Thinning of the hair

If you think your hair is thinning, although you do not have any real baldness, it is important to check that this is actually the case. Try the tug test, and remember that it is normal to lose 50–100 hairs a day. Sometimes, thinning of the hair can be entirely in the mind, as a symptom of depression.

Thinning of hair all over the scalp (rather than patchy baldness) can be due to various causes. In the case of mental or physical stress, it often occurs 2–3 months after the event. This is because at the time of the stress many follicles enter telogen (the resting phase) prematurely, and are then shed together at the end of telogen a few months later. In this situation, the hair loss usually recovers completely.

If you believe your hair is thinning, do not assume it is due to stress. See your family doctor, who will be able to rule out the common causes (such as thyroid deficiency and iron deficiency). Many drugs – not just those listed below – can cause hair loss, and the doctor will be able to check if this is a possibility. There may be several months? delay between starting the medication and the hair loss being noticeable.

Some skin disorders, such as eczema or psoriasis of the scalp, can cause thinning of the hair. Usually the hair grows again once the skin problem is treated.

Often no cause can be found. In some of these cases the hair will recover in time, but in others it remains thin.

It is important to keep thinning hair as healthy as possible (see looking after your hair for general recommendations). If there is no curable cause and the thinning is distressing, it may be worth trying Regaine. Bear in mind that Regaine will take several months to show any effect, and works in only a proportion of cases.

Some drugs that may cause hair thinning

Lipid-lowering drugs (statins, clofibrate, bezafibrate)
Anticancer drugs
ACE inhibitors for blood pressure or heart failure (ramipril, captopril, enalapril, lisinopril)
Calcium antagonists for blood pressure (amlodipine)
Blood-thinning drugs (warfarin)
Drugs for gout (allopurinol)
Antimalarials (chloroquine)
Drugs for epilepsy (valproate sodium, vigabatrin)
Drugs for Parkinson’s disease (for example, pramipexole, bromocriptine)
Anti-thyroid drugs (carbimazole, propylthiouracil)
Anti-acne drugs (isotretinoin)
Mood-stabilizing drugs (lithium, valproic acid)

Written by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Edited by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Last updated: Friday, February 26th 2010

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Comments on this article

Posted by Optional on 23/03/2010 at 03:23:28 am

I am very surprised that the Dr. listed ace inhibitors and calcium channel blockers as reasons for hair loss. If anything the beta blockers are the most common cause for hair loss, such as Atenolol, etc.

Posted by Lisa on 12/01/2010 at 12:46:00 am

Hi my name is lisa, i am 14 and i am asian. I got my hair straighten perm and i had huge hair loss and dryness. I wonder if my hairloss would grow back and if the perm would go away..help!

Posted by chanade on 07/01/2010 at 10:16:00 pm

PLEASE HELP ME my hair is thinning at the back of my hair there is also a bold patch at the back of my hair its fulling out in strands and im soo scard im going to end up with no hair it seems to be getting warse i been to my gp who did a thyroid test and it was ok !!!!!! what can i do

Posted by khan on 11/10/2009 at 12:23:00 pm

i am loosing hair

Posted by Anonymous on 02/10/2009 at 03:07:00 am

I am going through my change since the age of 21. Premature ovarien failure . I have been taking Lival HRT and i have notice hair loss at the front of my hair and on the crown. What can i do to cure this?

Posted by sally on 09/09/2009 at 09:19:00 pm

i am 41 and started getting grey hair from the ageof 17 i have had to dye my hair for over 10 years now. recently i have noticed a sudden thinness in my hair where my scalp is very visible this is causing me to be very distressed. Not surwhy this has come about or what to do