Hair Loss in Women: Please Tell Me That I Am Not Alone!

Many people—and women especially—take great pride in their hair. It makes sense, as your crowning glory is just as front and center, just as visible to the rest of the world, as your face.

Losing some hair every day is completely normal. It’s a sign your body’s growing new, healthy ones to replace the old. In fact, losing 50 to 100 hairs per day is normal.  You can also kind of get an idea of what’s normal for you by just paying attention to what you typically see on your brush or in the shower drain.

So…. lately my hair has been falling out. Like lots of hair! In the shower, on my brush, or even when just walking around the house. Oh hello there 8 random strands of hair on my shirt. Thanks for letting go! Not!!

Oh, and there is breakage too!! What the!! I’m getting side-swept bangs without even trying! I am wondering if it is because I go to the gym about 4 days out of 7 and put my hair in a ponytail often. And, hello! We live in a hot, humid climate! I want my hair off my neck!

Luckily, I started out with a decent amount of hair!

My strands are dropping like leaves falling from a tree 😦 What gives! Is it my advancing age? I am 45 after all and I’m sure the hormones are a shifting! But being the “googler” that I am I, well, Googled it.

Unfortunately, I am still left wondering what gives! Apparently it can be any number of things. Here are a few of them:

1. Protein deficiency (probably not, I eat a decent amount of protein)
2. Stress (I am not stressed, but life is hectic)
3. Hormonal changes (very likely at my age)
4. Over styling (besides blow drying, not really…)
5. Wearing too-tight hairstyles like ponytails (likely, I go to the gym a lot)
6. Washing too often (well, that goes along with getting sweaty at the gym)
7. Hypothyroidism (yes, but taking meds for this)
8. Aging (um…yes)
9. Summer heat (of course! It’s Houston!)

So how does one figure it out?!

It seems that summer hair loss is a real thing! And, while summer is almost over, could it be that it finally caught up with me! Hmmmm…..

For technicalities sake, but not too much, research does suggest that women experience elevated rates of shedding in hotter months due to hair follicles prematurely entering a resting phase, known as telogen effluvium, or TE. As much as 70 percent of strands can prematurely enter this phase! This may explain why many women lose more hair in July and August, and even into September, when it really starts to heat up outside. It is completely normal!

Is the heat of summer really the problem though? I guess it could be any number of things from the above list and I am not quite sure how to figure it out…

But, I did find an article over at Style Craze that gives you 6 simple ways to control hair loss in the summer, just in case…

Also, my hairdresser turned me on to a product by Kerastase called Initialiste in an attempt to aid in the recovery of my hair. It’s a hair and scalp serum.

Here is what the Kerastase website has to say about Initialiste:

“Transform your hair in 7 days with Initialiste. Our 1st skincare-inspired super serum that acts on the four attributes of total hair beauty:
1. Strength
2. Shine
3. Softness
4. Substance

9 out of 10 women* saw a visible difference in their hair texture after one week.
With continued usage, your hair stays healthier from root to tip allowing it to grow longer† with 93% less breakage.** The new Must-Have for all hair types.
Maximize the potential length of your hair. Keep it longer and stronger as it grows.†
89% agreed that their hair is SHINIER
87% felt that their hair is thicker with MORE SUBSTANCE
86% felt that their hair is STRONGER and SOFTER to the touch
*Consumer use test over 7 days **In a brushing test compared to a non-conditioning shampoo †Reduces breakage so hair can grow longer.
Lightweight, silky texture. Absorbs instantly without residue. Fresh and delicate fragrance. Targeted pipette application”

My hair does feel nice and I do think I see some baby hairs sticking out now since I started using the Initialiste a couple of weeks ago. Or is that just breakage? Probably so

I think the next thing I will do is start taking a supplement specifically for hair. Have you tried any with success?

If you have experienced a wave of hair loss or breakage I’d love to know your thoughts on it and what you may have done to remedy it. Do you think it’s the summer heat? Mid 40’s hormones? Ponytails? Or something else? Please please leave me a comment below! I’m kinda freaking out here!!

I’ll update you at a later date about the state of my hair and what helped, or didn’t…

xoxo Angela