Tune In: Everything You Need To Know About Hair Loss Causes & Solutions

Hair loss is an incredibly pervasive problem for women. Some estimates show that more than half of women will experience some form of hair loss in their lifetime, from female pattern hair loss to postpartum and postmenopausal hair loss to traction alopecia and more. 

So if you've noticed more hairs in the drain or a thinning part, you're not alone. It just means you may need to be a little more strategic about the ways you're caring for your hair and overall health. 

That's exactly what we discussed in today's Clean Beauty School episode with trichologist, scientist, and hair loss expert Isfahan Chambers-Harris, MPH, Ph.D., founder of Alodia.

We get into a wide variety of hair loss topics, including how nutrition influences hair growth, the best oils for hair growth, and taking care of the skin on the scalp.

A pretty significant factor in hair loss and growth is hormones. The most common hormonal issue seen in female pattern hair loss is dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a type of sex hormone: "As you age, particularly with women, testosterone or DHT may accumulate on the scalp, and that will cause the miniaturization of the follicle. The hormone is actually choking off the follicle," she explains. 

This is common for those who experience menopause—in fact, some research indicates that anywhere from 20-60%1 of women will have some form of hair loss before the age of 60, during the pre- and postmenopausal period. 

Other sex hormones play a role in hair health. "On the flip side, you can see when people have higher levels of estrogen, such as when they're pregnant or menstruating, this will cause the hair to stay in the antigen phase a lot longer," she says, explaining that the antigen phase of the hair growth cycle is when the scalp is better able to hold on to the strand. "The hair will look more luxurious and full." 

I went through a period of pretty significant hair loss several years ago. It took many different types of interventions—from diet to stress management—to address it. And one of the most meaningful changes I made to regain some fullness was limiting the amount I was coloring my hair. 

In the episode, I told Chambers-Harris about my experience. "Chemical straighteners and coloring, they affect your hair growth, but in a different way [than hormones or diet]," she explains. "When you use chemical straighteners or coloring treatments, it can damage the follicle, which will lead to thinning."

In fact, this isn't exclusive to chemical processing. "Something similar can actually happen with hairstyling, wearing tight buns, high ponytails, and things of that nature—what's happening is it's putting stress on the follicle and leading to scarring," she says.

An estimated 23.5 million Americans now struggle with an autoimmune disorder—a shocking 80% of whom are women2. (Read more about why here.)

There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases, including Type I diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis (also known as MS), and Graves' disease. All of these come with their own unique symptoms—one of which is hair loss. 

"Autoimmune conditions will affect hair growth," explains Chambers-Harris. "And the reason why they do this is because the immune cells attack the follicle, causing hair loss. We see this with androgenic alopecia, for example. This is a chronic autoimmune condition where you have these circular patches of hair loss."