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Title: thinned out hair
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Lydia Posted - 28/4/2019 21:40:06
Hi. My hair thinned out soon after I started my periods. I was already a little anemic but my heavy periods were the last straw, so I believe it's due to iron loss. I don't have endo or anything, thyroid is ok, and it's surely not androgenetic. It took me many years to find iron supplements that I could tolerate. I am now 33, not anemic anymore but trying to raise iron stores (currently 30+) and get my hair back since I've learned that in hair loss due to anemia hair often will not come back until ferritin is 70+ or even 100+. Stress might have contributed to hair loss, I am a poor stress tolerator. Low yang and low qi, always chilly, tired, adrenal fatigue, etc. I do not consume cold or overly yin foods, i.e. I don't eat cold or frozen food, and rarely raw (can't tolerate much). I include some food to nourish my kidneys and I supplement iron and hair multimineral pills. Since I've been supplementing ferritin is the highest it's ever been (been lingering around 13 or less for decades) but the hair isn't back yet. What else can I do? I am tired of feeling shame about my see-through hair and scalp showing. Btw the site is beutifully designed.
TCM Posted - 2/5/2019 14:50:12
How about your body hair, thinned too?
Hair growth is affected by many factors, some common factors for hair loss include:
Ć Family history of balding, in either of your parent's families
Ć Age
Ć Significant weight loss
Ć Certain medical conditions, and medication
Ć Stress
Therefore, heavy periods may be one of the factors only, and you may need more than supplements.
It is better to consult a skin specialist, to check your scalp and hair follicles conditions.

From a Chinese medicine view, hair not only depends on blood for its nourishment, essence stored in kidneys also plays an important role for hair growth. If kidney essence is abundant, the hair will appear bright, shiny and healthy. On the other hand, hair loss, gray hair or other hair problems can indicate kidney deficiency or blood deficiency.
Herbs beneficial to this include:
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/herbal/heshouwu.html
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/herbal/shudihuang.html
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/herbal/formula30.html

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