Thinning Hair Signs: The Essential Guide to the Signs of Hair Loss

What if you were losing your hair and didn’t even know it? It’s easy to recognize when someone has lost a lot of hair. But when your own hair is thinning, it can be difficult to recognize the signs until it is too late.

Wondering what the thinning hair signs are and how to recognize them? Keep reading to discover the answers you are looking for!

Thinning Hair Signs: The Importance of Early Intervention

Our guide will tell you about the most important thinning hair signs. Before we go further, though, you need to know what to do with the answers you find.

When you uncover signs of hair loss, this is the time to take quick action. The sooner that you act, the more you can preserve your hair and even reverse the thinning of your follicles.

By all means, take the time to make sure that your hair really is thinning. But once you are sure, it’s important to take clear and immediate steps to fix the situation. With that in mind, let’s dive into the biggest hair loss signs you should be aware of.

Your Hair Doesn’t Feel the Same

Most of the hair loss signs on this list are visual. They involve you finding surprises when you look into the mirror or even look down at your pillow in the morning.

Believe it or not, though, the signs of hair loss start with a feeling. Specifically, it starts with you feeling like your hair is lighter than it used to be.

We don’t think of hair as “heavy,” but when it starts disappearing, you’ll notice when your hair feels lighter than it previously did. And while these next warning signs can help further confirm your suspicion, that feeling of lightness on your scalp is your first big warning.

Visible Scalp

What do you think about when you think about someone going bald? Many people think they are going to just wake up and see bald patches in the mirror.

While bald patches are a big sign (more on this later), that’s not how hair loss starts. Instead, you are likely to look into the mirror one morning and see more of your scalp than you previously did.

When this happens, you may also notice that the part in your hair is getting bigger. In short, even if they don’t know this is a sign of thinning hair, this is the stage where most people figure out something is going wrong.

Seeing More Forehead

If the visible scalp wasn’t enough of a warning, the next sign is even more obvious: when you look in the mirror and see more forehead staring back at you.

Whether you are self-conscious of it or not, everybody has a good idea of how big their forehead is. And if that forehead looks bigger in the mirror, or you can simply see more of it, then this is a sign that you have a receding hairline.

Your friends and family may point out the receding hairline as well. But if you keep a close eye on your reflection in the morning, you’ll be the first to notice.

Unexpected Sunburns

Do you spend a lot of time in the sun? Or maybe you like to get some time on the beach each year? If so, one of the more surprising signs of hair loss will be unexpected sunburns on your head.

Unless you wear a hat all the time, your head is constantly exposed to the sun when you are outside. And the only thing between you and major sunburns on your head is your thick head of hair.

Long story short? If you are suddenly experiencing sunburns underneath your hair, this is your biggest warning sign yet that you are starting to lose hair.

Styling Difficulties

Not everybody styles their hair. But if you regularly style your hair, then a difficulty with styling it may be a major hair loss sign.

And when we say “difficulty with styling,” that can be as simple as your hair not styling like it used to. As we noted before, thinning hair is not going to weigh the same as it previously did. And changes in your hair’s weight and the amount of hair available can have a major impact on your styling efforts.

Some people only take up styling their hair because they want to cover up the thinning areas. While there is nothing wrong with doing this, it’s important to be exploring ways to reverse your hair loss at this time. And make sure your haircare products are free of any unwanted toxic ingredients.

Hair On Your Pillow

So far, most of the scenarios we have reviewed involve you noticing something different in the mirror. The next tip is a bit simpler, though, and it involves noticing something different on your pillow.

When your hair is thinning and falling out, it doesn’t simply vanish. Instead, it is likely to fall out around your house. And it is especially likely to fall out on your pillow while you sleep, especially if you do a lot of tossing and turning.

Now, if you just see a tiny bit of hair on your pillow, don’t worry: a small amount of hair shedding is common for everyone. But if you’re seeing more hair than usual on your pillow, that is one of the clearest signs of balding you will find. 

Clumps of Hair

Our next sign of hair loss is related to the one above. Just as it is common for small amounts of hair to shed off your body, it is common for small strands of hair to come loose when you run your hands through your hair.

