Did your hair become thinner with age?

[Wusel]

I'm talking to my mom on phone now.
She says that she can't grow her hair long because it's so thin. When she was younger, until 45 or so, she had tons of hair and now she has a third of it.

I'm scared.
shudder:shudder:shudder:

For all the ladies here who are over 40/50/60/70...
Did you hair start to become thinner when you got older?

I hope it's not genetic...
My mom says, it is... because her mother's hair became thinner with age too...:wail::wail::wail::shocked::shocked::shocked ::shocked:

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Mine hasn't. My mother is almost 91 and hers hasn't thinned much that you would notice - maybe slightly. My Dad had a full head of hair also until he died at 94. One of my sisters does have somewhat thinner hair but she treats it pretty appallingly. I am hopeful that I will be ok regarding thickness as I get older.

Part of me does worry about it, however, yes.

[lapushka]

Went the same for my mom. She's always had ii hair, F, but a considerable amount. Of course pregnancy happened and she lost a bit of hair then, which didn't all grow back. Then when reaching menopause (age of 42/43), she lost hair again. Now she's i, i/ii barely. She's 70 now and her hair has remained the same since menopause.

I'm going to be 43, no signs of menopause yet, but that might not be far away for me. I can only wait and see. I haven't been pregnant.

[Wusel]

Went the same for my mom. She's always had ii hair, F, but a considerable amount. Of course pregnancy happened and she lost a bit of hair then, which didn't all grow back. Then when reaching menopause (age of 42/43), she lost hair again. Now she's i, i/ii barely. She's 70 now and her hair has remained the same since menopause.

I'm going to be 43, no signs of menopause yet, but that might not be far away for me. I can only wait and see. I haven't been pregnant.

I didn't loose much hair after pregnancy. And what I lost grew back fast. I sometimes have the feeling that I have more hair now than before pregnancy... Maybe that's a good sign...

[Rapunzel_to_be]

I just recently saw a picture of my grandmother, she is 83 or 86 ( I don't remember.. we do not live in the same country and I have only seen her 3 times in my life) and I noticed that she still has very thick and full hair on her hair, and my mom does as well, although my mom keeps saying her hair got thinner after giving birth to me and my siblings, but she still has very thick hair ! Don't worry, it can be genetic, but you do not know if you got those genes or not :) Just treat your hair nicely and take good care of it, and hopefully this won't happen to you! And also you have to take in to consideration how your grandmother and mom were treating their hair.

[Panth]

My mum's hair has both become shorter (no trims, but it's gone from classic (in her teens / early 20s) to about waist or hip (in her 60s)) and thinned (mostly in her late '50s and 60s). That said, she's also rather more stressed now than she used to be. She also doesn't take great care of it as although she daily pins the braids up in a style very similar to this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Enfy9ru5_Y&feature=plcp), her ends (and braids) rub on the scarves she wears every day. She also works on a farm and regularly does stuff like get close enough to bonfires to singe her wispy fringe and her braid tassels...

[Wusel]

I just recently saw a picture of my grandmother, she is 83 or 86 ( I don't remember.. we do not live in the same country and I have only seen her 3 times in my life) and I noticed that she still has very thick and full hair on her hair, and my mom does as well, although my mom keeps saying her hair got thinner after giving birth to me and my siblings, but she still has very thick hair ! Don't worry, it can be genetic, but you do not know if you got those genes or not :) Just treat your hair nicely and take good care of it, and hopefully this won't happen to you! And also you have to take in to consideration how your grandmother and mom were treating their hair.

My grandmother kept bleaching it light blonde (from brown) all her life long until she passed...
And my mom hates her greys and dyes them at the salon...
And my dad's mother (who had very thin hair too) kept dying it black a whole life long...
I somehow think, it's not really genetic...
My grandpa had very thick hair until he passed but, of course, he had virgin hair.

[Rapunzel_to_be]

My grandmother kept bleaching it light blonde (from brown) all her life long until she passed...
And my mom hates her greys and dyes them at the salon...
And my dad's mother (who had very thin hair too) kept dying it black a whole life long...
I somehow think, it's not really genetic...
My grandpa had very thick hair until he passed but, of course, he had virgin hair.

