GLP-1s have completely modified the sport with regards to weight reduction, however these medicines aren’t all sunshine and roses. In response to Beauty’s The State of Aesthetics Summer season 2025 report, powered by the BeautyEngine platform, extra sufferers are reporting hair loss as a facet impact of their GLP-1 use. However as specialists clarify, that doesn’t imply that GLP-1s themselves are inflicting hair loss. As a substitute, it’s truly an indication that these weight reduction medicines are working quick to rework your physique, and your hair would possibly simply be having bother maintaining.
Featured Consultants GLP-1 Customers Report Extra Hair Loss State of Aesthetics Summer season 2025
With 51 % of respondents indicating they’ve skilled hair loss or hair high quality modifications since beginning their GLP-1 remedy, it’s clear that this facet impact is extra frequent than beforehand thought.
A considerable soar from final 12 months’s report, the place 37 % indicated that they had skilled hair loss, this information could look like trigger for concern. However simply the place is that this hair loss coming from?
Fortunately, your GLP-1 remedy itself isn’t the issue.
What Sort of Hair Loss?
“It’s critically important to understand that GLP-1 agonist drugs, in and of themselves, do not cause hair loss. Rather, hair loss can occur as a result of massive weight loss or fad dieting,” explains Wayne, NJ facial plastic surgeon and hair restoration specialist Jeffrey B. Smart, MD.
This sort of hair loss is often known as “stress shedding.”
“Any major physiologic change, like rapid weight loss, can cause stress shedding, called Telogen effluvium,” says New York dermatologist Doris Day, MD. “This causes hair follicles to enter the resting phase prematurely and fall out.”
Restoring Your Hair
Even in the event you’re pretty positive your hair loss is stress associated, it may well nonetheless be useful to see a specialist. “In reality, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different causes of hair loss,” says Omaha, NE dermatologist Daniel Schlessinger, MD. “The most important step in treating hair loss is getting the right diagnosis by seeing a board-certified dermatologist. Once the diagnosis has been made, there are so many different things that can be done, ranging from topical medications (like Rogaine) and hair vitamins (like Viviscal) to oral medications (like minoxidil or finasteride) and cosmetic procedures (like platelet rich plasma).”
It’s vital to notice that hair regrowth after stress shedding can take a number of months, and an knowledgeable can greatest information you on what therapies, dietary supplements or medicines (if any) will assist velocity up that course of. “Patients often come to see me after unsuccessfully trying some combination of topical or oral treatments from an online telemedicine service that has tried a one-size-fits-all approach,” Dr. Schlessinger notes. “In truth, hair loss will always require a customized approach to succeed.”
