Menopause is a hushed topic, even among women.
Happening, on average, at age 51, menopause is often used as a punchline in TV and film; cue Diane Keaton leaning into the refrigerator to relieve a hot flash.
But menopause is more than just hot flashes — which are no joke to anyone who’s had one. Other symptoms include fluctuations in mood, depression, sleep disturbances, night sweats, changes in libido, vaginal dryness, dry skin, weight gain, urinary incontinence, and yes, hair loss.
The latter is among the most debilitating to a woman’s self-esteem at this age and stage — or at any age, really. “Hair is everything,” as Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge famously said.
And for most of us, a bad hair day is a bad day. Period.