Ok so there you go :) You don't have anything to worry about as long as you take care of your hair :)

[Wusel]

Ok so there you go :) You don't have anything to worry about as long as you take care of your hair :)

I hope so.
Because what I'm absolutely sure about is that I have no problem with grey hair and I would NEVER put harsh chemicals on my head in order to get rid of greys or to change my natural color.

[lapushka]

I didn't loose much hair after pregnancy. And what I lost grew back fast. I sometimes have the feeling that I have more hair now than before pregnancy... Maybe that's a good sign...

Sounds promising in any case! :)

[Rapunzel_to_be]

I hope so.
Because what I'm absolutely sure about is that I have no problem with grey hair and I would NEVER put harsh chemicals on my head in order to get rid of greys or to change my natural color.

No worries then :) Do not stress or worry about something that has not even happened, stress can also cause hair loss etc, so just do as you have been doing and your hair will be fine :)

[Winterwitch]

My grandmother is 82 and follows a religion that disallows cutting hair and dying hair. So she hasn't touched it since she was baptized in her 30s. It's thin and somehow only goes down to her waist (she IS tall though.) I'd say it depends on the person, your hair could thin with age or not. I doubt your hair is going to become 1/3 of what it is now in a few years though, so long as you treat it right.

[Anje]

I'm not old enough and haven't been paying attention long enough to vote. But I've been on LHC since 2007, and my ponytail circumference has very very slowly increased from 2.25 inches to about 2.9 inches. I'm hoping this trend continues for a few decades yet!

[dellad]

This is my absolutely worst hair fear as well. My mom's hair went from iii down to i in her early thirties, after she had me. She says it could have been due to age, pregnancy, or due to the fact that once it started thinning, she started perming it, which made it even worse. I'm terrified that it's genetic and due to age and pregnancy, as I'm now in my early 30's and pregnant for the first time.

Please don't leave me, my precious hair. :pray::pray::pray::pray:

[Ferryl]

Why worry about something you can't control? We're all going to get older. The alternative (death) is also inevitable, but hopefully not right now.
I'd be more concerned with eating well and exercise and not smoking, things that can affect your hair that you can actually change. Just my two cents.

[Wusel]

Why worry about something you can't control? We're all going to get older. The alternative (death) is also inevitable, but hopefully not right now.
I'd be more concerned with eating well and exercise and not smoking, things that can affect your hair that you can actually change. Just my two cents.

I do eat very well, never touched a cig and exercise one hour per day. And the only drug I take on Fridays, after rehearsing, is egg liqueur. Which is great for vocal chords and for hair, I hope, too. It's eggs :)

[Hairkay]

My mother's hair still looks thick. If it's gotten thinner than it used to be I can't tell from seeing old pictures. Only she would know. She has extra thick hair that she used to cut bits out to thin it a bit. Grandmother's hair started to look thinner when she was in her 70s. Great grandmother had thick white hair when I knew her up until she died in her 90s. I'll have to wait and see for myself but I suspect I won't be getting that thin.

[chen bao jun]

My grandmothers fine but plentiful hair got thin with age. Then she stopped dye ing and it thickened back up. My mom had severe traction alopecia which disappeared when she stopped tight corn rows and started JBCO at over 80.
my dad died at 70 with a full head of hair not even grey yet. On the other hand one of his sisters got very unsightly male pattern baldness.

Genetics causes things Like that and hard to know in advance who will get zapped. I don't think old age per se makes your hair thin though and I know menopause alone does not Inevitably for everyone . I'm in menopause (12 years now) and 5 inches circumference, that's not thin hair. 58 is different than 80, though. My mom isn't thinning but I still might, by then, that's 22 years from now. I think older women are likely to have less hair as time passes for a variety of reasons. Hair dye. Current generation of 70 to 80 year Olds grew up with the idea you must go to a hairdresser and be styled. Damage from that is cumulative. More likely with old age to get things like cancer (radiation treatment ) or just surgeries which are stress on body and lead to hair fall. More likely to have arthritis, etc which makes it difficult to sit finger detangling or s & ding for hours. At a certain point also, many women seem to get to care more for convenience than looks in generaL. I'm close to 60 and many of my contemporaries already just.do.not.care.anymore--or care very little. They want to look presentable, and not fuss and that's it. I look better than 90% of them not because I actually really look better, but because I still care about exercising, fixing my hair as opposed to chopping it off and because I search for attractive flattering clothes (which is a big job, most clothes --fall into three categories nowadays, none of which interest me. Teenager. Career. Frump).

