You see more strands in the shower, and you don’t know where to begin
At first, it’s just a little.
A few extra strands on your pillow.
More hair in your brush.
You tell yourself it’s seasonal.
You change your shampoo.
Buy vitamins.
Drink more water.
Cut back on heat tools.
Still, every time you shower, the drain fills.
You pull the strands from your fingers silently.
No one notices yet—but you feel it.
Something isn’t right.
And your gut knows this isn’t just cosmetic.
It’s internal.
Thyroid hormones affect how hair grows, rests, and sheds
Your thyroid sets your body’s pace.
When it slows, so does everything else—especially your hair.
You don’t always feel sick.
But your hair knows first.
Low T3 and T4 shorten the growth phase.
Hair falls out faster than it grows back.
You notice thinning at your temples.
Around your part.
It gets drier.
More fragile.
Even small shifts in thyroid function show up in your hair before they appear in labs.
And once it starts, it often doesn’t stop on its own.
Estrogen keeps hair thick—and its drop leaves hair vulnerable
Estrogen keeps hair in growth mode.
It strengthens strands.
It anchors roots.
But when estrogen drops—after childbirth, during perimenopause, or from birth control withdrawal—your hair shifts.
It enters a resting state.
Then it falls.
Not all at once.
But slowly.
Painfully.
Your ponytail feels thinner.
Your part looks wider.
Your hairbrush fills faster.
And still, people tell you it’s normal.
But it doesn’t feel normal.
Because this isn’t shedding—it’s loss.
Androgens like testosterone shrink hair follicles over time
You might not know your androgens are high.
You may not even have acne or excess hair.
But slowly, your scalp tells the story.
DHT, a byproduct of testosterone, attacks hair follicles.
It shrinks them.
Miniaturizes them.
Until they produce thinner and thinner strands—then nothing at all.
You see it at the crown.
The temples.
In photos.
In mirrors.
It’s slow.
But relentless.
And often, it’s tied to PCOS, insulin issues, or subtle hormonal shifts doctors miss.
Cortisol disrupts the hair cycle by keeping your body in stress mode
You manage stress well—on the outside.
But your body hears it differently.
Late nights.
Long meetings.
Unprocessed emotions.
They all raise cortisol.
And cortisol tells your body to protect itself.
Hair becomes “non-essential.”
Follicles pause.
Growth stops.
Shed begins.
You can’t sleep.
You crave sugar.
Your heart races.
And slowly, your hair responds—by falling away, quietly, without permission.
Insulin resistance alters hormones that support healthy follicles
You don’t need to be diabetic to struggle with insulin.
Blood sugar spikes.
Insulin rises.
Androgens follow.
Then inflammation hits the scalp.
Follicles weaken.
Hair gets thinner.
Breaks more easily.
You notice it after carbs.
After long days without meals.
The connection is silent—but strong.
Because your hair listens to your blood.
Even when you don’t.
Prolactin elevation can trigger hair loss—but few think to test it
Prolactin rises after pregnancy.
With certain medications.
With stress.
Even with pituitary imbalance.
It disrupts ovulation.
Blocks estrogen.
And begins quiet hair loss.
No dramatic fallout.
Just thinning.
A slow loss of density.
You feel it in how your clips fit.
In how your hair falls across your shoulders.
But prolactin isn’t tested unless someone looks deeper.
And most never do.
Hair loss from endocrine causes isn’t instant—it’s slow and quiet
You don’t wake up bald.
You just feel… less.
Less volume.
Less bounce.
Less like yourself.
It doesn’t come with warning.
Only a growing discomfort.
You notice it in photographs.
In how your scalp shows under sunlight.
In the way strangers stop complimenting your hair.
It hurts.
Even if no one says anything.
And the grief is real—even when it’s silent.