What’s this…a health coach who’s hair is falling out? That doesn’t sound good at all!!!

In fact, I was totally freaked out when – in the beginning of the summer, my hair started falling out – in small handfuls.

Not chunks of hair… just a constant flow of shedding, kind of like leaves falling from trees in the fall…but non-stop. It was frightening, and I knew something was up because I have a core belief that informs how I treat my body – and how I work with my clients – and that is…

your body communicates via symptoms.

Every symptom – a cold, a rash, weight-gain, indigestion, back pain, and yes – even hair falling out is a way that our body says: “hello!!! I’m trying to tell you something!”

Our symptoms are kind of like the warning lights that go on in a car.

Unfortunately, our body isn’t quite as clear as a car – where the red light goes on and says clearly – “your tires are low on air,” but it’s close.

Our bodily symptoms are a general notice tells us: “Alert! Something is amiss here – please pay attention.”

Now, if we don’t pay attention, our body starts yelling at us and that’s when our symptoms get louder. Our pain gets more intense. Maybe our weight-gain feels out-of-control, and a cascade of other symptoms start to ensue, so that it becomes even harder to figure out what the heck is going on with our body!

That’s why, when my hair started falling out, I listened!

I listened hard and intently, because I didn’t want it to be the beginning of a chain of challenging symptoms – first my hair falling out, then my skin breaking out, then my energy crashing. I wanted to respond to that first “red-alert, red-alert” warning sign.

And I did!

I knew – because of my expertise with women’t health issues and hormone health – that hair falling out is a very common symptom of thyroid imbalance.

In fact, during the common peri-menopause and menopause years 37% of women experience hair loss!

37% – that’s a lot!

But that doesn’t mean it’s okay, or that every woman going through natural hormonal shifts has to lose her hair. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The truth is that many, many women have hormonal imbalances, under-active thyroid (hypothyroidism) being a very common one – and it’s often written off as “menopause or depression – or a myriad of other challenging issues.

Our symptoms are often written off as “that’s just what happens when you get older.”

Ugh! So not true.

We have to get curious, get educated – and start listening to our body’s needs on a deep level – on the level of hormones.

When we have a hormonal imbalance, it’s important to understand exactly what’s going on – which hormone is out of whack – and then work to bring it back to balance.

Once I narrowed down that it was my thyroid that was actually at the root of my hair-loss, I could start to work with it.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve gotten very focused on supporting my thyroid.

• I’ve made thyroid supporting tweaks to my already healthy diet (more yummy healthy fats and less raw cruciferious veggies, as well as more selenium rich foods like Brazil nuts).

• I’ve let go of some beauty products that were “all-natural” – but that didn’t support my thyroid – and shifted to an absolutely non-toxic beauty regime.

• I’ve started working with specific essential oils (rosemary essential oil, for example, supports circulation in the scalp).

• I’ve added some specific supplements to support my adrenal glands – which in turn support the thyroid. (As a general rule, I tend to not advocate for specific supplements on my blog, because I’d want to know you better before recommending a supplement protocol).

• And, I’ve started making more time for meditation.

All of these things support my thyroid, and help me create hormonal harmony so that I can feel my best.

Now just to be clear, I’m not saying that thyroid issues are at the root cause of every hair loss situation. There are most certainly other medical conditions that impact hair loss. But in my case, I know it’s connected to my thyroid because as soon as I started paying special attention to my hormones – and in particular my thyroid – my shedding slowed down.

I’m still a little thinner on top than my usual, lush head of hair. Usually, when I put my hair in a chignon (like in the pic above), I’d have a big bun of hair…now it’s kind of small. But I know that as I keep tending to my hormones, my body will repair itself, and I’ll have my flowing locks back again.

If you want support listening to your symptoms and creating hormonal harmony, please join my powerful 5 week Hormonal Harmony Program. We’re starting on October 2nd 2014!

 

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Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, certified Health Coach and Psychology of Eating Coach believes that every women deserves to feel good in their own body. She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life!  She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and NourishedWomanNation.com 

She helps busy women look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t.

She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your F.R.E.E. Video Series “What to do now, when everything you’ve done hasn’t worked” by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.

 

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