Hair Loss Blood Tests

They measure the causes that are treatable and easy to overlook: stored iron as ferritin, thyroid function through TSH and thyroid hormones, vitamin D, zinc, and B12, and hormones including testosterone, DHEA-S, and DHT. Some options add an ANA screen for autoimmune activity, plus prolactin and SHBG. None of them look at the scalp itself, so they narrow the list of causes rather than confirming a specific diagnosis.

Low vitamin D, zinc, and B12 all cause hair shedding when the deficiency is genuine, and iron is the most common culprit of the group even though it is a mineral rather than a vitamin. Vitamin A is the exception worth knowing: too much of it causes hair loss rather than too little. Because the symptoms overlap, measuring these levels tells you which one applies to you instead of supplementing several at once.

Yes. Ferritin reflects the iron your body has stored, and it drops well before hemoglobin falls far enough to be called anemia. So a normal complete blood count can sit alongside iron stores that are too low to support hair growth. That is why ferritin appears in all three hair panels here, and why a ferritin result is more informative than hemoglobin alone when the question is shedding.

Testosterone itself is not the driver. The enzyme 5-alpha-reductase converts it into DHT, and DHT shrinks scalp follicles in people who inherited follicle sensitivity to it. This is why high testosterone does not reliably produce hair loss and low testosterone does not prevent it. Measuring total and free testosterone alongside DHT and SHBG shows how much androgen is present and how much is free to act.

It reports how much dihydrotestosterone is circulating in your blood. That is useful context when you are looking at pattern hair loss or considering a treatment that lowers DHT. It has a real limit: follicle sensitivity is inherited and is not measured by the test, so a DHT number does not establish that DHT is causing your hair loss or predict how much you will lose. Pattern hair loss is identified by how the loss looks, not by this result.

Yes, in both directions. An underactive and an overactive thyroid each push a larger share of hairs into the shedding phase, producing diffuse thinning across the scalp rather than a receding pattern. TSH is the usual starting measurement, and the Deep Dive panel adds free T3, free T4, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies, which show autoimmune thyroid activity. Thyroid-related shedding often improves once thyroid levels are treated and stable.

Low vitamin D causes hair shedding, and it is measured in all three panels here as 25-OH vitamin D. It also appears frequently in people with alopecia areata, the patchy autoimmune form of hair loss. Vitamin D deficiency is common and easy to correct, which makes it worth measuring early. Correcting a level that was already normal will not add hair, so the measurement is what makes supplementing worthwhile.

Yes. Zinc supports the protein building that hair growth depends on, and a genuine deficiency causes shedding along with slower wound healing and changes to taste or smell. Zinc is measured in the Baseline and Deep Dive panels but not in the Hair Loss Checkup. Excess zinc causes its own problems, including interfering with copper, so this is a case where testing first is better than supplementing on spec.

If you are looking into shedding for the first time, the Baseline panel covers the causes that turn up most often: iron stores, thyroid, vitamin D, zinc, B12, and basic hormones. Choose the Hair Loss Checkup if your loss is patchy or autoimmune conditions run in your family, since it is the only option here with an ANA screen. Choose the Deep Dive if shedding comes with irregular periods or a thyroid history. The single DHT test suits someone who already knows which number they want.

You'll receive it via email within 60 seconds of your order unless it requires additional processing (only very complex orders do).

Many general wellness test results are typically available online within 2-3 business days. However, some tests will require additional processing time. You will immediately receive an email & SMS notification when your results are available.

We do not share your results with your physician, insurance company, or any other third party.