Life Kit

What to do if you're losing your hair

November 20, 2025

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  • Hair loss is common in women, affecting up to half of them in their lifetime, and can be emotionally devastating despite not being life-threatening. 
  • Understanding the hair growth cycle (growth, transition/anagen, rest/telogen) is crucial, as temporary shedding often occurs when these cycles sync up due to stress or events like COVID, but persistent loss requires diagnosis. 
  • Different types of hair loss, such as pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) and autoimmune conditions like alopecia areata, require different scientific treatments, making a formal diagnosis essential before attempting remedies. 

Segments

Introduction to Hair Loss Issue
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(00:00:25)
  • Key Takeaway: Hair loss is a prevalent issue for women, often perceived as a male concern.
  • Summary: The episode of Life Kit shares content from NPR’s Short Wave focusing on hair loss. By some estimates, half of all women experience hair loss during their lifetime. The experience can be devastating, feeling like a part of one’s identity is slipping away.
Hair Loss Causes and Cycles
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(00:04:59)
  • Key Takeaway: Normal hair shedding occurs at the end of the telogen (rest) phase, but stress can cause cycles to sync, leading to temporary heavy shedding.
  • Summary: Each hair strand cycles through growth, transition, and rest (telogen), with shedding occurring when a new hair grows in its place. Stressful events like having a baby or contracting COVID can cause these cycles to synchronize, resulting in a larger, but usually temporary, shed. Sometimes, perceived remedies work simply because the temporary hair loss resolves on its own.
Types of Hair Loss Explained
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(00:06:11)
  • Key Takeaway: Pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) typically presents as a widening part in women, while other types like alopecia areata or scarring alopecias have distinct symptoms.
  • Summary: The most common type of persistent hair loss is pattern hair loss, which manifests as a receding hairline in men and a widening part in women, often being hormonal. Scarring alopecias present with additional signs like smooth spots, itching, tenderness, and redness on the scalp. Recognizing these different types is vital because they respond to different treatments.
Alopecia Areata Experience
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(00:07:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks hair follicles, and while it can lead to complete baldness, options exist for living with it.
  • Summary: Thea Chasson, who has alopecia areata, discovered a bald patch in her 20s, which was diagnosed as her immune system attacking her hair follicles. Although initial steroid injections helped, she is now completely bald, emphasizing that going bald is an option that should be normalized for women. New prescription drugs called JAK inhibitors, which target the overactive immune system, have recently been approved for this condition.
Diagnosis and Treatment Options
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(00:09:44)
  • Key Takeaway: A formal diagnosis is critical because treatments for one type of hair loss, like JAK inhibitors for alopecia areata, are ineffective for pattern hair loss, which often relies on minoxidil.
  • Summary: Getting a formal diagnosis is difficult due to potential dismissiveness from primary care doctors, leading some to use telehealth services, though in-person visits may be necessary for accurate diagnosis of look-alike conditions. Minoxidil (like Rogaine) has been a long-standing treatment for pattern hair loss, working by lengthening the hair’s growth phase before rest. For pattern hair loss, some patients use oral minoxidil and spironolactone off-label, requiring close monitoring by a doctor for side effects and kidney health.