Thyroid disorders & hair loss

When the thyroid gland, a small gland that resides on the front of your neck, produces either too much or too little thyroid hormone, it can have negative outcomes for your hair, your crowning glory.

The thyroid [pronounced thy-royd] is shaped like a bow tie. To find it, all you’d need to do is just touch your throat [in the Adam's apple area], with one finger, alongside the top of your breastbone — the flat bone that runs down the middle of your chest — with another finger. The thyroid is located in that small space in-between your fingers. It moves up and down when you eat, drink, gulp, or swallow.   

Hyperthyroidism: Symptoms of hyperthyroidism [excess thyroid hormone] are rapid heartbeat, weight loss, heat intolerance, and nervousness. What’s more, your hair becomes particularly thin and sparse in the condition.

Hypothyroidism: Symptoms of hypothyroidism [too less thyroid hormone] include fatigue, intolerance to cold, lack of energy, puffiness of the face, and dry skin. In addition, your hair becomes dry, brittle, coarse, and thin.

What research says

While research suggests that half of all adults experience thinning of scalp hair by around age 40, 20 per cent of individuals with thyroid disorders reportedly experience hair loss earlier and more quickly.

Most clinicians are not sure as to why individuals with thyroid disorders present with hair loss. Studies, however, suggest that the thyroid hormone affects the body’s metabolism, including the hair follicles. As a result, hair re-growth is slowed down. The upshot is: your hair becomes thinner and possibly more brittle. This may subsequently prompt loss of hair ‘bulk’ too. Besides, if your hair shaft hasn’t fully developed, the ends of your hair may split just as well.

A retrospective study published in Dermato-Endocrinology [2011] has found a confirmatory relationship between hair loss and thyroid abnormalities.

Homeopathy: the safe, effective treatment for ‘thyroid-centric’ hair loss

Homeopathy does not just treat hair loss on the outside, or surface — or, merely its apparent, external symptoms. It treats the ‘root cause’ of the problem — in this case, thyroid abnormalities. To achieve this, it analyses not only the type of hair loss, but also the individual’s personality, or temperament, and their emotional symptoms, as one whole.

Homeopathic medicines for hair loss, caused by thyroid abnormalities, have been found to be clinically safe and effective. The key is, of course, professional homeopathic treatment — this is therapeutically evidenced to prevent further, or future, hair loss.

When your homeopathic doctor confirms that your hair loss is caused by thyroid dysfunction, you’d need to have patience and give adequate time for the treatment to show results. This is simply because you’d also give sometime for your body to adjust to the homeopathic medicine for hair loss and to increase the possibility for your hair to re-grow. You may have to, at times, wait for an entire hair cycle to occur too — this may take up to three years.

Self-help

For hyperthyroidism:

• Slot in enough intake of broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, spinach, turnip, peach and pears in your diet plan, while alternating them on a regular basis — they are helpful to curbing excess thyroid hormone production, naturally
• Caffeinated drinks and dairy products are best avoided; they are not good for your condition
• Multi-vitamin/mineral supplements, which can help ease hyperthyroidism, are best taken under medical supervision.

For hypothyroidism:

• Regular exercise and a high-fibre diet often help in maintaining healthy thyroid function
• Tea made from bladder wrack, or seaweed [Fucus Vesiculosus] is helpful in reducing weight and also to easing your hypothyroid symptoms and hair loss.