Any ideas what's causing my eyebrow hair to fall out?

[Alanna012]

I am planning to go GP but I don't know what questions to ask.

So this is what the the right brow looks like this morning. It's been happening on and off over the years but for the last year the new growth isn't growing at all or so slowly it doesn't matter. It started that I had 2 grey hairs - thought nothing of that but then they started 'moving' and getting weird life of their own, sometimes hair standing up as if I got caught out in a thunder storm, sometimes drooping downwards, then falling.

I was inclined to think it's hormonal changes thyroid meds etc, but it itches before falling out, last year I noticed subtle skin peeling on my forehead and around my nose. I get the same rash pop up elsewhere but it disappears. I'm wondering if this is what's causing it.

I truly hate drawn in eyebrows and don't know what I'm going to do when they fall out completely. I had such nice thick brows.

What a life!

[helvella]

Loss of eyebrows, specifically the outer third, is a classic sign of hypothyroidism.

I don't remember anyone ever saying there is another known cause.

(Losing all eyebrows, or some other pattern of loss, can be other issues.)

[Alanna012 in reply to helvella]

Thanks Helvella, unfortunately its not just the outer third, but diffuse all through with gaps in the middle, trying to work out what it might be.

[helvella in reply to Alanna012]

I thought it was giving the impression of outer third - people who don't know how you usually look could (I think) gain the impression of the outer third. And that is quite likely how it came to be a recognised sign!

[Alanna012 in reply to helvella]

My phone has a poor quality camera and this was the best pic I could get. Yes, I get what you mean, to others it merely looks at a glance like outer third, but in reality it's more than that. So the terminology is outer third, but in practice it's overall density of the hair. So it may well be thyroid then, but I'm not presently anywhere near hypo in terms of t3 levels. That said I need to check, and do a test, I've been going by my symptoms. My T4 is probably low though as I'm taking t3.

The irony is that theres been times when I've been super anaemic and hypo and eyebrows have been bushy and thick!

Thanks

[helvella in reply to Alanna012]

It would really help if the actual cause of outer third had been investigated! To know why it causes that effect might help understand what could be done about it.

I recently had to take some photos of my neck/shoulder/side of head. (For my doctor!)

I stood in front of a mirrored wardrobe door. And positioned the phone and me so that I could see the screen of the phone in the mirror. That meant I could position it well, and even check the focus was good, and the lighting OK. (My first attempts, without the mirror, were awful. Bad shadows and dreadful framing of my shots. Fingers in the way.)

[ZeilaJee]

I have the same problem. Interested in the answers!

[tattybogle]

I'd like to know why the outer third of mine have grown back ..... but they are not where they used to be. The outer third are now much more spread out, both below and above where they used to be.. down onto my eyelid and up onto my temples ..... i have to decide which ones to keep and which ones to remove in order to try and create some sort of shape... or whether to leave them all and just look like a hobbit .

Do 'healthy' women's eyebrows spread out as they age ? ..... does anybody know any healthy 55 year old women to check this out with ? ...... everybody i know is a bit broken .

I used to have great eyebrows , but they seem to have lost their way as i age.

Can i look forward to them growing out of my ears when i'm 70 ? .... or is that just a 'bloke thing' ?

[Alanna012 in reply to tattybogle]

You're so funny Tatty. Hobbits indeed! At this point I'd accept hair growing down to my nose!😄

The irony of it all is that I have stubborn hair growing on my chin for years now, and down my inner thighs and it is good quality hair...nice, thick solid dark brown. I have to literally yank them out by the root.

Hair on head is a pretty solid, thin, brittle grey which never changes much no matter what I take, and lady bits went grey very late 20s to my then horror.

I have great hair where I don't want it. Honestly I need to have a stern chat with whoever's steering this body!

[Alanna012]

But it looks like I'm going to lose all the eyebrow hair completely not just outer third. Does anyone gave any cosmetic suggestions am miserable at the thought.

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to Alanna012]

Hi

You thought about an eyebrow serum, I'm early 50's and noticed my eyebrows were looking a bit sparse. I never lost the outer third, just noticed they were getting a bit patchy. I must admit I hate the blocked in eyebrow look that seems very popular. Looks so unnatural.

I used an eyebrow pencil to shade in the patchy bits but it's a faff and I was never completely happy. I started using rapid brow serum twice a day few months ago and my eye brows are looking thicker, darker and the patchy bits have all grown back. There are lots on the market and it pays to read reviews. I found mine on Ebay for about half of what Amazon were charging.

[Alanna012 in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

Thank you that suggestion Sparklingsunshine!

I'm definitely doing that for sure.

What was the name of your, or was it just called Rapid Brow?

I defo need help

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to Alanna012]

Just Rapid Brow, but there are plenty of others around. Would advise reading 5he reviews 😀

[Farrugia in reply to Alanna012]

Hi Alanna012 - I have the missing third of the eyebrow especially on one side so my eyebrows are very uneven. I've tried a lot of different eyebrow pencils etc and most are too fake looking. I find the most natural looking one for for me is Gimme Brow by Benefit. It's a coloured thickening gel with a little mascara type wand. I use the lightest one possible even though my eyebrows are a mid brown with a few white ones leaping out here and there. It dulls down the white ones and also tidies the straggly ones up. I don't know if there's anywhere you can test them to get the right colour, I bought mine online. It comes in a travel size so you can test it out without breaking the bank. Good luck!

