Can Low Testosterone Cause Hair Loss? – Symptoms, Treatments & Medications

Every individual on this planet wants to have a healthy and beautiful hair. You hair commonly looks nice when you are young. But unfortunately, it starts to fall as you age.

Hair loss is one of the most frustrating signs of aging especially in men. And once you start to go bald, it will have negative impact on your looks as well as confidence.

There are number of reasons that affect the hair growth and thus results in balding. In fact, many rumors and superstitions prevail explaining why balding occurs.

As a matter of fact, men faces hair loss problem more often than women do. After doing many investigations about hair loss and to stop it, you might have found correlation between testosterone and hair loss.

So, whether low testosterone has anything to do with this change or does it lead to hair loss?

Although the answer is rather complex but the more you know about the relation between low t-level and hair loss, the more easier it will be for you to find an appropriate solution. As a result, you can probably get back your head full of hair that you always wanted.
 

Correlation Between Hair Loss & Testosterone

There is a belief that men who lost their hair at an early age are supposed to be more masculine as compared to other men since powerful testosterone of those men has kicked out all their hair.

This is not true. According to studies, it is observed that men who have lost their hair and those who haven’t, tend to approximately same level of testosterone.

The only difference lies is the sensitivity of the hair follicles to the hormonal influences. Men who tend to experience baldness at an early age have more sensitive hair follicles to testosterone.

Can Low Testosterone Really Cause Hair Loss?

These are only mild effects of low t-level but there are some severe problems as well. These include depression, fatigue, accumulation of fat in the chest, muscle loss, reduced level of libido, weight gain and even cause erectile dysfunction.

The reduced level of this hormone present in free form results in baldness in front part of the head. And this is why some people are recommended by doctors to undergo testosterone replacement therapy.

Nowadays, many options and alternatives are readily available in the market. You can easily find testosterone supplements and injections also to help you restore testosterone in your body.

However, there is another concern related to it that many of you worry about. It is, if testosterone therapy causes hair loss? And the answer is if hair follicles are sensitive to this hormone then there is risk involved in it.

Cause of Hair Loss in Men

As compared to women, men have much higher rate of hair fall and is more common problem for them. Just increasing the testosterone levels do not suddenly stops the hair fall and cause it to grow back.

There are other hormones that can have some impact on your hair fall. Apart from low t-level, these are main causes for thinning of your hair or balding in men:

One of the most common reason for hair loss is genes. If hair loss problem runs in your family then you are most likely to genetically predisposed to baldness. Sadly, there is nothing much you can do to stop this.

There can hormonal imbalance which leads to several hair issues as well as give rise to some health issues as well.

DHT – Another Hormone Behind Hair Loss

DHT or Dihydrotestoterone which is composed from testsosterone by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. It is also made up from DHEA, a hormone which is mostly found in women. This hormone is generally found in hair follicles, skin and the prostate. The sensitivity of hair follicles to and actions caused by DHT leads to hair fall.

This hormone also acts in the prostate and without this DHT, the prostate will not develop fully. But when this DHT increases too much then a man can easily develop benign prostrate hypertrophy which is also referred as enlarged prostate.

Hair Loss in Women

There is nothing like that women do not face hair loss in the life span, they also do but bit slower than men do. Women may experience this hair problem due to androgenic alopecia. As compared to men, women have relatively much lower level of testosterone in their body but there is enough chances of losing hair due to androgenetic aloepecia.

Women have different type of hair loss pattern.

First, thinning of hair occurs over the top of the scalp following a ‘Christmas tree’ pattern. But their frontline hair pattern does not recede. Hair fall in women is also a result of actions of DHT on hair follicles.

Symptoms of Low Testosterone

A wide variety of symptoms will occur if your testosterone level drastically drops below than average level. Here are few symptoms of low t-level listed below. These are –

Low sex drive

With the decrease in testosterone level, you are likely to suffer from drastic downfall in your sex desire.

Erectile dysfunction

Testosterone is the main factor which is responsible for adequate erections. No doubt there are other factors as well that contribute in the low erection. These are:

• diabetes
• high cholesterol
• smoking
• alcohol use
• depression
• anxiety
• thyroid problems
• high blood pressure
• stress

Low level of semen

Testosterone plays a vital role in the production of semen in the body which aids in the motility of sperm. Men with low t-level will notice a decrease in the volume of their semen during ejaculation.

Fatigue

Low t-level in men result in fatigue and gradual decrease in energy levels. You may find low t-level if you don’t get plenty of sleep.

Loss of muscle mass

Testosterone also helps in building muscle mass so if there is decrease in muscle mass, you will not be able to gain bulk muscles and stamina.

Increased body mass

There will be increase in body mass too if there is insufficient amount of testosterone in the body. Sometimes, men also develop enlarged breasts or gynecomastia.

Decreased bone mass

Testosterone helps in thickening and strengthening of bone but if this level falls below than normal level then men will experience decreased bone mass.

Mood swings

There will be mood swings if you are suffering from comparatively low testosterone level and may be your mental capacity also get influenced.

Treatments for Baldness Or Hair Loss

If you happen to lose hair either due to high or low testosterone, there may be no definite treatment. Still, it may be possible to reverse the hair loss problem occurred due to too much testosterone or its shortage with the help of correct treatment.

In order to slow down the process of hair loss, it is important to stop the conversion of free testosterone into dihydrotestoterone or DHT by means of doctor recommendation.

But before you start your hair treatment, you need to consult your doctor first. Besides, in some cases you may also need to undergo endocrine system treatment and change your lifestyle which includes your diet to help you troubleshoot your problems.

If this gets to work properly and in expected way, you will surely get back your healthy hair.

Furthermore, to treat male pattern baldness MFB and female pattern hair loss both involves interfering with testosterone and DHT’s actions, several methods are available.

Related Post: Testosterone Levels: What is Considered Normal, High or Low?

These are:

Propecia (Finasteride) – it is a drug which is designed to inhibit the 5-alpha reductase enzyme which converts testosterone to DHT. However, this drug is strictly restricted to be used by women who is pregnant.

Rogaine (Minoxidil) – it is another drug which is in the market for many years which helps in increasing the blood flow in follicles and scalp, thus preventing the follicles from shrinking. Moreover, it helps in growing them again.

Artas Robotic Hair Transplant – it is a method to get natural looking hair without any side effects. It uses a state-of-the-art robotic that transplant hair.

Overall, there is good news as well as bad news for you. If you have baldness in your genes then there is high probability that you will get bald too and there is hardly anything you can do to stop it.

Besides, the good news is that by treating your testosterone level with effective and doctor recommended testosterone replacement therapy that will not result in hair loss.