Hair loss is common for people with a thyroid condition. Some people notice clumps of hair in their shower; others notice a change in the texture of their hair. It tends to feel weak and brittle. However, there are treatment options available.
Reversing Hair Loss
While the side effects of thyroid conditions like hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism are noticeable and sometimes embarrassing, there are treatments that can reverse hair loss.
“The good news is that your doctor can prescribe thyroid hormone medication to help your hair grow back,” Dr. Jennifer Landa, chief medical officer for BodyLogicMD tells Fox News. “The first thing that you’ll notice is a slowing of the hair loss, and then the hair will start to grow back, and ultimately it will grow thicker and stronger. But this can take several months.”
Some Need Stronger Medication
If you have a thyroid condition and the prescribed medication doesn’t improve your hair loss, talk with your doctor again, Landa says. Some patients need what’s called a T3 test to check for a specific condition that requires specific medication to spark hair growth.
“Most medication that we get for thyroid is T4 (thyroxine), and most patients do very well on that,” she said. “But there are many patients that would benefit from the addition of some T3 into their thyroid hormone regimen to help them grow back hair longer and stronger.”
Alternative Options
If medications aren’t cutting it, there are alternative options to treat hair loss. According to Dr. Kenneth Blanchard, evening primrose oil may help. One patient claims it was the answer she needed:
“As someone who has had a few periods of extensive hair loss since I became hypothyroid, I can vouch for the fact that taking EPO was the only thing that calmed it down. It not only slowed, then stopped my hair loss over about two months, but new hair grew back, and my hair was no longer straw-like, dry and easily knotted.”
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