The 6 Things That Increase The Odds Of Female Hair Loss

As discussed earlier in this article, hormone imbalance is the top reason I’ve found for hair loss in the past 20 years of taking care of women. Here are the worst offenders: thyroid, cortisol, testosterone, and insulin.

Here are some of the questions that I get from my patients at my clinic:

What Do I Do When I Start to Lose Hair?

My answer here is that you improve what you manage. This is tangible – something you can manage (and would be well served to start) like your stocks or retirement portfolio.

1. Part your hair in the middle and take a photo with your smart phone. add to your dashboard.
2. Get your doctor to order the crucial tests, (which we go into in the call I just did with Jackie.) Stand your ground. Ask to be referred to an expert in hair loss, usually a dermatologist.
3. Start the lifestyle tweaks you can do before seeing that doc. Things like reducing coffee and alcohol are biggies, and I go into detail in the call with Jackie.)
4. Wash your hair less. Treat your cute hair follicles with a white glove. i wash my hair twice per week (and used to wash it daily which traumatizes your fragile follicles).
5. Manage your blood sugar – cut out the white stuff. Insulin resistance is a top reason for increased hair loss.
6. Check to see if your iron is low. Iron is like cortisol — you want it not too high and not too low. Serum ferritin is the most sensitive indicator, and you need a ferritin level of 70-80 to keep your hair of your head. You need a minimum of 40 to grow new hair.

Does Being Overweight Lead to Hair Loss?

Yes. Insulin resistance leads to hair loss in women. Being insulin resistant, weight loss resistant- these are all things which help lead to hormonal and nutrient imbalance which fosters hair loss. If your weight loss plan does not address these hormonal imbalances, you will not get to the root cause of female hair loss. For example, Weight Watchers does not address hormonal imbalance as part of its Points System.