Anemia Hair Loss: Iron Deficiency, Low Ferritin, and Hair Thinning

Anemia Hair Loss and Iron Deficiency Hair Loss. How does it happen? What can you do to fix it?

Iron deficiency and hair loss or anemia and hair loss. This is one of those items that I feel as though in the hair loss world, people just straight up overlook the vast majority of the time. There are so many cases that I've run into that somebody has tried everything. They've tried minoxidil, they've tried Propecia, they've tried PRP or vitamins or whatnot and nothing worked and essentially they end up in my office and I do our very standard blood test, ferritin, vitamin D3, blood type and it comes back that their ferritin is low and their ferritin is their iron storage protein. If that's low and what I mean by low is essentially less than optimal, that can be a massive influence in the loss of hair and essentially prevent you from growing hair back. When you're looking at everything, people think of just iron, but they have to think of ferritin because ferritin is your iron storage protein.
To get a little bit more involved in this, iron is a vital substance for our body. Without it we cannot live. It is 70% of what actually makes up hemoglobin, which is our red blood cells. It transports oxygen throughout the entire body and collectively we have to have a pretty substantial amount of iron in our diet to keep our bodies working properly. When we are looking at this scenario for hair loss, we have two major blood tests that we look for to understand how iron or ferritin is influencing your hair.

When you're going to get a blood test, oftentimes your standard blood test is simply not going to give you the information you need to know if ferritin or iron is influencing your hair. You must get a serum iron blood test and a ferritin blood test to know exactly where you're at. You might have some additional symptoms that would allow you to key into that. If your iron is very low, you're also going to have symptoms like bruising easily, fatigue, lightheadedness, you're also going to run into potentially heart palpitations, but if your ferritin is low, you might not have any of those or any of those physical symptoms, you might just have hair loss. Again, that's why you need to get both of those blood tests.

Each individual is going to have a little bit of a different daily requirement of iron-based on their lifestyle factors, but some key demographics that are going to have more demands for iron would be a menstruating female. As soon as a woman obviously begins to menstruate, losing a very large amount of blood on a monthly basis becomes a key factor, an overwhelming need for iron because when you lose that blood, you're actually going to end up pulling from your ferritin stores to rebuild all of those red blood cells that you just lost. If that's happening over and over and over again, it can easily diminish ferritin. Most of the females that I see in their teens, they're actually losing hair due to ferritin or iron issues.

Iron and hair Loss and Ferritin and Hair Loss. Today, we are going to be discussing iron deficiency and hair loss-- or anemia and hair loss-- specifically, the effects and what you can do about the problem. Many people have tried everything under the sun to correct this problem from certain over-the-counter drugs to daily vitamins and yet, nothing worked. Essentially, they ended up in my office taking Vitamin D 3 tests which have led to the answer they were looking for. Watch this video to learn what the cause of iron deficiency and hair loss may be for you and how to overcome it!

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Products mentioned in this Video:

DermaIron: 2 cap per day at night with food for 3 months, retest ferritin blood levels, or discontinue

#irondeficiencyhairloss #lowironhairlossregrowth #anemiahairloss

[KalpeshMishra]

I've tested numerous things. The only things that really worked in my case: A nutritious diet, decent sleeping timings, moving your body atleast for 25 mins, eating right, using good shampoo and oil. I use only liiitlleextra coconinon hydrating shampoo and hair oil for this reason plus it does the work. The hairfall got under control with it.

[Ashley-qn]

This gives me a lot of hope that I can reverse my hair loss because my ferritin was 8! This will be my focus for now

[pabloblanco]

Hands down best lecture on hairloss I have ever seen and heard. FAR above and beyond 95% of MDs.

[maheshjaju]

I started using lityleextra reactivate hair growth serum which has rosemary because my hair was swiftly falling out due to stress and other factors. I was actually only looking for anything to try, and this turned out to be suggested, therefore I decided for it. Within a few days, I myself noticed significantly less hair loss when I brush my hair. I also noticed the area where I started getting patches of loss, there had been new growth. It actually irritate my skin a bit right on the forehead hairline, thus I use a band to avoid it from running down as also keeping the head tilted back during application. The irritation vanished and did not returned, so if your skin is sensitive or simply to be careful, I advice a hairband to prevent it from running down to your skin. In general, I'm so pleased with this serum and will keep on to use.

[michellekirwan-woods]

I'm experiencing major hair shedding; my Iron is low and my Ferritin is @ 15! Thank you so much for this easy to understand deep dive!

[schleef]

One of the most underdiagnosed reasons for hair loss no question. A most recent blood test showed I had a low Ferritin and Iron level but was within their 'reference range'. At first glance, it looks on the low side but fine until my NP doctor saw the numbers and said you're anemic! I opted for iron weekly iron injections and my hair is no longer falling out and my energy is through the roof! No question regrowth will happen. This company also happens to have some great hair growth products check them out.