I'm told quite a bit that it's silly to bother and doesn't matter anymore at 'our' age. (Usually after I just got a compliment and they didn't, often from their daughter ). sad to say, a lot of women work to make themselves pretty only for men. And at 60, if you have a husband, it seems you often think you don't have to look good for him anymore, since he's shown he loves you for yourself and isn't leaving just because youVe given up on your appearance, and if you don't have a husband (or don't have one anymore ), you don't dress up because you are no longer looking. My single friends all made big pushes to get married or remarried in their 40s and early 50s which inspired heavy duty makeovers. Now it's like, as one told me at lunch the other day, 'that ship has sailed.' So she has a pixie, gained 50 pounds in the past 5 years and wears voluminous mumu type clothes and sits in corners trying to avoid notice. This woman has always had 2x my good looks and actually still does, even with the extra pounds, but who is going to look past t he Toni Morrison style African earth mother wrapper type clothes and see that?

[roseomalley]

I will be 69 next month. My hair has always been fine but lots of it. That all has changed over the last few years. My front hairline has thinned a lot. I have never coloured my hair and very seldom used heat. It makes me sad, but I am still going to keep growing. I was above chin length summer of 2013 and am now close to BSL. Even though it has thinned in the front, it still seems to grow.

[momschicklets]

I'm 42 and my hair is the same as ever...my mother is 65 and has short, but very thick hair. She perms it, colors it, teases it AND hot rollers it shudder: and yet it still remains thick with no thinning spots to speak of.

[Dixie_Amazon]

I really needed "other".

At 54 my hair is still thick. I have slight thinning above my forehead due to hypothyroid. It is improving, lots of baby hairs coming in.

[Anje]

This is my absolutely worst hair fear as well. My mom's hair went from iii down to i in her early thirties, after she had me. She says it could have been due to age, pregnancy, or due to the fact that once it started thinning, she started perming it, which made it even worse. I'm terrified that it's genetic and due to age and pregnancy, as I'm now in my early 30's and pregnant for the first time.

Please don't leave me, my precious hair. :pray::pray::pray::pray:

For whatever it's worth, my mom says her hair won't grow much past her shoulders, yet mine is at classic with no signs of stopping.

What happened to your parents only tells you so much. :)

[jeanniet]

I said no, although I suppose that might be untrue because I don't really know how thick it was when I was younger. So it's possible it's thinned a bit since say my 20s, but I still have a 5" pony so obviously nothing significant. My mom is 84 and still has quite thick hair. It may have thinned a bit recently, but again, nothing obvious. At that age, I honestly don't think it matters all that much to most women, at least in relation to other things.

[dellad]

For whatever it's worth, my mom says her hair won't grow much past her shoulders, yet mine is at classic with no signs of stopping.

What happened to your parents only tells you so much. :)

Thank you, Anje. This is comforting. :-)

[ravenreed]

Yes. My hair is much thinner at 45 than it was even when I joined LHC. I had a surgery a few years ago that triggered a huge shed, but not all hair grew back. I don't heat treat my hair more than a few times a year and the dye I use is not damaging (Elumen). I am worried that it will continue to thin, but there isn't much that can be done. Given that I am on the thin side of normal, doctors don't seem overly concerned, especially given my length (fingertip).

[Deborah]

People are just different. I am 62 and my hair is about the same as ever. My Mum is 85 and her hair looks as thick as ever, just lighter in color.

Your mother may be quite wrong. You may have the hair genes from some other relative on either side of your family, not necessarily from her. You won't know for many years, so try not to worry about something that very well may never happen, and over which you have no control anyway.

(P.S. I bet she is wrong.)

[Wusel]

People are just different. I am 62 and my hair is about the same as ever. My Mum is 85 and her hair looks as thick as ever, just lighter in color.

