Thyroid Hair Loss

Thyroid Hair Loss

Rapid Hair Loss is often caused by hormonal changes.  When hormones change, the growth phase or growth period of hair follicles becomes shorter. This in turn produces shorter, thinner hair shafts that aren’t as strong as normal hair shafts. This hair will either fall out faster or become dry and brittle enough to break off. With this in mind let’s look at the effects of thyroid hair loss.

Your thyroid produces hormones that affect hair growth.

With this basic understanding of the relationship between thyroid hair loss and thyroid disease we can further look at how hair grows and why it makes sense that hair loss is a symptom of hypothyroidism.

Thyroid Hormones and the effect on Thyroid Hair Loss

1. It’s normal for humans to lose 50 to 100 hairs per day.
2. At any given time 90 percent of your hair grows continuously in two out of the three phases of hair growth.
3. During the third phase of hair growth 10% of your hair is in a resting phase

• This resting phase is affected by hormone changes or in this case changes brought on by a lack of thyroid hormone.
• The resting phase of hair growth usually last for 2 to 3 months.
• During this phase, new hair shafts grow in these resting follicles that will replace those 50 to 100 hairs that fall out each day.

If you are suffering from hypothyroidism, your body isn’t producing enough thyroid hormone. During this resting phase the lack of proper hormone production shortens the growth period of the resting follicles. When the growth period is shortened 50 to 100 thinner, shorter hair shafts that aren’t healthy are being produced and replacing the healthier hair each day. The hair that is affected by this will fall out sooner than hair that grows under normal circumstances. It makes sense because the hair that falls out normally has good strong, healthy hair shafts.

The good news is that excessive hair loss due to a thyroid problem should only be a temporary situation. If it’s determined that hypothyroidism is causing the problem then your hair loss should eventually stop. But first you must:

• Consult with and visit your doctor
• Be diagnosed with hypothyroidism
• Be put on a synthetic thyroid hormone medication
• Take that medication as directed
• Continue to work with your doctor until your thyroid hormone levels return to normal
• Continue to work with your doctor, for the rest of your life if your hypothyroidism is permanent as in a case of Hashimoto’s disease.

When your thyroid hormone levels return to normal your hair growth should return to normal as well putting an end to your thyroid hair loss.

If you find that you are still losing your hair, once your thyroid production is regulated, then you need to consult with your doctor to find out if there are other issues causing your hair loss.

Hair Loss and Your Thyroid Hormones – Hair Breakage

Hair follicles have sebaceous glands attached to them that secrete an oily wax type substance. This substance is called sebum. Sebum provides moisture to the surface of your skin as well as to your hair.

People who suffer from hypothyroidism produce less sebum in the sebaceous glands then normally required. This leads to dry, brittle hair that easily breaks, adding to your hair loss.

Again if you believe that your dry, brittle hair is a direct result of an underactive thyroid then this should only be temporary and I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to:

• Consult and work with your doctor
• Get put on a thyroid medication if it’s necessary
• Continue to work with your doctor in order to get your thyroid medication properly regulated so that you can go back to growing a normal, healthy head of hair

It isn’t fun to experience excessive hair loss each time you shampoo or brush your hair. In a case where hypothyroidism is causing your hair loss the good thing is that this hair loss isn’t permanent either. It’s been determined by the medical community that hair loss due to underactive thyroid issues should only be temporary.

I also recommend that you consult with your doctor if your medication has been previously regulated, you have been taking your medication as directed and you suddenly start to experience rapid hair loss along with other symptoms of hypothyroidism again. This could be an indication of a need to readjust your thyroid medication. Don’t mess around when it comes to thyroid hair loss.