Hair Loss 101

Noticed your hair falling out? Whether you’ve spotted more hairs than normal on your pillow, in the shower drain catch or on your clothing, it’s easy to panic when you notice your hair thinning at a faster pace than normal.

Female pattern hair loss is the most common type of hair loss women experience.

Hair loss in women can occur for a variety of hair types and reasons. Sometimes, it’s triggered by changes in your hormone levels and a genetic sensitivity to certain hormones. In other cases, factors such as stress, thyroid issues , weight loss and even environmental factors can all have an effect on your hairline.

As stressful as it can be to see your hair clogging the shower drain, and sweeping long strands of hair every day, *hair fall is normal. On average, we shed at least 80 strands in a day, so it’s realistic to see a good amount of hair strands lying around your house. But anything significantly more than this might be affected by certain triggers and it’s important to figure out why.

What are the factors causing it?

1. Extreme dieting

Yes, yes, we all know the importance of eating a balanced diet, but you probably didn’t know that your diet can directly affect your hair growth. If you’re restricting your body of nutrients, it will shift energy away from your hair and divert it to your vital organs, like your heart, lungs, or brain. Hair isn’t essential for survival, but it’s very energy intensive.

Hair requires a lot of energy to grow, and if you aren’t eating enough protein, iron, vitamins, and fatty acids, you’re basically guaranteeing some hair loss or thinning (which, by the way, you won’t notice until about three months after you start restricting your eating, after your hair has passed through its resting and falling phase).

2. Stress
Turns out sleeping next to your iPhone so you can answer your boss’s emails all night definitely isn’t doing any favors for your hair. Stress (whether it’s chronic or sudden) can slow down the hair cycle. When you’re stressed, your body produces a hormone called cortisol, which can prematurely push your hair into its resting phase (i.e., when the hair isn’t growing). Doctors call this hair loss “telogen effluvium,” and it’s what some who suffered Covid have experienced in the last year. Stress-related hair loss typically isn’t permanent, but it can leave you with excessive shedding that lasts around six to nine months.

3. Hormonal changes
Surprise! Hormones also play a role in your hair cycle. Some women are more sensitive to hormonal changes than others, but changing or starting a new birth control can definitely impact your hair growth and hair loss. Hormones are really important in the hair cycle.

The same goes for pregnancy too. The high levels of estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy can make your hair grow faster and feel silkier. But when the baby is born, these levels drop dramatically, and you’ll typically see some hair fall three months later.

4. Medical conditions and genetics

The number of medical reasons that could contribute to hair loss are vast—and the only way to get a definitive answer is to see your doctor or a trichologist (and, nope, a late-night, anxiety-induced Google search does not count). If you eat a balanced diet, live relatively stress-free, and haven’t had any major hormonal changes or pregnancies, yet you’re still noticing hair loss, the next step is to make an appointment with your doc.

Medical conditions aside, early-onset hair loss can also be hereditary. Burg says it’s more of a myth that hair loss can be passed down from either your mother or father—if you’ve got a grandmother or aunt on either side of your family with thinning hair, there’s a chance you can have it too.

Our Solution

There’s a few tricks you can play to keep your mane looking full and healthy.

Hair extensions for hair loss in women? Hell yeah! Clip-ins and semi-permanent hair extensions are a common, easy solution to give your mane that extra “oomph” whilst it recovers from hair loss or hair thinning. If you’re experiencing hair thinning and need to spice up your hair game in the meantime, have a look at our range of hair extensions and get colour-matched for free by our experts. And whatever your hair is experiencing right now, you have all the right to look gorgeous and feel confident whilst facing it!