Your mother may be quite wrong. You may have the hair genes from some other relative on either side of your family, not necessarily from her. You won't know for many years, so try not to worry about something that very well may never happen, and over which you have no control anyway.

(P.S. I bet she is wrong.)

Thank you very much, Deborah.:blossom:
I told my mom yesterday, after reading the comments here, that it's probably bad hair care and too much dying that causes the hair thinning in our family and that I hope that I can have thick hair when I'm older and she told me "You will see, it's inevitable that your hair gets thinner and thinner as you age, you will have to cut it as we all did..." DAMN! It's like my own mother tries to convince me that I'll loose almost all my hair with age.
Is this envy? Because I have more hair than she does?

[FuzzyBlackWaves]

My paternal grandmother is in her early 60's and her hair is the same fine, straight, glossy light brown that it's always been. My paternal grandfather, in his mid 60's, has lost almost all of his hair but he's been through a lot health wise. My maternal grandmother was in her 70's when she passed and she'd cut her hair into that short curly style that lots of older ladies have, but it did look quite thick. My maternal (70's) granddad still has thick, fast growing hair with no thin patches or anything. My dad is in his 40's and has thick, fast growing dark hair with a handful of greys and my mum has fast growing thick hair that turned white when she was in her 20's. I can't really comment on the condition of my mum's hair because she's rather rough with it, but it's past BSL without many problems.

I have actually noticed that my hair is much less thick than when I was a teenager (22 now) and I really didn't take care of it back then vs now.

[Elly May]

My mom is in her 70's and has better hair now than she has had in her adult life. It is healthy and grows a lot faster. My hair is better at age 48 than it has ever been in my life. I'm sure that is due to taking better care of it and feeding it. So, I have hope.

[Panth]

Thank you very much, Deborah.:blossom:
I told my mom yesterday, after reading the comments here, that it's probably bad hair care and too much dying that causes the hair thinning in our family and that I hope that I can have thick hair when I'm older and she told me "You will see, it's inevitable that your hair gets thinner and thinner as you age, you will have to cut it as we all did..." DAMN! It's like my own mother tries to convince me that I'll loose almost all my hair with age.
Is this envy? Because I have more hair than she does?

My mum was terribly skeptical of me reaching my goal of knee length because back when she was my age she had a terminal of classic. But, 1) although my hair is fine it's not as fine as hers and 2) she wore hers in unbunned plaits at that age. More to the point, I'm not her and nor is my genetics. Not only do I have genes from my father, I only have half of hers. And that's ignoring differences in haircare, etc.

That said, the easiest way to deal with it was to simply grow and prove her wrong rather than try to debate or argue (which I did - now at upper calf and still going strong!). I suspect the same will be true of your hair vs. your mother's, though it'll take longer for you to prove your argument than it did me.

It's not that your mother wants to convince you that you'll lose all your hair, it's that she wants to convince herself that her own hair thinness is inevitable rather than a consequence of something she could change.

[Wusel]

It's not that your mother wants to convince you that you'll lose all your hair, it's that she wants to convince herself that her own hair thinness is inevitable rather than a consequence of something she could change.

Thank you. I think you're right. My mom has a poor diet (not enough protein, not enough calories, low fat), smokes pretty much (started at the age of 15), washes her hair every day... I think she knows that she does something wrong...

[dellad]

Thank you very much, Deborah.:blossom:
I told my mom yesterday, after reading the comments here, that it's probably bad hair care and too much dying that causes the hair thinning in our family and that I hope that I can have thick hair when I'm older and she told me "You will see, it's inevitable that your hair gets thinner and thinner as you age, you will have to cut it as we all did..." DAMN! It's like my own mother tries to convince me that I'll loose almost all my hair with age.
Is this envy? Because I have more hair than she does?

Sending you my empathy, Wusel. My mom has the same doomsday-is-coming attitude towards my hair. Hope we both beat the odds!

[hanne jensen]

My hair is thicker today than when I was 30. This is a wierd trait from the Icelandic side of the family. The women's hair get thicker with age while the men start balding at about 35. My daughter's hair is thicker now at 33 than it was at 15.