However, if your hair is thinning, then you may notice your hair is coming out in clumps. This could happen when you are brushing your hair, running fingers through your hair, or especially while you are in the shower.

Again, don’t worry if you’re just seeing the occasional strand of hair come loose. But if your hair is regularly coming out in clumps, that is a major sign that you are losing hair.

Bald Patches

Some of our earlier signs of hair loss were relatively subtle and easy to miss. But the sign that nobody can really ignore is when you see bald patches on your scalp.

If you catch signs of hair loss early on, it’s possible to avoid having bald patches. But even if you already have bald patches, there are some important steps you need to take.

The first step is to use the correct scale to determine your balding pattern. Men need to use the Hamilton-Norwood scale and women need to use the Ludwig scale.

These scales will provide a certain classification for your balding hair. This information can help you make stylistic choices, and you can bring the info to a hair loss specialist who will help make a plan for your next few moves.

Now that you know all about the signs of thinning hair, we’re going to explore some of the different factors that may be causing your hair loss.

Ringworm Infection

When it comes to possible causes of hair loss, we have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that some of the causes are kind of nasty. The good news is that some of the causes are also temporary.

The best example of this is a ringworm infection. Some of the symptoms of such an infection include brittle hair that may break off much easier than it did before.

Ringworm infections will sometimes heal on their own. Otherwise, a good antifungal medication from your doctor can take care of it and restore your hair back to normal.

Birth Control Pills

For women, one of the primary causes of hair loss is birth control pills. And these pills can cause hair loss in some unexpected ways.

For example, some women experience hair loss after they begin taking these pills. If this happens, you can either seek pills that have a low androgen index or explore alternatives to birth control pills to stop your hair loss.

Unfortunately, some women may only experience hair loss side effects after they stop taking these pills, and signs of hair loss may not occur for weeks or even months after you stop taking pills. If this happens, we recommend consulting with your gynecologist as well as your hair loss specialist so they can recommend your next course of action.

Certain Medications

Certain medications can cause your hair to start thinning. In fact, you may be on some of that medication right now!

Blood thinners can cause hair loss, and so can cholesterol-lowering drugs. And if you take medication to fight severe acne, that can also cause hair loss.

Sadly, both beta-blockers and anti-depressants can cause hair loss as well. You can possibly reverse this hair loss by changing your medication routine, but it’s important to consult with your physician before you stop taking anything he has prescribed.

Pregnancy-Related Hair Loss

Women who were recently pregnant may experience hair loss soon after giving birth to their child. This is because your body is now low on estrogen. Your estrogen levels are likely to restore on their own within 12 months, but there are a few things you can do to better fight against hair loss.

This includes using volumizing shampoos and conditioners and avoiding any shampoo or conditioner with “intensive” on the label. And treat your hair like fine hair. This means using special brushes and combs and putting conditioner only on the tips of your hair to keep from weighing it down.

Multiple Causes of Telogen Effluvium

You may have heard before that stress can cause hair loss. Strictly speaking, it is not the stress. Instead, it is telogen effluvium.

This is a fancy term for a condition where your hair constantly stays in the shedding (or telogen) phase of its growth cycle. Shedding is a normal pair of everyone’s hair growth cycle, but if you get stuck in the shedding part, your hair may start thinning very quickly.

And multiple things can cause telogen effluvium. This ranges from major stress to things like childbirth, medications, surgery, thyroid issues, and even weight loss.

The good news is that this situation is usually temporary. If severe stress is causing it, for example, then reducing the stress in your life may be enough to restore your hair.

Androgenetic Alopecia

In exploring the different causes of hair loss, we have touched on many causes that are temporary and easy to reverse. But one of the major causes of hair loss is a lot more complicated. We’re talking about androgenetic alopecia, better known as pattern baldness.

Both men and women can suffer from pattern baldness. And while this is likelier to happen as you get older, it can technically happen to anyone after the onset of puberty.

Unlike some of the other causes of hair loss, pattern baldness isn’t a condition where you can reverse it by changing your behavior. However, you may be able to treat pattern baldness with the right medication.

Your Next Movie

When you start noticing thinning hair signs, your first instinct is to do something. And while changing your behavior and your diet may work, the best thing you can typically do for your hair is to find the right products to fight hair loss.