How To Treat Hair Loss From Stress

How To Treat Hair Loss Quickly

A certain amount of hair loss is to be expected. Every time your brush your hair or take a shower, you expect to see a few errant hairs falling out. As long as theyre not too many, you can live with it.

But what do you do if the shower drain is getting clogged or your brush is too full of hair? Perhaps youve noticed your hair is looking thinner, duller, or dryer, and you seem to be pulling out handfuls at a time. How can you treat the hair loss before it gets out of control?

Well, we need to make one thing very clear: not all hair loss can be treated!

Essentially, there are three basic kinds of hair loss:

Weve come up with a lot of solutions on how to treat hair loss quickly, but theyre all for the other causes of hair loss. They all focus on improving the health of your hair, scalp, circulatory system, and body overall, ensuring that your body has everything it needs to create new, healthy hair on its own.

With no further ado, here are our tips to help you know how to treat hair loss quickly the natural way:

Diet Deficiencies: Your Hair Is What You Eat

The essential vitamins and nutrients, like protein, that you get from a healthy, varied, and well-balanced diet ensure good health all throughout your body, making sure all your organs and internal systems are working just as they should. Poor nutrition or following a severely restrictive crash or fad diet can lead to all kinds of nutrient deficiencies, which in turn can result in hair loss, from thinning hair to patches of baldness.

Stress And Hair Loss: The Basics

Contrary to popular belief, stress is not linked to male pattern baldness the form of hair loss that causes you to permanently lose hair around your hairline, temples and the crown of your scalp.

However, stress can trigger and potentially worsen a form of temporary hair loss called telogen effluvium.

Telogen effluvium affects your hair by interrupting the natural hair growth cycle.

Normally, there are four different growth phases during the hair cycle as it grows from below the skin to its full length, then falls out to be replaced by a new hair:

• The first phase is the anagen phase, during which the hair grows to its full length.

• The second phase is the catagen phase, during which the old, fully grown hair follicle detaches from the skin.

• The third phase is the telogen phase, also known as the resting phase, during which a new hair starts to grow from the follicle to replace the old one.

• The fourth phase is the exogen phase, during which the old hair falls out, with the new hair growing in its place.

Just like your skin and nails, your hair is constantly undergoing this growth cycle. Weve covered each phase of the hair growth cycle in more detail in our guide to the hair growth process.

Each phase of the hair growth cycle varies in length. Hairs usually stay in the anagen phase for up to six years during which they grow to their full length.

About 90 percent of your hairs are in the anagen phase at any time, meaning that most of your hair is constantly growing.

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Hair Loss Vs Shedding

Losing some hair strands is a normal thing its called shedding, and it is a part of a cycle that hair goes through for regeneration. On average, people have about 100,000 hairs and lose around 100 daily. Many factors contribute to excessive hair shedding periods, such as stress, hormonal changes, aging, and so on . Fortunately, its not that big of an issue.

Hair loss, on the other hand, can happen both because of internal and external factors and it prevents the hair from growing, disturbing the phases in the hair growth cycle:

• The anagen phase may last for years, and its the time when the hair actively grows.
• The catagen phase lasts for approximately 10 days, while the hair grows very slowly and separates from the follicle, serving as a kind of transition to the next phases.
• The telogen phase lasts around 3 months, and its the time when the hairs neither grow nor fall, and new hairs form in the hair follicle.
• The exogen phase shedding time, which can last up to 5 months. This is when the separated hairs are shed, usually helped by washing and detangling, and youre experiencing what may look like hair loss. Most scientists consider the telogen and the exogen the same phase, which is why you might find studies that say there are only three phases and others that count four.

Treating Hair Loss Due To Stress

On a daily basis, the head loses around 100 hairs. The body naturally replaces those, but as it ages, it can no longer replace them so easily. Stress is one of the leading causes of hair loss. It is important to try to reduce stress by figuring out the source and focusing on managing it. The key to preventing hair loss is by strengthening it and stimulating hair growth. Methods include hot oil treatments, eating nutrient-rich foods, and reducing stress. All of these treatment are natural, low-cost, and easy to do at home.