[StellaKatherine]

My mom is now 51 and has super thick hair. Actually if I should guess ( her hair is too short to do a ponytail meassure ) she is iii with at least 4,5 inch. It hasnt been thinning for her and she gave birth to 3 daughters. But she still hasn't reached a menopause. I am guessing the thinnes of my hair comes from the dad's side as well as the colouring, but I have no idea how thick or thin hair is on dad's side.

[Alex Lou]

My mom and my MIL both have thinning hair. MIL's is much worse, but my mom stresses about it much more. Her doctor wants her to go off hormone replacement because of increased risk of breast cancer and my mom really doesn't want to because of her hair. I'm not worried about my own hair as I age because I got my dad's thick hair. I believe that his has thinned quite a bit but he still has a full head of hair. He's 77.

[Silverbrumby]

Yes, mine started thinning, shedding at age 44. It's settled down now and my ponytail is 3 inches give or take 1/4 inch. At the worst time it was 2 1/2 to 2 1/4. I now believe that some practices can help reduce the thinning. Here is what might help. Better diet, gentle hair handling practices, giving up heat, dyes, protective hairstyles, Rogaine, derma rolling,less stress, hrt (?).

It's well documented that with age some women will have more thinning. It's genetic for some. My mother doesn't have this but my father's side does.

You can reduce the loss imo if you do what works for you.

[Betazed]

My gramma's hair became much thicker as she aged. It used to be quite thin but she had a lot of it. Now, it's thick and coarse and she hates it. She had been trying to grow it out from an "old lady pixie cut" (her term, btw) but now that we've had our first hot day she texted me and said she doesn't think she can keep the length she's grown because, in her words, "it's just too bloody hot". I told her 2 turn on her a/c instead.

As for myself, I'm still under 30 but my hair has also become thicker since I was a kid. It used to be thin and pin-straight. Now, it doesn't know if it wants to be curly, wavy, or straight. My hair very inconsistent.

[gwenalyn]

Your hair might thin, but then again it might not. You don't really know. Just take care of yourself, enjoy what you have now, and if it changes, enjoy it then too!

My mom's hair hasn't thinned since menopause, as far as I can tell, though she always had thick hair so even if she did, it wouldn't be too noticeable. I take after my dad, though, and the women on his side of the family have thinned--some dramatically.

Who knows? I might get cancer and have it all fall out from chemo. Or I could lose it all in a freak threshing accident. Or I could get my braid caught in a campfire. Or I'll decide I want a pixie. Or I'll fall in love with wigs, and then it wouldn't matter what my real hair looked like.


My hair is thicker today than when I was 30. This is a wierd trait from the Icelandic side of the family. The women's hair get thicker with age while the men start balding at about 35. My daughter's hair is thicker now at 33 than it was at 15.

Funny! I imagine little elves cutting off hairs from the husbands and glueing them to their wives' heads :D

[Agnes Hannah]

My hair has increased in circumference since joining LHC, from 1.75" to 2.5". I am 49 years old. My mother has fine hair like mine, but it hasn't thinned at all. My maternal grandmother had thick hair which she tried to control by regular perming. I don't know if it thinned from when she was young,but it was thick until she died.

[Taenarian]

If my hair thinned once I was ... over 40 ... I haven't noticed.

[Deborah]

"...It's like my own mother tries to convince me that I'll loose almost all my hair with age.
Is this envy? Because I have more hair than she does?"

She might be envious, or she might just be pessimistic. Either way, you don't have to believe her. It is your hair, not hers, that is in question here. She does not know what the future holds any more than the rest of us do, but her attitude is at least pessimistic, and maybe a bit unkind. I suggest that you ignore her hair prognostications. She simply does not know what your hair will do in the future.

Take good care of your hair and ignore your Mum's gloomy forecasts!:flower:

[TheMaleRapunzel]

[QUOTE=Wusel;3004318][Did your hair become thinner with age?/QUOTE]

No. I am 35 and have a helmet of hair over my age. My dad is bald, but all the men in my mother's side of the family have a full head of hair well into their seventies and eighties. According to my doctor, I belong to the 30% of lucky men who are genetically resistent to male pattern baldness. I will probably still have a full head of hair at age 80, although I will certainly look like garbage anyway at that age.

