As hairstylists, we must be able to recognize when we are dealing with

symptoms of menopause.  If you are an experienced stylist, you have known many of your clients for years.  As you age together, you are one of the people in that person’s life that can see the effects of aging!

Over your career, you may have had a few instances where there was friction with people that are

your best clients.  There will be that day, where their reaction to a seemingly minor interaction, leaves you questioning your mental health.  After much soul searching, and some googling, you may hopefully realize that you are dealing with symptoms of menopause.  It is a somewhat widely discussed but little known phenomena because the symptoms are different for every woman.  For the men, (andropause) I fail to see many threats but I will keep a log for the future.

While researching the requirements for dealing with the symptoms of menopause, I found there was

some agreement on topics that impact us in the salon.  They are:

• Moodiness – sometimes the client may be chatty; other times they are 100% on their phone.  Let it go.
• Irritability – discussions on some topics may not be received well and you could end up annoying/offending the client.  Many times they get help for their symptoms and you go back to normal like that time never happened.
• Forgetfulness – sometimes forgetting appointments; not showing up or mixing up the date and times.  It is useless to argue, just take one for the team.

• Hot Flashes – sudden increases in body temperature with differences in frequency and intensity.  On several occasions I have had to beg them not to strip down too much as we have a window that faces the street.   I have also had to use the small styling cape  or just a towel because the flashes were so bad, the client couldn’t bear to have the large cape around their neck or covering their body.
• Hair Growth – changing hormones cause increases in facial hair and thinning of the hair on the scalp.  Depending on how the diet is managed, the thinning will not be too severe but there is no way to be sure.

If you are in any part of a service industry, you will have instances where you are dealing with symptoms of menopause.  Some clients will tell you they are experiencing these changes and some won’t.  It impacts everyone differently and therefore, you will just have to learn to manage the outcome.

 By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

Books:  “Talking Hair”, “Filling My Head” & “Dreadlocks –  A Hairstylist’s Manifest”