Introduction: The Hair We Don’t Discuss About
Hair loss is a type of signs no person actually prepares you for. It isn’t nearly self-importance, it’s about identification. It’s the shock of seeing extra strands than regular within the bathe drain, or parting your hair within the mirror and realising the road is wider than it was once.
I first seen mine thinning on the temples and thru the center parting. The feel modified too: what was once thick, curly, and full-bodied began falling straighter, finer, and weaker. On the similar time, coarse hairs sprouted in locations I didn’t need them — chin, abdomen line, even round my nipples. It felt like my physique was contradicting itself: dropping and rising hair on the similar time.
After I searched on-line, I discovered the identical solutions on repeat: shampoos, biotin, minoxidil. However none of those defined why my hair was altering, or what I may do to really cease it on the root trigger.
The lacking piece — the half too many articles skip — is insulin resistance. And when you perceive that, the entire story of PCOS hair loss begins to make sense.
PCOS in 2025: Extra Than Hormones
Polycystic ovary syndrome is usually described as a hormone imbalance, nevertheless it’s more and more recognised as a metabolic dysfunction. You possibly can have PCOS with out ovarian cysts, you could be lean and nonetheless insulin resistant, and you may have fully totally different signs to the following lady.
That’s why it’s so misunderstood. For a few of us, it exhibits up as irregular cycles. For others, it’s pimples, fatigue, or weight achieve. And for a lot of, the earliest indicators are written in our hair.
Insulin Resistance and Hair Loss: The Silent Hyperlink
Right here’s what most docs don’t clarify clearly sufficient:
- Excessive insulin ranges, even with “regular” blood sugar, drive the ovaries and adrenal glands to supply extra androgens.
- Extra androgens shrink hair follicles on the scalp, resulting in thinning on the temples, parting, and crown.
- Those self same androgens stimulate hair development in different areas, which is why ladies with PCOS typically battle chin hairs and physique hair alongside scalp thinning.
A 2025 paper within the Journal of Endocrine Metabolism confirmed that insulin resistance is immediately linked to feminine hair loss in PCOS, even in ladies with a wholesome BMI. This is the reason so many ladies who don’t match the “stereotype” nonetheless wrestle with hair loss.
My Private Journey with PCOS Hair Loss
For me, it began with delicate shedding that changed into seen gaps. My once-dense curls softened, fell straighter, and misplaced quantity. I’d run my palms via my hair and really feel how a lot lighter it was.
On the similar time, I used to be plucking cussed chin hairs, checking my pores and skin for hormonal pimples, and questioning find out how to take again management. No topical remedy ever gave me lasting outcomes, and I knew I needed to look deeper than floor fixes.
That’s once I began specializing in insulin resistance because the underlying driver.
Therapeutic From the Inside Out
The reality is: hair oils, shampoos, and even minoxidil can solely go to this point. If the interior imbalance is ignored, the cycle continues. What made the distinction for me was shifting focus to metabolic well being first.
Balancing Blood Sugar
- Changing refined carbs with decrease GI choices like quinoa, lentils, and berries.
- Pairing carbs with protein and fats at each meal.
- Strolling after meals to assist insulin work extra successfully.
Prioritising Protein and Vitamins
- Making eggs, spinach, chia and flax seeds, and salmon day by day staples.
- Cooking entire hen and utilizing the broth for collagen-rich meals.
- Including marine, bovine, and sort II collagen to my cacao ritual every day.
Key Dietary supplements
- Inositol (Myo and D-Chiro mix) at 2–4g day by day.
- Magnesium glycinate, particularly at night time.
- Vitamin D with K2, plus zinc and copper for follicle assist.
Way of life Shifts
- Constructing muscle with energy coaching to extend insulin sensitivity.
- Extending sleep past my regular six hours every time attainable.
- Getting outdoors in daylight each day.
Supportive Hair Care
As soon as the within work started, I layered in supportive habits for my hair itself:
- Scalp therapeutic massage with rosemary oil for circulation.
- Silk pillowcases and delicate hair ties to scale back breakage.
- Letting my hair air dry relatively than fixed warmth.
These didn’t clear up the difficulty alone, however they supported the larger reset.
A 12-Week Reset Plan
Should you’re ranging from scratch, right here’s what helped me create noticeable change in three months:
- Reduce refined sugar and processed carbs.
- Check fasting insulin or HOMA-IR, not simply glucose.
- Begin inositol if it’s protected for you.
- Add two to a few energy exercises every week.
- Eat a minimum of one nutrient-dense “hair meals” day by day — eggs, salmon, spinach, flax.
- Observe progress month-to-month as an alternative of day by day, as a result of hair grows in cycles.
By week 12, many ladies not solely discover much less shedding, however enhancements in pores and skin, cycles, and vitality.
Closing Ideas
Hair loss in ladies with PCOS isn’t superficial. It’s a sign that the physique is out of stability.
After I reframed my hair loss not as self-importance however as a metabolic symptom, the trail ahead grew to become clearer. My hair density isn’t the place it as soon as was, however the shedding slowed, my vitality improved, and I lastly really feel like I’m supporting my physique as an alternative of preventing it.
Should you’re looking endlessly for a treatment, know this: the reply isn’t simply in bottles or serums. It’s in how we eat, transfer, sleep, and assist our hormones. It’s in seeing PCOS not simply as a reproductive situation, however as a whole-body metabolic story.
References
- Journal of Endocrine Metabolism (2025): Insulin resistance and hair loss in ladies with PCOS.
- Gersh, F. PCOS SOS.
- Sims, S. Subsequent Degree.
- Vitamins Journal (2023–2025): Research on inositol, magnesium, and ladies’s metabolic well being.
- Huberman Lab Podcast (2024): Vitamin and insulin resistance in ladies.
