelihood of hair recovery. So, don’t end up on the bathroom floor in tears like my mother once did. Jump into action today and do the things necessary to restore your hair health.