[Marcia_Toms]

My ferritin in was 11 ( three months ago ) I’m unable to take iron tablets so have been awaiting an infusion for three months…. I’m exhausted and have hair loss but my Drs don’t seem to care. I’m in uk. Very informative video, thank you.

[periwinkle]

Best explanation my doctor doesn’t even explain this. Thank u so much 😭

[WilliamGaunitzTrichologist]

I am happy to answer any questions here that you have on the video

[NoName-nybt]

1. Serum iron blood test
2. Ferritin blood test
3. Vitamin D3

[lindah]

Over the last 3 years ive lost what appears to be about 40% of my hair. Ive always been anemic due to heavy periods. Lately my hemoglobin has stabilized but i still have low iron and my most recent ferritin came back at 5!!! After watching this video im so thrilled to have another option. I thought id run out of options. Ive tried all kinds of creams oils and hair loss products - some prescribed by my dermatologist. I'll be trying this for sure and will give an update in 6 months. Thank you for the valuable information and the clear, succinct explanation!

[Char_LotteRose]

So glad I found this video! I am suffering from TE, 4.5 months in 😞 and it took me a couple of months to even figure out it was TE then another couple of months to find out my ferritin is at an 8! I started iron supplements from my doctor 2 weeks ago, hoping I see my shedding completely stop soon. My thick hair is now so thin, not bald but thin enough my scalp can me seen lightly when I wear my hair up (my temples got hit hard). My density is just awful and I have oily hair because of this. I subscribed! Thank you for this video!

Update: 8/5/23 - Unfortunately my hair is still shedding like wildfire 😔 I do now believe and at this point honestly, I *know* the Pfizer vaccine caused my TE. It started in June 2021, quite literally right after my first shot. Not even 2 weeks after because when I got my second dose my hair began to fall out *more* 😒.

[SashaFiercer]

OMG, thank you so much for this lecture. It’s answered so many questions I’ve had over the years concerning cyclical hair loss. Luckily, my current doctor is supporting all my blood tests (I live in the UK and the National Health Service is limited in what they can do) so I should hopefully have some answers and get a treatment plan by the end of the week. It’s really comforting to know there may be something to help my hair loss. It’s been so demoralising growing my hair only to have it start falling out in clumps again.

[TOSKA-cb]

Update: finally got to an appointment and I’ll be getting new blood tests and seeing a dermatologist. My hair has gotten so much worse. The doctor walks in and first thing she says is “well you were anemic but the worst was with ferritin but that’s just iron” it was a direct answer. God really just let everything fall in place. Hopefully they can get something for me but even if it’s not fixable it’s still nice to know.
Thank you for your help, Doctor. You’re the only Doctor so far I’d trust.

[brothercinnamon]

phenomenal. I am blood type O. I realized that years ago my hair loss was affected by doing a vegetarian diet. I knew I shocked my system and then created digestive problems. I then tried eating macrobiotically, thinking this was healthier, yet I lost energy and endurance. The moment I started eating according to my blood type, I felt so much better. but the damage had been done. Your explanation aligns with my experience and my gut feeling. I took your hair quiz, talked to your staff, bought products, and have a phone consultation soon. I already know my afro is coming back strong Doc. lol Thank You. I am definitely an androgenic alopecia candidate.

[fruitypebblez]

My hair was falling like crazy for yrs. I kept it short. I finally went to a doctor and she discovered my iron was at 4. She got me 2 infusions and my hair has gotten thicker. I can have it long now

[ashleymariesg]

omg.. thank you for the video. my hair has been shedding since late april and it REALLY came out during august september and this month. the doctor said my ferritin is 10 and iron saturation 9. the doctor said that my low ferritin was causing my hair loss so i decided to eat red meat/meat 2 weeks ago and i am taking an iron supplement twice a day. i dont get as many headaches and my fatigue has much improved. i am even seeing some hair growth but the shedding is still excessive and i think it is because my ferritin is so low. thank you for the video and i will cut out coffee ... i was vegetarian 5 years and started veganism this year.. i also drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day and was doing cardio like 3-5 miles a few times a week back in may/june/july/august.. i think all of this caused my iron to deplete and my ferritin went down to 10. i am 26 and it has been devastating seeing my hair thin and come out.. its still shedding but i am going to cut it off and start over and treat my body right. i had no idea what ferritin was until a few weeks ago

[AxelSituation]

Excellent video, thank you! I have been researching this topic on my own for a decade now and this is exactly the same conclusions that I have found as well :)

[manview]

Great info Will, I'm still in the midst of my 3 month treatment you recommended. Everything is going well and working rather nicely. Before and after pics will come after next month. Love the educational videos. Gary W.

[dawnmoreno]

I was recently diagnosed with chronic anemia based on my ferritin levels, and have had to have iron infusions. Slowly but surely my hair is coming back.