While estrogen can help thin hair, it cannot completely reverse facial and body hair growth. Many trans women and other transgender people know all too well about how time-consuming daily grooming routines can be, so thankfully, there are alternative options available.
Estrogen and progesterone can help keep your hair in the growing (anagen) phase. Therefore, these hormones can help your hair stay on your head longer and may even help your hair grow faster. This may be why many women notice their hair thinning starts to improve with estrogen replacement therapy.
The answer is yes! Fortunately, unlike genetic hair loss, most hair loss caused by hormonal imbalances is reversible.
Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Hair Loss
While trans women who were suffering from androgenetic alopecia prior to starting HRT may see a reversal of their hair loss, the results have not been universal. More interestingly, blocking DHT in men tends to only slow hair loss.
Estrogen is related to hair growth — and hair loss. During pregnancy, for example, a woman's estrogen levels are higher than normal, which signals more hair follicles to "grow" and fewer to "rest." While estrogen levels are high, women have full, thick hair.
In your first 6-12 months on estrogen, people on estrogen may notice changes in their body hair, facial hair, and even scalp hair. While the full effect of hair growth changes may take up to three years to develop, they are a natural part of transitioning with estrogen.
Androgens—such as testosterone (T); dihydrotestosterone (DHT); and their prohormones, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and androstendione (A)—are the key factors in terminal hair growth.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, topical minoxidil is the most common treatment for androgenic alopecia or hormonal hair loss as opposed to corticosteroids for non-hormonal hair loss treatment. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation and lower the immune response in alopecia areata.
Hair loss. Elevated estrogen levels are often associated with hair growth during pregnancy. However, in cases of estrogen dominance, too much estrogen can lead to hair loss. This is because when estrogen levels are too high in relation to progesterone, the hormonal imbalance can cause disruptions to hair growth.
Estrogen has been postulated to aid hair growth by extending the anagen phase of the hair growth cycle [32], during pregnancy, for example [6]. In the postpartum period, an increase in number of hairs in the telogen phase results in increased hair shedding [5, 6, 24].
In addition to keeping your bones strong, estrogen and progesterone keep your hair healthy. A decrease in these hormones causes an increase in androgen production which causes hair follicles to shrink and contribute to hair loss.
As with male pattern baldness, female pattern baldness comes from hormone imbalances, specifically dihydrotestosterone imbalances, or DHT. This hormone is similar in structure to testosterone, but it is significantly more potent [3]. DHT can attach to receptors on the hair follicles, causing the follicles to shrink.
Hormone Therapy Can Help Treat Hair Loss
If your hair loss is attributed to hormone imbalances, such as lower estrogen levels, a physician might prescribe a form of hormone therapy as treatment. There are different forms of hormone therapies, so some treatment methods might be more suitable for you than others.
With hirsutism, extra hair growth often arises from excess male hormones (androgens), primarily testosterone.
Minoxidil (Rogaine).
Products with minoxidil help many people regrow their hair or slow the rate of hair loss or both. It'll take at least six months of treatment to prevent further hair loss and to start hair regrowth.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
It depends on your situation. Not all women need, want or are candidates for estrogen therapy. Estrogen can reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. If you have a uterus, you'll likely need to take progesterone along with the estrogen.
It may take a few weeks to feel the effects of treatment and there may be some side effects at first. A GP will usually recommend trying treatment for 3 months to see if it helps. If it does not, they may suggest changing your dose, or changing the type of HRT you're taking.
Research indicates that estrogen slows your hair's growth rate, extending the anagen phase, so more of your hair is in it than others. This may be why women have more hair than men.
Estrogen probably prolongs the growth phase of hair. There are estrogen receptors on our hair follicles. With menopause, estrogen levels from our ovaries decrease and testosterone is predominant. Testosterone shortens hair growth phase making hair thinner and slow to growth.
Certain HRT products can help to treat female pattern hair loss. The hair- friendly ones are Premique and Indivina (both of these products contain the anti- androgen medroxyprogesterone acetate) and Angeliq (containing drospirenone).
Excess thyroid, estrogen, progesterone and DHEA supplements can all cause hair loss. When the hair follicle is exposed to higher-than-normal levels of hormone, it shuts down and stops responding.