A woman's beauty is timeless; it cannot be defined by age. Yet, for some reason, many women are becoming more self-conscious with their physical looks as they reach mid-forties. Studies have shown that this behavioral change can be rooted in menopause.
How does menopause affect your outward appearance? Can it also affect hair growth? Learn more about this life-changing event in a woman's life and its effects on your locks' quality and number.
What You Must Know About Menopause
Are you in your mid-40s? Have you observed a decrease in your napkin consumption for the past few months? Well, if you have recently experienced irregularity and absence of periods, your body might be undergoing the early phases of menopause.
Menopause is the biological stage when a woman's ovaries stop ovulating, thereby halting the menstrual cycles. After the last menstrual period, a woman is no longer capable of becoming pregnant.
However, menstruation doesn't abruptly stop. Women still undergo perimenopause, the shifting period leading up to the last menstrual cycle. Going through perimenopause means less expense for menstrual products. This transition may also free you from the shackles of constant worrying (from getting pregnant), but it can affect your body's biological activities, including your hair growth.
Symptoms of Menopause
How will you know if you're entering the menopausal stage? Check out the common symptoms of menopause.1. Irregular periods
An irregularity in your menstrual periods is the first and most evident symptom of perimenopause. You can also experience an absence of menstruation for months, even though you are not pregnant.
2. Vaginal dryness
As you grow older, your estrogen levels also decrease, thereby thinning the vaginal walls. Without enough estrogen, the cells surrounding these walls also reduce in number, thereby causing vaginal dryness. Without intervention, this symptom can adversely affect your sex life.
3. Mood Swings
A sudden burst of emotions can also indicate a menopausal symptom. According to studies, estrogens can increase serotonin levels in the body. Endorphins are also secreted in the body, which gives you resistance to pain. Thus, mood swings occur when there is a decline in estrogen levels that worsen during the premenopausal stage.
4. Hot Flashes
Around your menopausal phase, you may experience hot flashes. Feeling hot all on your upper torso is your body's way of saying that "it needs more estrogens." This symptom occurs because your body is used to high-estrogen levels, which you don't get during perimenopause. Other symptoms include reddened skin, night sweats, and sudden chills.
5. Sudden weight gain
Getting conscious of your figure around this time is expected. Estradiol, a type of estrogen, helps regulate your body's metabolism. During perimenopause, your ovaries do not produce enough estradiol. Hence, women in their mid-40s may experience sudden weight gain.
6. Sleeping problems
Experiencing hot flashes, night sweats, and body chills can prevent you from having a good night's sleep. This regular sleeping disturbance can stress you out, causing other health-related problems.
Hair Growth and Menopause: What's the Connection?
What's the connection between menopause and hair? Discover the mystery behind menopause and its effects on hair growth.
1. During perimenopause, estrogen levels start decreasing.
Women rely on sex hormones for sexual and reproductive functions. Their female gonads, also known as ovaries, secrete estrogens and progesterone for these purposes.
Estrogens are responsible for regulating your menstrual cycle, which happens at least every 28 days. These sex hormones are also in charge of your body's secondary sexual characteristics, such as breast formation and the hips' widening. Estrogens also take part in other biological activities for the bones, blood, and skin.
There are three types of estrogens: estrone, estradiol, and estriol. Among these three forms, estradiol is the most abundant that controls menstrual periods. On the other hand, estrone becomes the most active before puberty and during menopause.
After decades of ovulating and shedding egg cells, your body starts slowing down its reproductive processes, including menstruation. When you go through perimenopause, the ovaries also decrease estrogen production, thereby affecting your hormonal levels. This sudden hormonal imbalance can trigger physical changes on your skin, weight, and hair.
2. A decrease in estrogen levels before and after menopause can slow down hair growth.
Now how do estrogens affect hair growth? It all goes back to hormonal levels. Estrogens play a significant role in your hair growth cycle by lengthening your hair follicles' anagen or growth phase. Because estrogen levels start declining during the transitional period, many strands also don't receive enough support from estrogens, thereby pushing them into the telogen or resting phase.
