There's a definite link between how your body maintains itself and what kinds of chemicals float around inside of your bloodstream. One of the most potent chemicals that affect hair loss is known as estrogen. Many women experience hairloss, particularly during times of hormonal imbalance, such as menopause. Often, this is one of the first symptoms of menopause that a woman notices. 

 

Let's explore how an excess of estrogen can be related to hair loss in women.

What is Estrogen?
Estrogen isn't just one hormone; it's an entire group of hormones. Each hormone influences a different part of your body, which is why some types of estrogen become more pronounced as you enter different stages of your life. For example, estradiol is one of the most common estrogen hormones in the female body. It regulates estrous and the menstrual cycle while being instrumental in repairing and maintaining parts of your body. Estrone, on the other hand, tends to be produced more as women enter the later stages of their life and begin to undergo menopause. It's one of the more common hormones we see in women whom are older and facing thinning hair.

How Does Estrogen Work in the Body?

Men and women both have varying levels of estrogen and testosterone in their bodies. Men have more testosterone and women more estrogen, but both genders have both hormone groups floating around inside their bodies. The difference between men and women, and coincidentally what gives them their gender-appropriate characteristics, is influenced by the amount of estrogen and testosterone produced in the body. In women, most of the testosterone produced becomes canceled by estrogen and vice versa. Knowing that estrogen counteracts testosterone helps to make sense of why few women actually go bald like men do when they have too much testosterone. They instead face thinning hair and significantly less body hair.

How Does Excess Estrogen Contribute to Hair Loss in Women?
Estrogen itself helps to reduce hair loss and even to extend hair's growing cycles. The problem comes when you have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone, which is an imbalance that results from aging. Progesterone works to reduce water retention, keep depression away and burn fat. Production of progesterone all but halts when you undergo menopause, but estrogen continues to be produced from fatty tissue and absorbed from things like food. When these chemicals are unbalanced, that's when hair loss begins to happen. These problems become worse when estrogen dominance occurs for a prolonged period of time to affect the thyroid.

Is Estrogen the Root of Your Hair Problems?
If you're experiencing menopause or thinning hair, contact our offices. We can perform a full screening of your hormones to determine both the cause of your hair loss problems and the treatments you need to undergo to correct them.