You found it on the brush first.
Not alarming — not the kind of loss that makes you call anyone or say anything out loud. Just more than you used to notice. Enough that you started paying attention to the number.
And then in the shower. And on the pillow, sometimes. And the part, which you check now in a way you didn’t used to, catching the light at a certain angle.
***
Your hair hasn’t failed. Your body hasn’t failed. Something specific has changed — the same something that is changing a handful of other things at the same time, for the same reasons, whether or not anyone has connected the dots for you yet.
Hair follicles are estrogen-sensitive. They are also affected by thyroid function, by ferritin levels, by the androgen balance that shifts in perimenopause. In other words: hair is downstream of the same hormonal transition that is affecting your sleep, your skin, your joints, your energy. The brush is giving you information about a system, not a verdict about your hair specifically.
***
The part that tends to help most is knowing which layer is doing the work. Because some of this is collagen — the structural protein that makes up the hair shaft and the scalp tissue the follicle grows from. And some of it is hormonal. And some of it is nutritional. And they are not the same problem with the same solution.
The explanation for what’s actually happening — and which layer is most likely relevant for your specific pattern — is here: What Happens to Skin After 40: The Collagen and Estrogen Connection
Related reading: The Turmeric Drawer · The Mirror, the Brush, and the Morning Joints
Understand your pattern before trying anything
The Energy Detective Guide walks you through the five exhaustion patterns most common in women over 45 — so what you try next is pointed at the right mechanism, not just the most popular supplement.
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