Thyroid Disease and Hair Loss

People suffering through thyroid disease notice substantial hair loss as a symptom of their hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.



These two encourage the conversion process of testosterone into DHT which accelerates the hair loss procedure causing hair to become thin, dry and rough. This is because during the disease the body is in deficiency of energy and so the energy required by the hair cells is redirected somewhere else which ceases the hair growth procedure. The reasons for hair loss during thyroid disease are hormonal changes, poor diet, lack of proper nutrition, medications, surgery etc.

The hair growth procedure passes through three phases, anagen, catagen and the dormant phase. The dormant phase is actually the resting phase during which no growth takes place and at the end of this phase the hairs fall out allowing new ones to grow. In a thyroid patient the general mechanism of the hair growth process usually stops and becomes out of balance. This is because due to thyroid malfunctions the hair follicles remain in the resting phase for a longer period of time than normal resulting in poor hair growth and increased hair loss.

Thyroid gland is present in the base of the neck on both sides of the trachea and produces a thyroid hormone, known as thyroxin. This harmone is responsible for regulating metabolic activities which if gets disturbed give rise to a number of problems such as hair loss. Hyperthyroidism (overproduction of thyroid hormone) and Hypothyroidism (underproduction of thyroid hormone) also causes rapid hair loss. Compared to hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism usually affects women due to problems like lethargy, menstrual imbalance and change in metabolic rate.

Thyroid patients who suffer through continuous hair loss problems should seek medical advice to resolve their hair issues. They can also tackle this problem by following steps given below which will not only help them in understanding their hair loss problem but will also put an end to their thyroid related hair loss.

1. Get Evaluated
The first step to find out whether your hair loss is related to thyroid is to get yourself checked by a dermatologist or a hair loss expert. Both of them will perform different tests in order to find out the real cause of your hair loss problem. These tests will also help them in identifying other health problems besides thyroid that may be contributing towards your hair loss.

2. Show Patience
Once your dermatologist have diagnosed that your hair loss is related to thyroid you will have to show a bit of patience. Some thyroid patients expect quick improvement in their hair loss condition once they have started the treatment. This is completely unrealistic because the slowing down of hair loss takes time and stops when the hormones are stabilized and comes back to their normal range.

3. Understand your Hair Loss
As a result of your thyroid problem you will loose hair throughout your head but there would be no bald patches that can lead to complete baldness. This loss of hair throughout your head will continue for some time even after the treatment. If you notice circular patches of hair loss on your head or if the hair loss is only concentrated on the temples or the top of head then this is not related to thyroid problem.

4. Revise your Thyroid Drug
In many cases the medicines you are taking to treat your thyroid problem adds to your hair loss problem instead of treating it. This is because severe and prolonged hair loss is a common side effect of many thyroid medicines. In order to overcome this problem it’s better to consult your doctor and go for a much beneficial treatment.

5. Make Sure you are properly treated
Make sure you are taking the right medicines capable of putting any end to your thyroid disease as well as your hair loss problem. The medicines should be effective enough to bring TSH around 1 - 2 which is the optimal level.

6. Analyze yourself whether you need another Drug
For some thyroid patients using just a single medicine is not enough to overcome their thyroid problem. In many cases a combination of 2-3 drugs often work well to treat the disease properly and also helps patients in getting rid of side effects like exhaustion, depression, brain fog etc.

7. Take required amount of vitamins
Like all other types of hair loss thyroid related hair loss can also be treated with multiple vitamins, iron, amino acid lysine and food items like meat, fish and eggs.

8. Share your feelings with others
You can also overcome your feelings of frustration that often occurs as a result of excessive hair loss by sharing your feelings with other patients who are suffering through the same problem.

The best way to treat thyroid disease is to keep your hormones balanced and stabilized. Often it happens that during the treatment due to sudden ups and downs in the level of hormones the hair loss problem returns back. Therefore patients who are in the early stages of the treatment should be cautioned about this situation.