The short answer
Low iron is one of the most common findings in women with diffuse hair shedding. Many hair specialists like ferritin to be at least 40 µg/L, and 50 or more is better. Regrowth is slow: expect months, not weeks.
Hair follicles are some of the busiest cells in your body, and they keep their own small iron stores. Hair is not essential, so when iron runs short the body cuts back there early.
- µg/L40The ferritin many hair specialists want at least
- months3Typical delay between a trigger and the shedding it causes
- months6+Before regrowth shows. Hair grows about 1 cm a month
Which kind of hair loss is it?
| Pattern | What it usually is |
|---|---|
| Sudden, all over, after a trigger | Shedding after illness, a birth, a crash diet or stress. It usually regrows once the cause and your stores are fixed. |
| Slow thinning over years | Hormone-driven thinning. Iron helps the hair you have but may not stop it alone. |
| Round bald patches | Usually autoimmune. It needs a doctor. |
| A receding hairline or brows | Scarring forms can damage follicles for good. See a specialist quickly. |
Check more than iron
- Ferritin, read with CRP
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin B12 and zinc
- Thyroid: TSH, free T4 and free T3
- Total protein and albumin, since hair is made of protein
See a dermatologist or trichologist if shedding lasts more than six months, comes in patches, or your hairline or eyebrows recede.
While you wait, the same rules as for any rebuild apply: iron at two meals a day, coffee and dairy kept apart, and a recheck in 8 to 12 weeks.
Questions
Will my hair grow back once my ferritin is up?
Shedding from low iron often settles once stores recover, but it takes months to see. Hair that thins for hormonal reasons may need its own treatment.
Is a ferritin of 30 µg/L enough for hair?
Many specialists aim for at least 40, and the guide aims for 50 to 80 µg/L for everyone. Your doctor can weigh it with your other results.
Sources
- 1.Trost L.B., Bergfeld W.F., Calogeras E. The diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency and its potential relationship to hair loss. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2006
- 2.The Iron Guide, part 9: Your situation
This page has not been reviewed by a clinician yet. Read it as general education, and take your own results to your doctor.
Educational, not medical advice. ferritin.ai does not diagnose or treat any condition, and it never sets a dose. Talk to your doctor about your own results.