Because your hair’s growth cycle is affected by hormones, the changing hormone levels around menopause often accelerate these changes to your hair.

How Does Menopause Affect Your Hair?

Most women find that their hair loses volume and length around menopause. This is because menopause causes your oestrogen levels to decrease, and oestrogen is a hair-friendly hormone, helping to keep your hair in its anagen (growth) phase for longer.

You may also find that your hair breaks more easily after menopause. This is because the new hairs that your follicles produce become gradually finer, and finer hair is naturally more fragile.

In women whose hair follicles are sensitive to DHT (dihydrotestosterone), hair thinning during menopause is often more pronounced.

This is because the drop in oestrogen levels around menopause means that you have a higher ratio of testosterone in your body, allowing it to have a stronger negative affect on your hair follicles.