One of the more distressing things women can experience is hair loss. Especially as it takes a long time to improve, and it is challenging to treat. With this article written by a naturopath near Castlemaine and Bendigo, let us discover what are the types and main causes of hair loss in women.
There are a few different things that can lead to hair loss in women. Some of these are linked to changes in your hormones, but there is also a wide variety of other things that may contribute to this including:
- Following a mental or physical stress to the body such as giving birth, illness, undereating, thyroid disease, celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, or a low-carb diet.
- A nutrient deficiency in either iron, zinc, or protein.
- Hormonal changes such as starting or stopping hormonal birth control, PCOS, or androgen excess.
Knowing the cause of your hair loss is important. Once you know the cause, you can address it. If iron deficiency is causing it, then you need to take an iron supplement. When you don’t address the correct cause, the hair loss issues continue to have issues.
Timeline
While knowing and addressing the cause is important, there is something else you also need to consider when it comes to hair loss. This is the fact that what has caused your hair loss occurs long before the condition itself. This condition will typically occur around 3 months after whatever the cause was.
It’s also important to keep in mind that because of this delay, you won’t see immediate results. No matter what the treatment is that you take there will be a delay in results. Your hair has a resting phase, if it has entered this phase, it will fall out 1-4 months later; no matter what you do. This means that even the very best treatment can take 3-6 months before you start to see results.
Types of Hair Loss
There are two main types of hair loss that a doctor would diagnose you with having. These are:
- Telogen effluvium: hair falling out due to something such as stress, dieting, illness or stopping birth control.
- Androgenic alopecia: is progressive hair loss caused by male hormones or a sensitivity to male hormones.
You may also be diagnosed with a combination of the two as depending on what has caused the telogen effluvium. If it was caused by exposure to androgens or male hormones, it can progress to androgenic alopecia.
Naturopathic Approach
To give you your best approach to treating hair loss, your naturopath will start by investigating what the probable cause is. They will consider the different medications, deficiencies, diseases, menstrual issues, and other conditions that may be impacting your hair health.
One of the things they will investigate is the health of your menstrual cycle as your hair health is positively influenced by your estrogen and progesterone levels.
Do you like this post? Chat with our naturopaths near Bendigo and Castlemaine to learn more. Or, check out these articles about pregnancy-related and period health issues.
