If you’ve noticed shelves in Boots suddenly overflowing with hair loss products, you’re not imagining it. And if you’ve found yourself standing there, staring at them, wondering whether this is something you should be worried about too, you’re very much not alone.
As a GP, I’m seeing more women than ever coming in distressed about hair loss. They describe handfuls coming out in the shower, thinning at the temples, ponytails that feel noticeably smaller. Some worry it’s stress. Others fear hormones. Quite a few quietly ask if it could be something more serious.
The short answer is this: yes, more women are experiencing hair loss, but the good news is that the underlying causes are usually common and manageable. What’s happening most of the time is a perfect storm of modern life colliding with female physiology.
Hair growth works in cycles. At any given time, most of our hair is in an active growth phase, with a smaller proportion resting before eventually shedding. When something disrupts the body’s flow – hormonally, physically or emotionally – more hairs than usual can be pushed into that resting phase.
The crucial thing many women don’t realise is that the shedding doesn’t happen straight away. It usually appears two to four months after the trigger. By then, the original cause has often faded into the background, which is why hair loss can feel sudden, confusing and completely out of the blue.
Hormonal change is one of the biggest drivers I see, particularly around perimenopause. Oestrogen helps keep hair in its growth phase for longer. As levels fluctuate and gradually decline, hair can become finer, grow more slowly and shed more easily. At the same time, the relative effect of androgens (male-pattern hormones such as testosterone) can become more noticeable, leading to thinning around the temples, parting or crown. This doesn’t mean every woman in perimenopause will lose her hair, but it does explain why so many women in their late 30s, 40s and 50s suddenly notice changes they’ve never had before.
Physical stress on the body is another common and often overlooked trigger. Illnesses such as Covid and other viral infections, surgery, pregnancy, disrupted sleep, and periods of significant weight change can all interrupt the hair cycle and lead to shedding months later. This includes rapid weight loss, whether through illness, dietary changes or the newer weight-loss injections. The medications themselves don’t damage hair follicles, but the metabolic and nutritional shifts that accompany weight loss can temporarily push hair into a shedding phase. I often see women only connect the dots once we carefully walk back through the timeline together.
Alongside this is the quieter, cumulative effect of long-term psychological load. Ongoing pressure raises cortisol, which interferes with the hair growth cycle. The kind of background strain many women live with, like juggling work, family life, emotional responsibility and mental load, doesn’t always feel dramatic but over time it’s enough to tip hair into shedding mode, even when life looks “fine” on the surface.
Nutrition also plays a significant role. Low iron is one of the most common contributors, particularly in women who menstruate or have heavy periods. Vitamin B12, vitamin D and adequate protein intake matter too. Many women are unknowingly running on depleted reserves while continuing to give everything to everyone else.
What makes hair loss particularly difficult is that it isn’t just physical. Hair is closely tied to identity, femininity and confidence. Losing it can feel like losing a part of yourself, especially in midlife, when so much already feels in flux. And yet women often feel embarrassed to talk about it, as if it’s vain or trivial. It isn’t.
What I also see – and what concerns me – is how fear-driven the hair loss industry has become. Shelves full of expensive shampoos, supplements and serums promise regrowth and repair. Some can help at the margins, but many prey on anxiety without addressing the underlying cause. Hair follicles respond far more to what’s happening inside the body than to what’s applied externally.
That’s why my approach as a GP is always to step back and look at the whole picture. When did the shedding start? What was happening a few months before? Are periods changing? How is sleep? Nutrition? Recent illness? Blood tests can be useful in some cases, but reassurance and, if required, onward referral to a specialist doctor are just as important.
The good news is that most hormone and stress-related hair loss is temporary. Once the trigger settles, hair follicles usually recover. Regrowth takes time, which can be frustrating, but it does happen.
What helps most is addressing the basics: optimising iron and nutrition, prioritising sleep, reducing strain where possible, and being kind to your body during hormonal transitions rather than fighting them. And perhaps most importantly, talking about it. Hair loss is often a visible sign that your body has been under strain, sometimes for longer than you realise.
So if you’re noticing more hair in the plughole, more scalp being visible than you remember, or a ponytail that feels thinner than it used to, take a breath. You’re not alone. You’re not imagining it. And in most cases, your body is responding exactly as it would under the circumstances. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is stop panicking and start listening. Speak to your doctor if you are worried and let us help you before you start applying a load of topical treatments that may not help.
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