A cousin of mine is 22 and has a receding hairline, and is severely depressed over it. He was actually put on Lexapro because of it. LOL.

[vega]

Oddly enough my hair has thickened as I have gotten older so go figure

[HintOfMint]

As Panth said, it's sometimes comforting to resign yourself to inevitability than to think that thinning hair is something within your control.

I would also add that believing everything is in our control is also a kind of comfort we provide ourselves.

My mother has fairly fine, thin, straightish hair. She said it used to be wavier and thicker when she was my age. She's not particularly abusive towards her hair, nor deficient in diet. I could very easily end up with hair like hers when I'm older. Of course, there are other factors. My father has thick, gorgeous hair. I eat much more fat and protein in my diet. I don't ever plan on getting knocked up--that's probably a big one. Hormones are no joke. But it is still possible that my hair will thin with age, despite my best efforts and... well... I suppose that will be that.

It's best not to worry about it.

[Wusel]

As Panth said, it's sometimes comforting to resign yourself to inevitability than to think that thinning hair is something within your control.

I would also add that believing everything is in our control is also a kind of comfort we provide ourselves.

My mother has fairly fine, thin, straightish hair. She said it used to be wavier and thicker when she was my age. She's not particularly abusive towards her hair, nor deficient in diet. I could very easily end up with hair like hers when I'm older. Of course, there are other factors. My father has thick, gorgeous hair. I eat much more fat and protein in my diet. I don't ever plan on getting knocked up--that's probably a big one. Hormones are no joke. But it is still possible that my hair will thin with age, despite my best efforts and... well... I suppose that will be that.

It's best not to worry about it.

It's the same for me. I eat much more fat and protein than my mom. I hope this will do the trick and feed my hair bulbs from the inside. My mom's diet definitely is protein and fat deficient.

[j88]

I can't grow my hair as long as I could 10 years ago. But I think that probably has to do with that I never cared about it then and therefor didn't pull it and used oils and stuff so that it shed. I don't know. But it's so strange that when I had my natural hair grown out a few years ago, it was thinner and couldn't get as long as when it was hard bleached in my teens. That annoys me. Hope I'm not one of those people that just gets thinner and thinner hair super early.

[Cowgirl16]

My mom and sister have fine thin hair. My dad is 75, he is far from bald, he just has less than he used to. I am 52, I have always had a lot of coarse THICK hair. I was sick a few years back and suffered a terrible shed which really thinned my hair out, my hair is just as thick now as before the shed. My grandmother passed at 94 and she still had a great deal of hair.

[Cowgirl16]

I might add that my hair is 56" long, I cut quite a bit off last year.

[WhimsicalWillow]

I am SO SO SO worried about this... My mother has the thinnest hair ever. She says this is because of the damage she's done bleaching her hair blonde but I'm not sure.... My grandmother (her mom) had extreme hair loss after almost dying during pregnancy and giving birth to her son and all the hair she lost NEVER grew back :o.... I asked her why and she said it was because of the pregnancy and medicine during that time but you would think that after that all happened, it should've grown back???... My granmda said her hair used to be very thick until that pregnancy.... My great grandma (grandma's mom) hair was so thick that she had trouble even just trying to put a comb through it!!! I have baby fine thin hair... I really really really hope it is not genetic. My hair is a huge part of my identity.... Losing my hair is up there with one of my biggest fears.

[Wusel]

I am SO SO SO worried about this... My mother has the thinnest hair ever. She says this is because of the damage she's done bleaching her hair blonde but I'm not sure.... My grandmother (her mom) had extreme hair loss after almost dying during pregnancy and giving birth to her son and all the hair she lost NEVER grew back :o.... I asked her why and she said it was because of the pregnancy and medicine during that time but you would think that after that all happened, it should've grown back???... My granmda said her hair used to be very thick until that pregnancy.... My great grandma (grandma's mom) hair was so thick that she had trouble even just trying to put a comb through it!!! I have baby fine thin hair... I really really really hope it is not genetic. My hair is a huge part of my identity.... Losing my hair is up there with one of my biggest fears.