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What Is The Treatment For Anxiety/depression Due To Hair Loss

Anxiety and depression caused by hair loss can be treated using cognitive behavioural therapy and support groups, as well as by medication such as antidepressants .

Psychological treatment is important for people with hair loss, but the best method is not certain and will differ from patient to patient. Research has predominantly been focused on the general issues of coping with hair loss rather than on specific psychological treatment strategies.

General Good Health Guidelines:

Telogen effluvium hair loss results from a one-time stressful event. Usually it does not need treatment. Just as is true after any illness, injury or surgery, your recovery can be promoted by a healthy lifestyle. This hair loss should resolve itself as you get well.

During recovery from any one-time stressor make sure you get adequate rest. Eat properly, getting adequate complex carbs and protein to rebuild your bodys resources. Enjoy relaxing activities such as listening to music or meditating and ask your doctor about an appropriate exercise program. Exercise is a stress reducer as well as a strength builder.

To recover from alopecia areata, incorporate all of the healthy living guidelines, but also reduce your stress. You must reduce the source of the inflammation to improve your hair.

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What Are The Clinical Features Of Anxiety/depression Due To Hair Loss

Hair loss may lead to depression, anxiety, and social phobia.

• Depression can lead to a feeling of low mood, lack of interest or pleasure in activities, loss of energy, and sleep deprivation.
• Anxiety can cause excessive worrying, difficulty in controlling those feelings, and a feeling of heightened tension. Patients may also complain of palpitations and sweating.
• Social phobia or avoidance behaviour follows on from the experience of anxiety symptoms, leading to social and economic suffering.
• Social anxiety disorder is characterised by the fear of humiliation or being judged negatively in social situations as well as the avoidance of such social or performance situations .

These symptoms can have a severe impact on an individuals mental health, ability to work or study, and well-being.

What Can I Do About Traction Alopecia

To protect your hair from traction alopecia and prevent further damage:

• Ask your stylist to create looser braids or dreadlocks.
• If you have braids, remove them after three months.
• If you wear a weave or hair extensions, remove them after eight weeks.
• If you have relaxed or dyed hair, make sure these treatments are applied by a professional. If you still notice breakage or hair shedding, avoid chemical treatments completely.
• Minimize heat styling, including hair dryers, flat irons and curling irons. These wear out the hair and can lead to major hair loss.

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Stress Cortisol And Hair Loss

According to Kogan, stress is a huge, huge, huge component of .

Stress nowadays is different from the stress your ancestors faced. Thanks to technology like smartphones, internet, email, and social media, your nervous system is in a more-or-less constant state of stimulation.

Were no longer able to disconnect from anyone, even ourselves, Kogan says. We never put that phone down thats what we call the 21st-century conundrum.

Statistics back up what Kogan says: 59 percent of working-age people report feeling significantly stressed. Most of them also report burnout, exhaustion, anxiety, and depression.

Constantly high cortisol, your bodys stress hormone, causes a 40 percent drop in hyaluronicacid and proteoglycan synthesis. These two compounds protect your hair follicles and help them grow when theyre depleted, your hair begins falling out and it doesnt growing back.

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Infections That Cause Hair Loss

A number of infections and illnesses can lead to hair loss. An infection that causes a high fever, a fungal skin infection, and bacterial infections like syphilis can all be responsible for balding or thinning hair. Treating the underlying infection can restore hair growth and prevent future hair loss. So your first step is to seek medical attention for the primary health problem.

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How Can Hair Loss In Women Be Prevented

Preventing hair loss is not possible when it is due to disease, aging, heredity or physical stressors like injuries. You can prevent hair loss caused by caustic chemicals or tight hairstyles by avoiding them. You might be able to prevent some hair loss by eating a healthy diet that provides necessary nutrients in terms of vitamins, minerals and protein. You can stop smoking.

Can Anxiety Make Your Hair Fall Out

Anxiety itself does not directly cause hair loss. Instead, it is the stressful situations that those with anxiety encounter that can cause the hair to fall out. The amount that falls out depends on the severity of the stress and frequency of the interactions.

