The Mystery of Missing Eyebrows
The Last 3rd of Your Eyebrow? Gone!
Many women are missing the last 3rd of their eyebrow seemingly for no reason. Some have noticed a change in their eyebrow hair in the last couple of years, others have had it their entire life. This can cause great emotional distress due to constantly changing fashion of eyebrow hair thickness every 10 years.
In the late 80s and 90s many women plucked their eyebrows to the extremely tiny fashionable thin brows. Now that thick brows are back in vogue, many of these women are frustrated because the hair is not growing back due to the chronic trauma to the hair follicle.
Other reasons for eyebrow hair loss can include thyroid dysfunction. Especially hypothyroidism can be responsible for this eyebrow hair loss besides the hair follicle trauma. “Madarosis is a term which was originally coined to denote loss of eyelashes due to destruction of hair follicles, but now encompasses the loss of cilia of both eyelashes and eyebrows.” (Kumar, 2012).
Hypothyroidism is due to the Thyroid malfunctioning and not being able to put out enough of its hormones to maintain ideal homeostasis.
There is a constellation of symptoms of Hypothyroidism which include: fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance, menstrual abnormalities, hair loss, constipation, and elevated cholesterol.
Many providers draw a TSH serum lab or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone blood draw on a yearly basis or when clients complain of symptoms. This test measures the hormone that the Brain releases in response to the Thyroid not functioning appropriately. This system is a negative feedback system which means if the TSH is elevated too high, the brain is trying desperately for the Thyroid to wake up and start putting out the correct amount of hormones T3 and T4. If the TSH is abnormal in any way, drawing a T3 and T4 lab value can be helpful in starting levothyroxine/Synthroid. And frequent lab draws ensure that we will have the hormones at a safe level.
As a side note, it is recommended through the literature avoid taking any biotin supplements 2 days before the lab draw.
Root causes of hypothyroidism can be related to zinc and selenium deficiency. There is also some literature referencing an iodine deficiency most likely due to the lack of iodized salt in cooking (food manufactures that are high sodium generally don’t use the iodized variety).
Taking the medication Amiodarone for a heart conditions, can cause variances in TSH due to the iodine contained in the medication. That’s why frequent testing is beneficial for all clients.
Natural sources of Selenium come from seafood, poultry, meat, whole grains, and nuts (especially Brazil nuts, one Brazil nut a day is a daily dose of Selenium).
Natural sources of Zinc include meats, fish, poultry, legumes and whole grains.
Natural Sources of Iodine include: iodized salt, dairy, seafood and eggs.
In conclusion, it is always best to get tested to avoid guessing and self-diagnosis, a provider or functional health practitioner can walk you through the steps to get tested and treated.
Here are some additional resources and references:
The American Thyroid Association. (2022). Iodine Deficiency. Retrieved from: https://www.thyroid.org/iodine-deficiency/#:~:text=HYPOTHYROIDISM%20%E2%80%93%20As%20the%20body's%20iodine,worldwide%20(see%20Hypothyroidism%20brochure).
Kumar. (2012). Madarosis: a marker of many maladies. International journal of trichology, 4(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-7753.96079
Puri. (2012). A study on cutaneous manifestations of thyroid disease. Indian journal of dermatology, 57(3), 247–248. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371544/