Me too... my hair is a part of my identity... The thickness and color.... My mom's hair isn't pretty (sorry, mom) but it was when she was my age. But, unlike me, she permed it, dyed it, she smokes... Dear God... let me keep my hair like it is... I don't need more, just keep my hair.

And my mom doesn't take hair vitamins and doesn't have enough protein in her diet. Maybe that's it...

[prettigurl]

I'm 31 and my hair seems much thinner than it was in my twenties. I have had 4 babies so maybe that has something to do with it. Postpartum shedding was horrible after each child.

[Wusel]

I'm 31 and my hair seems much thinner than it was in my twenties. I have had 4 babies so maybe that has something to do with it. Postpartum shedding was horrible after each child.

Oh... that's sad...

But congratulations to 4 kids! :)

[Arctic]

I'm not sure, yet, so I won't vote in the poll.

My hair actually got thicker in my late twenties and early 30s than it had been previously. I don't think I grew more individual hairs, but the ones I had started to grow in thicker and wavy, which also made my hair appear thicker than a straight texture would.

In fact I was under the impression that my hair had stayed the same during the last several years. I was away from LHC a lot, I had pixie and bob, and was sure my hair was still as thick (to me) as it had been when I was growing it out the last time. Now this spring when I came back to LHC again, and started to take hair phoros again, I started to pay attention that my hair looks thinner in the photos than I remebered. I took my time to evaluate the situation, but came into conclusion that it is indeed thinner than, say, 5-6 years ago.

Now I did have a very long shed, about 6 months during the autumn and winter. I also had a longer period of not eating well and also had some medication changed few years ago, and have injured myself and developed chronic pains, and went through big stressful events, and so on.

Now my shed is over and I am eating well again, and I am monitoring the situation; perhaps I will get some of the lost thickness back. In general level I am relatively quite healthy, and have been monitoring my healthy with regular visits to doctor.

So, here I am, not yet 40, and have a bit thinner hair than 5 years a go, but no idea where about this change took place. At this point I am expecting at least getting some if not all of it back. I have never had children, and it is very unlikely that I ever will. But I have had history of extreme stress manifesting in hairfall. My hair naturally is also sparse, and that's actually more worrysome to me than thin but dense hair would be. It is the sparseness that makes my hair appear thinner, not the actual ponytail thickness.

I recently read that almost all women in Finland carry a gene for getting some thinning as they grow older. I have no idea if that's true, it wasn't a trustworthy source. My relatives all have had normal looking hair when older, I cannot say if they have thinned some, but in any case their hair has not looked thinned/balding. I don't know, I somehow think it's natural for hair to thin a little as the body ages. Say, after 60 or so. We Finns tend to have a thinner and fine hair in general, than many other nationalities/ethnic groups.

In general I am quite happy with my hair, but if I could change something, I would like my front hairline to fill in a little (and make my cowlick to vanish!). I admit I too have been a bit worried, that what if the hair just gets thinner and thinner as I age - I feel I'm too young to have age related thinning. I try not to worry about it too much. My hair has never been noticeable in any way (and I don't say it as a bad thing, it just is what it is and I am fine with it), and has never formed to be a part of my self-identity as I read many people here on LHC feel about their hair. If anything, my hair identity is of a thinner hair person, and a shorter haired person.

So yeah, in short: First it got thicker, then thinner and now I am monitoring it and hopeful I get the thickness back upwards again.

[nakima]

I had a huge fall out aprox 10 years ago while going through perimenopause and some of it grew back but my hair is alot thinner than it used to be :( What helped mine come back some I believe was diet. Lots of green leafy veggies,protein etc. maybe if I had been eating better before I would not have lost so much hair going thru menopause hmmm just a thought...

[Silverbrumby]

Mine is one third thinner than in my 20's. It's also ahorter in terms of how long it can get. And its now way curlier which I love.

[divinedobbie]

My mom's family has a long history of hair thinning as they age. My mom's hair is much thinner than it was when she was younger and she's always complaining about it. I had a really big shed last year in which I lost 0.5" in circumference and I have yet to regain it, I might never get it back.