Women's Hair - Age Forty and Beyond

If you are age 40 or older you may be experiencing some unwelcome changes in the thickness, texture, condition and styling needs of your hair. If so, you are not alone. Many women start noticing significant changes as they age. In most cases these are from menopausal symptoms. You may be seeing all of these changes or indications of several.

I'll address some of the more obvious problems and recommend some remedies.

Lets Start with Changes of Thickness

Description
This may be a drastic and frightening thinning of your hair. Some women may even be able to see their scalp through their hair especially in the bang area.
Causes
The most frequent cause of hair loss is low thyroid function, which is common among menopausal women. Other causes include changes in hormone levels and increased stress, either emotional or physical - also common among women entering menopause. To add to the problem, hair growth slows down as we age so that your hair does not replace itself as quickly after natural shedding.
Remedies
Speak to your doctor about possible thyroid medication or Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

Speak to your natural foods advisor. Soy products have been known to help hormone levels without the risk of synthetic HRT.

Speak to you hair stylist. Shorter, layered cuts provide more body and easier styling in thinning, lifeless hair. Learn how to style hair to produce more body and fullness. 

Reduce heat styling so as to reduce the risk of breakage. This includes: Blow-drying with a brush. Curling irons. Flat irons. Hot rollers that get too hot. Even round brushes with a metal core. Any of these has the possibility of over heating your hair so that any amount of stress can cause it to break.

Make your hair appear thicker with hair color. Multi-colors rather than one solid color will make your hair appear thicker. Using a color-blend technique, such as foils, your hairdresser will add 3 or 4 shades to your hair. (your own shade, 2 or 3 lighter and possibly 1 deeper) The hair color will also swell the hair shaft slightly, making it appear and behave thicker. And lets not forget the added benefit of camouflaging gray hair!