For years everyone thought that hair loss only affected men. In reality, half of all men and women have visible thinning or balding by the time they’re 50.

If you have reached this distressing stage of life, but you’re not ready for invasive treatments like hair implants, it’s time to meet with Dr. Jelena Petkovic, PAC, MMS, DHSc, to learn about natural treatments that heal the follicle and restore hair growth.

Before recommending a treatment protocol, we run functional lab tests. Here, we explore the two essential tests needed to precisely diagnose the cause of your hair loss and fine tune your treatment.

Hormone testing

Hormone imbalances are one of the top causes of hair loss. While men and women can lose hair as a result of fluctuating hormones, women have dramatic changes at menopause (when estrogen levels fall) and after delivering a baby.

The sudden drop in estrogen after delivery makes all your hair follicles go into a resting phase. And then they start falling out — all at once.

Your hair naturally goes through stages of growth alternating with a brief resting phase. It’s also normal for the hairs to fall out when the follicle rests.

But normally, only 10-15% of your hair follicles are in the resting phase at one time. This small amount of gradually shedding hair is barely noticeable. The sudden shift in hormones throwing all the follicles into a resting state results in sudden, disturbing hair loss.

Hormones other than estrogen, progesterone, and androgens affect hair growth. For example, thyroid hormones support hair growth. As a result, an underactive thyroid often leads to thinning hair. High levels of the stress hormone cortisol inhibit hair growth.

With so many hormones affecting your hair, the only way to target the reason for your hair loss is with hormone testing. The functional lab testing we perform provides a precise measurement of your hormone levels, giving us the ability to prescribe the hormone replacement therapy that meets your needs and restores your hair.

Micronutrient testing

Vitamins and minerals are vital for hair growth, which means a deficiency contributes to hair loss. In fact, micronutrient deficiencies are another primary reason women and men begin balding or thinning.

Unfortunately, many people overlook this possibility, believing they get all the nutrients they need, whether through a healthy diet or with supplements.

But you could be doing everything right with your diet and still have a nutritional deficiency. How is that possible? Because your body uses more nutrients than usual when you’re under physical or emotional stress.

For example, engaging in intense physical training or athletic activities is great for your health and well-being. At the same time, the stress of the activity increases your need for nutrients. If you don’t offset that need with nutrient-dense foods or supplements, you could have a deficiency.

Any health concern, such as a chronic disease, illness, injury, or surgery demands substantially more nutrients to support healing. In fact, major surgery or prolonged illness puts such stress on your body that it forces your hair follicles into the resting phase. About three months later, large handfuls of hair start falling out.

Though you need all the essential nutrients to maintain healthy hair, certain vitamins are more involved in supporting hair growth than others. For this reason — and because you don’t know what deficiencies you might have — using random supplements won’t provide what you need.

We run micronutrient testing to identify specific deficiencies before recommending dietary changes, supplements, or IV therapy. Our advanced micronutrient testing produces highly accurate results, giving us a clear path to follow for restoring nutritional balance that improves your hair growth.

Your hair is one of the ways you express your personality. You don’t need to give that up due to hair loss. Book your Health Triage call with Dr. Jelena today.