Many women experience hair thinning and hair loss as they age. In fact, after age 60, it’s common for elderly women to experience noticeable hair loss. If your elderly mom is worried about hair loss, it’s a good idea to learn together about what causes it, contributing factors to hair loss, and treatments.
You’ll want to share the information with other family members, friends, and senior care providers so they can help her with style and grooming and avoid habits that can make the hair loss worse.
What Causes Hair Loss in Elderly Women?
Like many other signs of aging, hair thinning and hair loss is caused by the body’s inability to regenerate cells as quickly and effectively as it once did. When that happens, the hair becomes dull, gray and thin. For women, menopause can trigger hair loss because lower levels of certain hormones can trigger thinning hair follicles that are quite weak.
Sometimes, medication for age-related illnesses can play a role in hair thinning in women as well. Still, other contributing factors include chronic illnesses like alopecia areata, thyroid dysfunction, iron deficiencies and skin infections. A poor diet and dehydration can also affect the health of an elderly woman’s hair. Finally, style issues can also cause a hair loss problem for women when they use harsh chemical treatments, high heat, tight rollers and tight hairstyles like ponytails and cornrows.
Treatment for Hair Loss in Elderly Women
While there isn’t much that can be done a few options that some seniors might find success with. Some medical treatments for hair thinning that are applied to the scalp can improve hair loss or at least slow it down. However, there are no guarantees that it works and many women don’t see any effect. Some menopause treatments can also boost certain hormones that are responsible for trouble with hair loss, so a doctor can prescribe that if needed.
The best way to deal with hair loss in elderly women is to take good care of themselves and their hair. Senior care providers can make sure the elderly women are eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water every day. If the senior care provider helps them with grooming, they need to avoid high heat curling irons and hair dryers. Senior care providers should also avoid vigorous brushing, tight rollers and other harsh treatment of the elderly woman’s hair.
Finally, elderly women often learn to live with hair loss by adopting certain flattering hairstyles that conceal the thinning. Many other women choose a close-cropped look as well. Still, others opt for wigs because they like the look. No matter what option your elderly relative chooses to take, make sure they know they are beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside.
For more information about hiring a Caregiver in Pacific Beach, CA, call the friendly caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare who can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, at 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Jolla, CA, and the surrounding communities.
Today we are the oldest and most experienced private duty agency in San Diego County.She saw a need for quality private duty home health care and she worked diligently to build an agency that filled that need.I am proud to say, her vision is carried on today with our dedicated staff.
I believe our tenure in the community speaks well for us.We have had the opportunity to be of service to countless interesting individuals, including local and worldwide celebrities.It is the people we care for that makes this a fascinating industry.Whether high profile or a more ordinary citizen, we are proud that thousands have entrusted us with their care or the care of their loved ones.Our Mission is to provide high quality, very secure and the most compassionate home health care.We believe that patients heal faster and are happiest when they can stay in their homes.”
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