It may be your ponytail doesn’t feel as full as it used to, or you’ve noticed more hair on your hairbrush or on the shower floor. Whatever the signs, realising your hair is thinning can be distressing. For me, now aged 53, it was a bit like finding the first grey hair – a horrible shock. Immediately, I wanted to do something about it.
The first thing to know is that it’s completely normal. ‘Eighty per cent of women will start to experience some form of hair loss by the time they’re 50,’ says consultant dermatologist Dr Ophelia Veraitch, one of the UK’s leading hair-loss experts.
But why does it happen? ‘Fluctuating hormone levels, stress, using too much heat when styling, over-colouring the hair or having low iron levels,’ she says. The good news is there are ways to slow loss down and even restore thickness and volume…. The dermatologist.
‘Book to see a dermatologist rather than a trichologist if you are concerned,’ says Dr Veraitch. ‘Dermatologists have a minimum 12 years of medical training and specialise in scalp and hair as well as skin, which not everyone realises. According to dermatologist Dr Ophelia Veraitch, eighty per cent of women will start to experience some form of hair loss by the time they’re 50 (stock image).
‘A trichologist, meanwhile, is someone who has studied a short course on the scalp and hair and hasn’t necessarily had any medical training.’. For an accurate diagnosis, prescription medication and help with lifestyle changes, a dermatologist is your best bet.
