Aging Changes in Hair and Nails

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Hair thickness changes

Hair is a protein strand that grows through an opening (follicle) in the skin. A single hair has a normal life cycle of about 4 or 5 years. That hair then falls out and is replaced with a new hair.

How much hair you have on your body and head is determined by your genetic make up. However, almost everyone experiences some hair loss with aging. The rate of hair growth slows.

The hair strands become smaller (and have less pigment), so the thick coarse hair of a young adult eventually becomes thin, fine, light-colored hair.

Many of the hair follicles stop producing new hairs. Both men and women lose hair as they age. About 25% of men begin to show some signs of baldness by the time they are 30 years old, and about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern by age 60.

Men develop a typical pattern of baldness associated with the male hormone testosterone (male-pattern baldness). Hair is lost first from the front and top of the scalp.

Women also show a typical pattern of hair loss as they age (female-pattern baldness). The hair becomes less dense all over and the scalp may become visible.

Body and facial hair are also lost. Although the number of hairs is less, individual hairs may become coarser. Women may notice a loss of body hair but may find that they have coarse facial hair, especially on the chin and around the lips.

Men may find the hair of their eyebrows, ears, and nose becoming longer and coarser.