Fluctuating Estrogen Levels Can Bring About Changes in Your Curly Texture. Estrogen levels often fall for curl changes as estrogen is key for maintaining those helical hair follicles. During menopause, plummeting estrogen is linked to the onset of mixed curl patterns and gradual straightening of previously curly hair.
It sometimes happens that hormonal changes can make hair follicules change shape. A change from straight to curly can be due to a rise in androgens vs estrogens, and this can be triggered by direct hormonal events, like menopause, but also by things that affect your overall hormonal balance, like stress and illness.
Hair changing from straight to curly often indicates a hormonal shift within the body. Factors like menopause, pregnancy, puberty, and even taking birth control, can have a drastic, switching effect on your hair's texture. Hormonal changes alter how your genes are expressed, so changes here can make a big difference.
The main hormones that determine the nature of your hair follicles are Thyroxine, Triiodothyronine, androgens and insulin. A lack of Thyroxine and Triiodothyronine can make hair feel dry and brittle. Whereas an increase in androgens are more closely connected to affecting shape.
Another possible cause for curling of the hair is hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is a medical condition that can lead to dry, thinning and coarse hair due to a hormonal disbalance [11]. Hair follicles are direct targets of thyroid hormones.
Check for thinning hair evenly across your scalp. Unlike pattern baldness, thyroid hair loss is diffuse rather than concentrated in specific areas. Examine hair strands for dull, dry, brittle texture with split ends. Note down episodes of extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, and unintended weight gain.
Ever wondered why your hair takes on new textures as you age? The answer lies within your hair follicles. As time goes on, follicles often shrink, affecting the thickness and structure of your hair shaft. This can enhance your curls or, on the flip side, make your once-curly hair lose some of its bounce.
So a straight follicle produces straight hair and a curved follicle produces curly hair. The less evenly distributed the squiggly proteins are, the curlier the hair. Your genetic code also plays a role in the shape of the cortex and, therefore, the shape and thickness of your hair.
During pregnancy, changes in estrogen, prolactin, and other hormones can alter your follicle shape. Depending on these hormone levels, the hair type you start with, and genetics, your hair could become straighter, wavier, or curlier. Follicle changes may also affect hair texture, making strands finer or coarser.
So now you know, your hormones are constantly working behind the scenes to influence how curly or straight your hair turns out. Fluctuations in estrogen, testosterone, and other hormones during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause can lead to changes in your hair texture and curl pattern over time.
Hair texture changes
Hormones can affect the shape of some hair follicles, changing them from circle-shaped follicles that produce straight hair to oval-shaped follicles that produce curly hair. The coarse, wiry feel is from lower sebum levels.
As we grow older, our hormones often fluctuate, and our hair type can as well. You might have spent the first 20 years of your life with thick, curly hair that is now growing in thin and straight, or vice versa.
Hormones are the main culprit responsible for such drastic hair texture changes. During puberty, menopause and pregnancy, many people will find their will go from straight to curly or vice versa over a period of months.
Some vitamins and minerals help your body produce estrogen and use it more effectively. To increase your estrogen levels, consider adding: Boron, a mineral that helps your body absorb testosterone and estrogen. Vitamin B, which helps your body create and use estrogen.
When your body doesn't have enough vitamin d, your keratinocytes seem to struggle regulating your natural hair cycle, reducing hair growth and increasing hair shedding. With lower vitamin d levels, the anagen (growth) phase of your hair cycle seems to shorten and your telogen (resting) phase seems to lengthen.
Chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath. Headache, dizziness or lightheadedness.
Human hair comes with all sorts of colors, textures and shapes. Notably, African hair is more coiled and dry; Asian hair is straighter and thicker; and Caucasian hair is somewhere in between with around 45% having straight hair, 40% having wavy hair, and 15% having curly hair.
There is evidence that trichohyalin (TCHH) may affect hair curl in most/all world populations and that other genes such as EDAR and WNT10A only affect specific populations. Hair curl variation in native Africans is very likely a complex trait with multiple genes influencing curl.
Here are a some ways your hair can change: 1️⃣ Curl Pattern Changes: During the Menopause, your estrogen levels decrease and can loosen your waves/curls, making them less defined or even straight.
Another cause of thinning hair that you likely have no control over is medication and underlying medical conditions. "Scalp conditions like psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis, and underlying medical conditions like thyroid disease, can affect hair texture and cause hair to appear dry or dull," says Camp.