Menopause and Hair Loss

Unfortunately, hair loss is a very common symptom during menopause. Though hair loss is very often believed to only affect men, most women will experience some sort of hair loss during their life time too. Hair loss in women occurs when the number of hairs falling out is greater than the number of hairs growing. The causes of hair loss in women going through menopause usually fall into one of two categories; psychological or physical.

Hormonal imbalance is most often the cause of hair loss during menopause, and falls under the category of physical causes. This happens when there is too much of the hormone known as DHT in the body. Although DHT is produced with testosterone, it is actually controlled by estrogen. When a woman’s hormones are properly balanced, this will make for a controlled level of DHT. During menopause however, when the hormones become off balance, estrogen levels may fluctuate causing an excessive amount of DHT to be produced. This is what causes the hair loss that is most often seen in women during menopause.