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Hair Shedding After 35: What the Research Says

Oct 12
4 min read

You notice it in the shower drain first. Then on your pillow. Then in your brush, wound into a little nest you pretend not to see.

Take a breath. Shedding is common, it usually has a cause, and very often it's temporary. Here's what the research says.


How Much Shedding Is Normal?


According to the American Academy of Dermatology, losing about 50 to 100 hairs a day is normal. Your hair grows in cycles. At any given moment, roughly 85% of your hairs are growing and about 15% are resting before they fall out and get replaced.

So some hair in the drain is just your scalp doing its job.


The Most Common Culprit: Telogen Effluvium


That's the medical name for sudden, all-over shedding. It happens when a shock to the body pushes a large share of growing hairs into the resting phase at once.

The twist: the shedding starts about 3 months after the trigger (anywhere from 1 to 6 months). By then you've often recovered and don't connect the two.

Common triggers include:

  • A high fever or serious illness

  • Surgery or a major physical trauma

  • Having a baby (the postpartum drop in estrogen)

  • Crash dieting or too little protein

  • Low iron

  • An underactive thyroid

  • Stopping birth control or other estrogen-containing medication

  • Certain medications, including some blood pressure drugs, blood thinners and retinoids (including too much vitamin A)


The good news: this kind of shedding is benign and usually reversible. Acute episodes typically last under 6 months, and hair density generally recovers. Regrowth takes patience; it can be months before you see the difference.


When It's Something Else: Female Pattern Hair Loss


If your hair is gradually getting thinner, especially at the part or the crown, rather than falling out in clumps, it may be female pattern hair loss. It's common, it often becomes more noticeable around and after menopause, and unlike stress shedding, it tends to be gradual and ongoing.

The difference matters, because the treatments are different.


What the Research Says About Treatment


For stress shedding: the main move is finding and fixing the trigger. Your doctor may check:

  • Iron levels, including ferritin and iron saturation

  • Thyroid function

  • A complete blood count


For female pattern hair loss: minoxidil is the best-studied option. In a 2019 randomized study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 52 women used either low-dose oral minoxidil or 5% topical minoxidil for 24 weeks. Both improved hair density (12% oral vs. 7.2% topical), and the difference between them wasn't statistically significant.

Side effects in that study:

  • Topical: scalp itching in 19% of women

  • Oral: unwanted extra hair growth on the face or body in 27% (mild); ankle swelling in 4%; a small rise in resting heart rate

Oral minoxidil is a prescription medication, so that conversation belongs with your doctor or dermatologist.


Where Peptides Come In


Two peptide stories show up in almost every hair conversation right now. Here's the research on both.


1. GLP-1 medications and shedding. Semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Zepbound, Mounjaro) are peptide medications, and hair loss shows up in their side-effect lists. In two long-term Wegovy trials, hair loss was reported by 3% and 4% of participants. Zepbound's own list of common side effects also includes hair loss.

The likely reason is not the peptide itself but fast weight loss. Rapid weight loss is a classic trigger for the stress shedding described above, which typically starts a few months later and usually recovers. If you're on a GLP-1 and shedding, it's worth mentioning to your prescriber. Eating enough protein and checking iron are common first conversations.


2. Copper peptides: the scalp's next frontier. GHK-Cu, the copper peptide from

our skin coverage, is one of the most exciting ingredients in hair care right now, and for good reason. In human skin studies, it has been shown to boost collagen production and increase skin thickness and density. Researchers who have studied GHK-Cu for decades list stronger, thicker hair among its potential benefits, and that's why it's now showing up in more and more scalp serums.

The science on hair specifically is still early, which is exactly what makes it a story worth following. Plenty of women, including people on our own team, are already putting copper peptides on their scalp routine and loving what they see. As larger hair studies arrive, we expect copper peptides to earn a permanent spot in the hair conversation.

We're watching this space closely, and we'll be first to tell you when new research lands.


When Should You See a Doctor?

  • Shedding that lasts longer than 6 months

  • Patches of baldness, or hair breaking rather than falling out from the root

  • Scalp redness, scaling, pain or itching

  • Shedding along with fatigue, feeling cold, constipation or weight gain (possible thyroid signs)

  • Heavy periods or signs of low iron, like unusual tiredness

A dermatologist can usually tell the difference between shedding and thinning with a quick, gentle exam.


What We Know. What We Don't.


We know: shedding 50 to 100 hairs a day is normal. Stress shedding usually starts about 3 months after a trigger and usually recovers. Low iron and thyroid problems are common, checkable causes.

We don't know: exactly why some women shed more than others after the same trigger, or the best long-term approach for chronic shedding that has no clear cause.


The Bottom Line


Most shedding is your body's delayed reaction to something that already happened, and it usually comes back. If it's been months, or your part is widening, get the labs done and see a dermatologist. Your hair has a story to tell. Let someone help you read it.


Your turn: Have you ever had a shedding season? What do you think caused it? Tell us in the comments.


This post is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.


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