[Alanna012 in reply to Farrugia]

Thank you very much for that suggestion Farrugia, I already bought the Rapid Brow from Amazon, and will look for the Gimme Brow tomorrow for sure! I need all the help I can get, I lost at least 3 more hairs today evidenced by them covering my phone screen😩

[junebug7]

Not an expert in this area, but after 3 months gluten free I recently experienced massive hair loss again when I reintroduced gluten. This could be coincidental timing (am still very much in the experimentation phase) but there is a lot of info online about a strong correlation between gluten/hair loss, might be worth investigating. Good luck 🙂

[Alanna012 in reply to junebug7]

Thanks for this suggestion junebug7, yes it makes sense to make sure to remove anything that might be provoking an immune response or trigger from the diet and gluten is the major one.

I was doing the paleo Aip diet (which excludes all gluten and grains) then fell off the wagon at christmas and haven't gone back to it, I'm an 'all or nothing' person, so my diet has been nowhere near what it should be for someone with autoimmune thyroiditis. Thanks for the reminder, I need a kick up the backside to get me back on it. It can only help. You'd think it would be obvious that I should have considered that.

[junebug7 in reply to Alanna012]

Good luck with it, would be interesting to hear how you get on 🙂

[ZeilaJee]

If anyone finds a solution on hair loss - eyebrows or head - please post!

[serenfach]

I lost both outer thirds before diagnosis. The right one grew back roughly where it should, but the left decided to grow vertical to my face, down to the eyelid and upwards.... think winking owl...

I am not much cop with make up so just pluck the ones that annoy me. I tried sticking the vertical ones down with vaseline, but they just pinged back. Now there is the odd white hair, but no white hair anywhere else.

Dreadlocks grow from my nose. I pluck but each time I get one hair, it makes me sneeze, so it takes a while and annoys the cat. I had a dental appointment so went to town with the nose, so he could actually find my mouth. Two days later the dreadlocks were back!

So far my ears have not sprouted...

The only thing I do is put a faint smear of self tan on the brow line. It then gives the impression of background hair if you dont look too closely.

I suppose now we dont have to wear masks, I will have to have a go at the mustache... sigh!

[Alanna012 in reply to serenfach]

I am rolling on the floor laughing serenfach😂😂😭

Sorry to laugh at your plight, <tries to straighten face and fails> 😄😄

Dreadlocks from your nose and having to pluck them for the dentist.... ha ha! sounds like my legs, you could do cornrow plaits with them. I'm offensively brazen enough to walk outside tightless and shaveless, I get really alarmed looks from people, like I've broken some seriously important code of social etiquette. I wonder if the doctor would transplant some of them to my brows, would end looking like a shire pony or something, but they'd be hair!

I'm getting hope from your response that the hairs can/may grow back at some point...it seems to be a recurring theme of excess hair in odd places and less where you want!

On a serious note, I'm glad yours grew back! And nose hair performs a really important function of keeping out allergens, useful for high pollen season! I hardly have any and get autumnal allergies to some sort of leaf mould.

Thank you so much for making me laugh today ❤️

[LynLyn]

Hi. I was on T3 only then transitioned back to T3 and T4 combination. I find my hair growth is a lot better with good levels of T4 and all my vitamins optimal (ferritin, folate, B12 and Vit D) I’m getting the hair back that I used to have and my eyebrows are better too!

[Alanna012 in reply to LynLyn]

Thanks! I would love to be able to tolerate some T4 because I suspect you're right about its role in hair growth...but I simply cannot seem to get it to work in my treatment without problems. I have tried and tried, mono, adding to ndt, adding to t3 ...maybe I haven't persisted well enough there... but I have tried breaking a 75mcg into small quarters and even just adding one quarter a day I have issues. That said I haven't written it off and would happily add it in if I can. I'm holding on to my levo!

[Alanna012 in reply to LynLyn]

How much T3 were you taking and did you feel once you added T4 back in?

[LynLyn in reply to Alanna012]

Hi. I’ve been on levo, ndt then T3 only. My problems are with low b12, ferritin, folate and vit D. Even after starting supplements the numbers didn’t rise as expected. This was the situation for two years. This forum recommended a Facebook group for Vit D. I follow their protocol which involves taking magnesium, boron, omega 3, K2 and Vit A. I now eat liver twice a week (100g each time ) (also don’t take Vit A if you do this - liver has lots of it!) This has improved ferritin, folate and b12. It’s almost two years since I started and my levels are nearly where they should be! I now take 100mcg of T4 and 10mcg of T3. I’ve worked up to this dose as my levels have improved. I tried to up the T4 too quickly and I had to stop as I was really unwell. Hope that helps!

[LynLyn in reply to Alanna012]

I’m feeling a lot better! A lot more stamina, energy and hair! My skin looks good too. I’m now drinking mineral water (live in a desalinated water area) and going gluten free after a coeliac test next month. I still have some brain fog and reflux but they are both drastically improved. I’m hoping the mineral water and being gluten free help with this. Oh - I make almost everything I eat from scratch too. I feel I’m getting to the end of feeling terrible. I know I’ll always have to really look after and manage myself to feel well. I’m so grateful to this forum for all their knowledge and advice.