If you are wondering whether endometriosis causes hair loss, you might be one of the 6-10% of women affected by this disease worldwide [1]. Since you are already likely facing symptoms such as severe pelvic pain, fatigue, or digestive issues, adding hair loss to the list of endometriosis woes can be very frustrating.
The good news is that there is no scientific evidence that endometriosis causes hair loss. There is indeed some indication that side effects of some medication used to control the symptoms of this condition may include hair shedding. But that doesn’t mean that endometriosis itself is the reason your hair is falling out.
This article will tell you all you need to know about:
Endometriosis is a chronic disease which makes uterine tissue grow in places where it is not supposed to, mainly around the ovaries and the fallopian tubes [2-3]. The inflammatory reaction caused by this condition can result in the formation of scar tissue.
Symptoms of endometriosis include severe pelvic pain, especially during menstruation, as well as pain during sex and urination; heavy periods; fatigue; and bloating. It’s unclear exactly what causes endometriosis, but it’s likely to be a combination of genetic, hormonal and autoimmune factors.
There’s no cure for endometriosis. Pain relief, hormone therapy, and surgery may be recommended depending on the longevity and severity of your symptoms.
While it is unlikely that simply experiencing endometriosis can make your hair fall out, this condition may place you at a slightly higher risk of developing certain autoimmune conditions which cause hair loss, such as alopecia areata or alopecia universalis. One study found that 4.7% of women with endometriosis had alopecia areata, compared with just 1% of women without endometriosis [4]. Having endometriosis may also increase your risk of developing scalp psoriasis, which can progress to alopecia if left untreated [5-6].
Moreover, the stress and anxiety this disease causes and some of the treatments used to control its symptoms can lead to hair shedding. Stress and female hair loss are known to be linked. So while endometriosis is unlikely to cause hair loss directly, it is associated with several conditions that can lead to alopecia.
The good news is that endometriosis does not cause hair loss. If your hair is still falling out, this may not bring you much comfort.
There are however a variety of reasons why your locks may be thinning and how it is related to your condition:
Research indicates that there is some indirect relationship between endometriosis and hair falling out.
That is partly due to the fact that some of the treatments used to alleviate the symptoms of this disease (e.g. birth control pills, danazol, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists or aromatase inhibitors) are known to cause diffuse hair thinning and hair loss [7-9].
The sheer psychological burden of experiencing a painful chronic disease such as endometriosis can make your locks fall out. It is a proven fact that stress and anxiety can lead to hair loss, as they can trigger conditions such as telogen effluvium, alopecia areata or trichotillomania [12-14].
While further research is needed to demonstrate this, some studies suggest that endometriosis may be an autoimmune disorder, which has common genetic roots with other autoimmune illnesses and is sometimes developed alongside them. Some of these, such as alopecia universalis [15], alopecia areata [16] or lupus [17] are known to cause hair loss.
For example, one longitudinal study on over 35,000 women with endometriosis in Taiwan found that 88 participants developed alopecia areata (0.25%) over the 13 year course of data collection, while only 61 participants in the control group of 140,000 women did so (0.04%). The authors explained that there might be a common cause which makes these two diseases more likely to develop in the same person. However, this does not imply that endometriosis causes alopecia areata.
If this theory is correct, if you have endometriosis, you may be at a somewhat greater risk of being diagnosed with another autoimmune condition alongside it, some of which may cause your hair to fall out [15-17]. However, these occurrences are rare and unlikely in the absence of other symptoms.
Recent research has found a link between the use of chemical hair relaxers and the development of endometriosis [18-19]. Relaxers and chemical straighteners can also lead to hair loss if overused — so if you get your hair relaxed regularly, it’s possible that both your endometriosis diagnosis and your hair loss are linked to this.
If you’re concerned this is the case, it’s best to avoid hair relaxing treatments in future, and speak to your doctor about how to manage endometriosis symptoms. If your hair loss is linked with hair relaxer use, it should start to grow back by itself after a few months.
Endometriosis can cause women to enter natural menopause prematurely [20]. Alternatively, some women opt for surgical menopause to alleviate their endometriosis symptoms. Menopause is associated with hair loss, including female pattern baldness, due to the significant shift in hormone levels. Hair loss symptoms can start in perimenopause.
In this case, hair loss is a byproduct of endometriosis treatment, and the benefits may outweigh the risks. Fortunately, there are several ways to reverse thinning hair after menopause.
While it may seem to you like your hair loss is a result of endometriosis, it could just be an unfortunate coincidence. There are a variety of conditions which can cause female hair loss. The most common of these are:
Frontal fibrosing alopecia
Common scalp problems that cause hair loss
Hormonal hair loss in endometriosis is likely not a result of the disease itself, but usually a side effect of the hormone-based treatment you are taking for it. That is why the best thing you can do is to have a conversation with your endocrinologist and let them know that you suspect your medication is causing hair loss. Depending on your health condition, they might be able to recommend a different treatment, which is easier on your hair.
However, if you cannot change your hormonal medication, you can stimulate hair growth through hair loss treatments and therapies.
If you have been diagnosed with endometriosis and are experiencing hair loss, it is important to book a consultation with a trichologist and get a personalised treatment recommendation. That is because some of the most popular and efficient hair growth treatments (especially DHT blockers, such as Finasteride or Dutasteride) can have side effects that may influence your hormones, making your symptoms worse or interfering with your treatment.
For example, it is generally not advised for women to use Finasteride while they are still premenopausal, because it can disrupt your menstrual cycle or cause foetal malformations if you are (or are trying to become) pregnant.
In order to provide you with an effective, personalised treatment plan, the trichologist will first diagnose the nature of your hair loss.
To do so, they might order some blood tests for hair loss, perform a dermoscopy to see your hair and scalp up close, and perhaps measure the extent of your hair thinning on the Ludwig scale.
Then, in accordance with their findings and your preexisting health conditions, they may recommend one of the following common hair growth treatments and therapies which can normally be used by women with endometriosis:
If your hair loss is too advanced for these treatments or its cause can not be treated with medication or therapies, there may be hope yet. You might be a good candidate for a hair transplant.
Having endometriosis isn’t likely to stop you from getting a hair transplant if you’re otherwise a good candidate. Most women with permanent hair loss are eligible for FUE or FUT surgery, provided you’re in good general health and you have enough donor hair to achieve your desired results.
Female hair transplants are one of the most popular hair restoration procedures and Wimpole Clinic has great experience and a 97-100% success rate in performing them. So regardless of whether patients opt for a FUT or FUE type surgery, they get a natural-looking hair transplant.
Another advantage is that, unlike other treatments and therapies, hair transplants are permanent. You can see the results for yourself in our before and after hair transplant gallery. Book a consultation to learn more from our award-winning hair transplant clinic.
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