Hair Loss and Stress




Stress hits every person at least once. Pregnancy and childbirth, death of a close person, serious disease, financial or job problems, family troubles like big arguments or divorce are only few reasons for stress. While for some people it goes away without any damage to their health, the others suffer physical problems one of which is hair loss.

Telogen effluvium is a scientific name for hair loss connected with stress. In this condition hair strands stop growing prematurely and move to resting phase. After three months these strands will fall out appearing to the person as intensive shedding of hair. By the time of hair loss the effects of the stress are usually gone, but hair processes are much slower than one might think. As soon as the stress is gone and all the resting hair has fallen out, the normal cycle will restore because this type of hair loss is usually temporary.

Stress is a big pressure on the body whether from physical or emotional side. It makes the body stop its routine work and throw all energy to one most important thing which is stressed. This is why after a great trouble a person might get sick, have different stages of troubles with body organs or lose hair.

•    Post-partum hair loss

It is very common for women to lose hair about three months after delivering a baby. This process is regulated by hormones, the level of which changes for pregnancy and comes back to normal with the childbirth. The statistics shows that nearly half of all women suffer post-partum hair loss to some degree. However, their hair cycle returns to normal after 9-12 months after childbirth.

•    Birth control hair loss

This is based on the same principle as the previous case: birth control pills change hormonal level and the body processes change. While in usual time the central nervous system would divide attention to all parts of the body, the confusion caused by birth control pills makes the body give up such secondary care aspects as hair and nails.

•    Hair loss after surgery

Any surgery is usually a big shock for a body which might lead to sudden hair loss. As a rule hair falls out within three months, but then it successfully restores. Telogen Effluvium is almost always the side-effect of a micrograft and minigraft surgery where the follicles are transplanted on the scalp.

•    Hair loss as side-effect of prescription drugs

Some medications lead to hair loss. While everybody knows about chemotherapy, there are dozens of other treatments which lead to this. The previous article has named the majority of drugs which claim hair loss as their side-effect, but if a person really doubts about the prescription medicine he or she is planning to take, it is good to check with a doctor, pharmacist or read the instructions carefully.

•    Severe emotional stress leading to hair loss

Although people experience some sort of emotional stress almost every day of their lives, it is rare that it leads to hair loss. Telogen effluvium might take place after major traumatic event like death of family member, abuse, auto accident or anything alike. As with the other stress connected reasons the hair loss here is temporary and the normal cycle will restore in 9-12 months.

If the person is suffering from stress there are a few activities he or she can do to reduce sudden shedding of hair:

1. Exercise. Even 20 minutes of active physical activity produces enough endorphins to reduce stress levels.

2. Relax with a massage. Massage therapy is recommended in many cases and there is no wonder: it helps to relax muscles and spasms, increases blood flow to all organs including hair, and relieves mental and emotional stress.

4. Keep a journal. Giving the thoughts out to the paper allows releasing frustration and stress which were kept inside.

Marie Carlos

Related Posts


Posted on September 17, 2009 
Filed Under Hair Loss, Hair Loss Conditions, Hair Loss Reasons

Comments

Leave a Reply