Can your birth control pills cause you to lose hair and suffer from hair loss?

Hair loss in women can be caused by many different things. Women are more physically sensitive to stress, thyroiddisorders and are at greater risk of iron deficiency.

Some women experience a sudden loss of hair due to their contraceptives. In most cases, this is when you switch from one type of contraceptive to another or a different type of contraceptive with a different hormonal composition.

Women have varying degrees of predisposition to genetic hair loss (androgenic alopecia).

Genetic hair loss is the type of hair loss that affects 70% of men, but women can also experience thinning of the hair on the hairliune and crown of the head as they get older. After all, women have more or less male sex hormones naturally in their bodies.

For women at higher risk of heredity, genetic hair loss may be triggered earlier by the consumption of contraceptive pills due to the hormonal changes that occur in the body.

Birth control pills and hair loss

Taking birth control pills with relatively high levels of oestrogen over a long period of time can counteract genetic hair loss.

Switching or stop taking the pill altogether can give the male hormones more leeway and a genetic hair loss a stronger hold.

Some contraceptive pills also contain male sex hormone in the pill itself, which can lead to androgenic alopecia during the period of taking them.

What makes it difficult to know for sure what is causing the hair loss is that there is usually a small time lag between the triggering event and the hair loss itself.

The hair follicles first go into resting mode and after about 3 months the hair strands from the resting follicles are released completely.

Often, hair loss is not listed as a side effect for birth control pills precisely because cause and effect can be difficult to link in a 100% reliable way.

However, if you know that you have a family history of hereditary hair loss, it is a good idea to discuss this with your doctor or midwife when discussing contraception.

PRP treatment for hair loss

PRP (platelet rich plasma) is a very good treatment for women who have lost hair and want to start growing their hair better.

A PRP treatment stimulates hair growth, making the treatment work proactively and retroactively against hair loss.

Want to find out if PRP treatment is right for you? All treatments with us start with a free consultation.

During the consultation, we will examine your hair with a microcamera and work out together what your next step should be.