And it’s not limited to women. Soren Roi, a barber in NYC, recently shared his experience on Instagram with a dramatic texture change at puberty.
Changes at pregnancy: It’s a fairly well-known fact that hair can get thicker and longer during pregnancy due to hormonal changes.
“Pregnancy keeps hair in the growth phase longer and increases hair diameter, making hair grow faster and appear thicker,” says Dr. Ulrich. “We think this is related to higher estrogen levels in pregnancy. Estrogen also has an antiandrogenic effect, opposing some of the effects androgens have on hair follicles.”
Quintero, the celebrity hairstylist, says he’s witnessed clients who “had trouble growing hair past a certain point then become pregnant and have most luscious hair.” However, he adds, “anywhere from three to six months after giving birth, women typically experience hair loss.”
According to Dr. Ulrich, that hair loss is a result of hormones returning to their pre-pregnancy levels, resulting in a “temporary period of head hair loss as the growth phases of the hair follicles recalibrate to the non-pregnant state,” she explains.
Change at menopause: “During the menopausal transition,” says Dr. Ulrich, “the body’s production of estrogen declines, and head hair spends less time in the growth phase. Female pattern hair loss is likely related to genetic factors and may be hormonally triggered, but the exact causes aren’t clear.”
But what if you’re not pubescent, pregnant, or menopausal?
While Dr. Lipner says that “hair texture does not generally vary significantly over a person’s life,” she adds that “the hair follicle can undergo some structural changes every three to five years.”
“In general, hair follicles are either curly or straight,” Dr. Lipner continues. “For people with straight hair, the hair follicle is straight, and the hair follicle cells grow in a coordinated fashion. For people with curly hair, the hair follicle is S-shaped, and the hair follicle cells grow in an asymmetrical fashion.”
According to Dr. Lipner, scalphairs grow for three to five years, then go into a resting phase for several months before falling out. It’s during the resting phase that “the hair follicle can change its structure, but the factors that control these changes, including hormonal changes, are still being studied,” she says.
Can birth control impact hair texture? “Hormonal birth control generally does not change hair texture for most people,” says Dr. Lipner. “However, depending on the progesterone component, it may be associated with either hair loss or hair growth.”
Dr. Ulrich confirms that texture is not typically affected by hormonal birth control, but that it may “soften the male pattern type hair and prevent growth of new male pattern terminal hair due to the antiandrogenic impact of estrogen."
Changes due to chemotherapy: Patients who undergo antienoplastic treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, may experience changes to their hair texture after initial hair loss. Says Dr. Ulrich, these treatments can impact the diameter and shape of the follicle, “often making hair curlier when it grows back.”
Is there anything that can be done to retain your hair texture?
“If there is a medical cause for the changes in texture or coloring, for example, thyroid disorders, nutritional deficiencies, or abnormal hormone production, correcting this may slow or even reverse the effect,” says Dr. Ulrich. “We know that stress hormones and even melatonin can also have effects on hair follicles, though their exact actions aren’t completely established.”
