Common Hair Changes That Happen As You Get Older + What To Do

Your body will change as you get older, and that is unavoidable. While you may be able to audit your lifestyle to delay those natural shifts, those changes will come eventually. And for those who menstruate, some shifts will begin to show up years before menopause even starts. 

As your hormones begin to change, you may start noticing thinner hair. "As estrogen fluctuates toward an overall trend of less, the counterpart hormones are increasing," Schaffer says. 

When these hormones increase, you may notice your strands feeling lighter. "The rise in androgens shrinks the hair shaft, [so] individual hair diameter shrinks," she explains. 

These androgens also stunt growth, so you may experience less volume and fewer baby hairs than you once had. These changes won't happen overnight but may start to take around your mid-30s, Schaffer adds. 

Here's the thing: These shifts in volume and density don't have one specific starting point—it's not like rolling a ball down a hill. In fact, your strands may ebb and flow much more than you'd expect. 

"While menopause is defined as a full year without menstruation, the start of perimenopause is unclear for most women," Schaffer says. So a gradual rollout should be expected. 

As we mentioned previously, you can't completely avoid natural changes to your hair as you age; but you can keep your scalp and strands as healthy as possible to ease the impact of those hormonal shifts.