Menopausal Hair Loss: What Helps and What to Avoid

For many women, menopause brings a host of changes to their bodies, but one that often catches them off guard is hair loss. Over time, your hair can go from feeling completely normal to feeling thinner, more brittle, and having a completely unfamiliar texture. Maybe you’re noticing hair coming out in the shower or whilst brushing your hair, or maybe it’s just a few extra strands you’re noticing. Regardless, it can be quite the shock.

Hair thinning is an extremely common symptom of menopause and perimenopause due to the hormonal changes in the body. The positive side is that there are plenty of ways you can do something about it, from opting for more natural haircare products to making certain lifestyle changes; you can rest assured that you’ll maintain a gorgeous head of healthy hair.

Why does menopause cause hair loss?

During menopause, women's bodies go through some pretty intense hormonal changes. During this period, levels of oestrogen and progesterone begin declining, which can increase shedding and reduce the hair growth cycle. This means that hair can fall out faster than it grows back, which will make your hair look and feel noticeably thinner.

For some women, it may barely be noticeable, yet for others, it can be a rather sudden change. For those who see a more sudden change to their hair, they may notice that:

• Their hair doesn't feel as thick as it once did
• Hair parting feels wider
• Hair has lost some of its volume
• Strands feel more delicate and prone to breakage
• Scalp feels drier and more sensitive

But of course, hormones aren’t the only cause of hair loss. Factors such as lifestyle, nutrition, stress levels, and quality of sleep can have some pretty intense effects on the body, also, so it’s always worth making sure you’re maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to keep your hair looking shiny and healthy.

What helps menopausal hair loss?

Menopausal hair loss may seem inevitable, but it’s important to remember that it affects each and every woman differently. So, to save you from the stress of losing any of your luscious locks, we’ve made a quick list of ways you can take extra good care of your hair to keep it thick and radiant as ever:

1. Give your scalp some love

When thinking about hair loss, it’s easy to focus only on the health of the strands of hair; however, healthy hair is always grown from a healthy scalp. If you think of your scalp as the foundation, by keeping it moisturised, nourished, and applying hair follicle and scalp-stimulating products, you’re already on your way to creating the perfect environment for thick and healthy hair.

Make sure to use products that don’t strip your hair and offer rich, moisturising ingredients that support overall scalp health. Certain botanical ingredients like rosemary oil are well-known for supporting scalp stimulation and keeping your hair feeling thick and healthy. It’s also important not to overwash your hair to maintain moisture, particularly during menopause, when the scalp is prone to becoming drier than normal.

See: best shampoo and conditioner for menopause

2. Be gentle with your hair

Many of us are guilty of being tough on our hair without realising it. Smothering our hair with conditioning masks, applying copious products, and pulling our hair back into tight ponytails can do more harm than good, especially when hair is prone to being more delicate due to menopause. The best approach to taking care of your hair is to give your hair only what it needs. This means:

• Swapping tight ponytails for looser alternatives
• Using a wide tooth comb on wet hair
• Use gentle hair massage products to stimulate your scalp and hair follicles
• Apply a nourishing hair oil or conditioner with natural ingredients instead of using commercial hair masks

It may not seem much, but with menopausal hair, a little effort can go a long way. By opting for a gentler approach and giving your hair time to breathe, you can maintain shiny, more lustrous hair for longer without the risk of irritating your scalp or hair follicles.

3. Support hair from within

As much as we’d love a miracle shampoo and conditioner combo, real health always comes from within. Menopause can put a lot of stress on the body, which means looking after your body becomes even more important than normal, so making sure to eat the right things and take the right supplements can do wonders for your body and mindset.

Hair supplements that include vitamins A, B, and C are great for keeping the scalp healthy, delivering essential nutrients to your hair follicles, and supporting collagen production (collagen is great for keeping skin fuller and more supple!), as well as zinc, which supports hair tissue repair, and Biotin, which is great for encouraging hair-strengthening keratin.

What to avoid during menopause hair loss

Menopausal hair loss can be frustrating, but sometimes the efforts we go to fix the issue can actually make things worse. Whilst we can’t control the effects that menopause has on our hair, we can at least steer clear of a few no-nos to keep our hair feeling stronger and healthier:

1. Overusing heat tools

During menopause, hair can become finer and more fragile, so excessive heat can do significant damage to your hair. Regular use of curling wands, hair dryers, and other heat styling appliances can eventually weaken the hair that’s already prone to split ends and breakage.

Reducing the use of hot tools or simply turning the temperature down can do wonders for protecting your hair. Air drying your hair is also a great option, or even opting for a good heat protection spray can keep your hair nourished and safe when applying heat.

2. Harsh or stripping products

Menopausal hair often needs more care and moisture than it did in the past, so products that contain harsh stripping ingredients and nasty chemicals can remove some of the hair's essential oils, causing your scalp to become irritated and leave your hair feeling rough and dry.

Luckily, there are plenty of plant-based, chemical-free options to choose from nowadays that gently nourish and moisturise your hair and leave your hair feeling soft, healthy and strong without weighing it down with unnecessary products.

3. Quick ‘fixes’

If you’re worried about thinning hair, it’s only normal that you'd want to solve the problem straight away. Unfortunately though, growing healthy hair takes a lot of time and patience, and a majority of these ‘miracle’ products that promise dramatic results don’t ever live up to those standards, leaving you out of pocket and out of luck.

Menopausal hair is best cared for in a gentle and ‘hands-off’ way, by nourishing the scalp with good quality shampoos and conditioners, using natural hair strengthening oils, and taking care of your overall well-being may not be the quickest fix, but it’s by far the most sustainable one.

Final thoughts

Menopausal hair loss can be frustrating and emotional at times, but it’s also incredibly common and easy to deal with. By choosing to work with your hair rather than against it, you can maintain a healthy scalp, encourage new hair growth, and keep your hair strong and shiny with the use of the right products and a good hair routine.