Waking up with no hair on my head (not by choice) is one of my biggest fears and I am sure I am not alone. Although we all experience hair loss daily due to our hair growth process, its shocking to know that over 63 million people suffer from abnormal hair loss. We often don’t know why and what causes abnormal hair loss until it’s too late. Here are few major causes of hair loss.
Stress can play a major part of unhealthy hair and breakage. I have realized that hair often tells a story, while servicing one of my clients I realized severe breakage in the back of her head. My first question for her was “Are you stressed” and of course her answer was “Yes”. She was working full time and in Law school, she had just taken her bar exam. When I asked her if she had anytime for herself, or moments where she relaxed or exercised, she said no and she was very stressed about receiving her test results, and it showed in her hair. We often let stresses of life get the best our health and the health of our hair. Stress is seen as a normal part of life but we should really consider ways to alleviate stress for so many reasons including refraining from hair loss and breakage.
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Three types of hair loss that can be associated with high stress levels include:
Telogen effluvium. In telogen effluvium, significant stress pushes large numbers of hair follicles into a resting phase. Within a few months, the affected hair might fall out suddenly when simply combing or washing your hair.
Alopecia areata. A variety of factors are thought to cause alopecia areata , possibly including severe stress. With alopecia areata, the body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss.
Although stress is major factor and cause of abnormal hair loss, there are more common types of hair loss that are not associated with stress.
Androgenci alopecia. Androgenic alopecia is a result of genetics, age, and hormonal changes that cause miniaturization of terminal hair, converting it to vellus hair.
Postpartum Alopecia is temporary hair loss experienced at the conclusion of a pregnancy. In some women, pregnancy seems to disrupt the normal growth cycle of hair, with little normal hair loss during pregnancy, but sudden and excessive shedding from 3 to 9 months after delivery. Although this usually very traumatic to the new mother, the growth cycle generally returns to normal within 1 year after you have your baby.
The good thing is your hair can grow back from the majority of these conditions, but it is important to be mindful of what can cause them so that you can prevent or begin treatment if you’re already experiencing hair loss.