3. Low estrogen levels can give leeway for androgens to impede hair growth.
Estrogens and progesterone aren't the only sex hormones present in your body. Androgens, or male sex hormones, are also involved in your body's internal processes. A surge in testosterone levels leads to the overproduction of dihydrotestosterone. DHT is a converted version of testosterone that can bind on your hair follicles and miniaturize them, leading to thinning hair and hair loss.
4. At the beginning of perimenopause, your strands become thinner.
Female hormones are also responsible for the thickening of the tissue underneath the scalp for follicle protection and moisture retention. However, as your age increases, your hormones also gradually decline in number, affecting your scalp's protective barrier. Therefore, your hair strands are in grave danger around the menopausal period. Once your follicles are dehydrated and damaged, your locks become thinner and weaker.
5. Your hair also becomes dry and rough because of insufficient collagen production.
Estrogens support collagen production in your body. Therefore, a disturbance in collagen levels does not only affect your skin's condition, but it can also affect the quality of hair growth. Collagen is a protein that provides structures for the different parts of the integumentary system. It also can preserve moisture, making your skin and hair smooth, radiant, and hydrated.
So what happens to your tresses during menopause? Because of a decrease in collagen, your hair may undergo sudden changes in texture and elasticity. Stroking your hair may not give you a pleasurable experience because of your hair's dry and rough texture.
5. You may start losing some hair strands around the menopausal stage.
When worse comes to worst, a lack of estrogen levels can cause unwanted hair shedding. After menopause, your ovaries are incapable of producing estrogen levels, affecting your body's hormonal levels. This hormonal imbalance can instigate DHT invasion, affecting the hair growth cycle. In the end, your hair starts to weaken and shed.
The physical and internal changes due to menopause can have a psychological impact on women. For instance, vaginal dryness and mood swings can decrease a woman's libido, thus adversely affecting her sexual activities. Sleeping problems can also trigger stress and anxiety, which can worsen the quality of your locks.
How to Treat Hair Growth Problems Caused by Menopause
Ladies, worry no more. As long as your hair is thriving, you will also keep living. Here are several ways on how to treat your hair growth problems.1. Start your journey with a phytoestrogen-packed diet.
The menopausal period is a crucial stage of womanhood, for the ovaries are on its way to retirement. Thus, the female gonads gradually decrease their estrogen production. Without ovaries, your body will never be able to get the same amount of natural estrogens again.
But don't worry, because you can ask the help of phytoestrogens, plant-derived compounds that can imitate estrogenic effects. Since you can no longer depend on your ovaries after menopause, you need to fill your plate with these estrogen imitators for hair maintenance. Grab a handful of phytoestrogen-enriched foods, such as soybeans, sesame seeds, flax seeds, tofu, carrots, apples, and berries, to boost your hormonal levels.
2. Stay active by exercising regularly.
Though exercise does not directly increase estrogens, it can still improve your body's metabolism and sleeping pattern. Exercising is also a fun activity to enhance your physical fitness and mental health. By keeping yourself healthy and sound, you can reduce the chances of developing hair growth problems.
3. Choose hair growth products with natural DHT blockers.
A decrease in estrogens allows the androgens to cause hair havoc. Put up a fight against these male hormones by using hair growth products with DHT blockers. Natural ingredients, such as green tea, saw palmetto, fenugreek seeds, and tea tree oil, can inhibit DHT from damaging your follicles. Therefore, use hair growth shampoos, conditioners, and serums with these DHT-blocking ingredients.
4. Revamp your locks with hair mask treatments.
Women in their menopausal period may experience thinning hair problems. Make your hair more voluminous and moisturized with hair mask treatments. Include hair-boosting ingredients, such as essential oils, coconut extract, green tea and natural honey, for well-hydrated and nourished locks.
Don't Let Menopause Bring Your Hair Down.
All women undergo menopause. Scary as it seems, menopause is something you shouldn't be afraid of. Don't let fear consume you. Defend your hair against the effects of menopause by living a healthy lifestyle and treating your mane right with the best hair growth products.
Choose the Best.
It's not enough to rely on your everyday diet to defeat menopause. You also need to use hair growth products that can protect your locks against androgens. Choose ThickTails Hair Growth products, and your hair will never go wrong.