Anxiety is the bodys reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. Though everyone feels anxious occasionally, those who suffer from anxiety disorders suffer such distress that it interferes with their ability to lead a normal life.

As with other emotionally stressful situations, anxiety can trigger telogen effluvium or alopecia areata which will ultimately cause hair loss.

If you think you are suffering from hair loss as a result of emotional stress, it is best to consult your doctor. Your doctor may refer to you to a counsellor or therapist, to address the underlying cause of the emotional stress which should help prevent any further hair loss, as well as allow the hair to regrow through the resolution of the source of emotional stress.

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Shift To Healthy Diet

Healthy eating is one of the crucial things that help to cure your hair of severe loss. Several types of research have been made on hair loss, in which it is shown that a healthy diet can help bring back the health of the hair.

So, try to shift to well-balanced meals that fulfill all the requirements of proteins, vitamins, and minerals which are helpful to grow your hair.

However, when it comes to having the best foods to prevent the hair loss that occurs due to stress, it is helpful to include whole food and those food materials that are loaded with the goodness of nature.

For this, you can start with the following food:

• Whole grains that have minerals and vitamins.
• Fruits and vegetables, especially those vegetables that have zinc and iron.
• Lots of fruits that have essential minerals.
• Lean protein.

All these foods help to boost the hair follicles, which further h to grow your hairs naturally.

How To Identify Stress

Telogen effluvium usually causes diffuse thinning, a type of hair loss that affects your entire scalp. If you have telogen effluvium, your hair will normally look thinner and less dense than normal, especially under bright light.

Normally, telogen effluvium doesnt cause a receding hairline, crown hair loss or other common symptoms of androgenetic alopecia . It also usually doesnt cause patches of hair loss, which are a common symptom of alopecia areata .

Its normal to lose between 50 and 100 hairs every day. Diagnosis of telogen effluvium is usually made if you shed more than 100 hairs daily, or if you dont quickly regrow the hairs you lose as a result of stress-induced hair loss.

Stress-induced hair loss can usually be identified by looking at the hairs you lose. Since the hair loss from telogen effluvium occurs during the telogen phase, many of the hairs you lose should have a small, white bulb at the root.

If youre worried that you might have telogen effluvium, the best option is to schedule a meeting with your healthcare provider. Theyll be able to identify and diagnose the type of hair loss youre experiencing, making it easier to choose an effective treatment.

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Is There A Way To Prevent Telogen Effluvium

Unfortunately, there is no proven way to prevent or stop an episode of telogen effluvium, and it should resolve on its own with time.

However, there are a few things that may help to support overall hair health. Eat a balanced diet, and in particular, consume an adequate amount of protein . Hair is made up of primarily protein , so its no surprise that sufficient protein is vital to maintain and grow hair. Also, be sure to avoid very tight hairstyles, excessive heat styling, or chemical-based treatments, as these can contribute to hair loss or cause hair breakage.

Tending to emotional health and practicing coping strategies, like meditation, may also be helpful to reduce the impact of a stressor.

If you hair loss is chronic, patchy, or associated with redness, itching or pain, seek medical care from a dermatologist.

What Are The Common Causes Of Hair Loss In Women

What causes hair loss?

• Hair style: Your style of hair can cause hair loss when your hair is arranged in ways that pull on your roots, like tight ponytails, braids, or corn rows. This type of hair loss is called traction alopecia. If hair follicles are damaged, the loss can be permanent.
• Vitamin deficiency.
• Over processed scalp hair .

What causes anagen effluvium hair loss?

• Toxic substances, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and some medications. These cause sudden hair loss that can occur anywhere on your body. It happens to hair in the growth stage. Sometimes, this type of hair loss can be permanent if your hair follicles are damaged.

What causes telogen effluvium hair loss?

• Extreme physical stress or shock to your body: This causes temporary hair loss. This category includes events like losing a lot of weight, surgery, anemia, illness and having a baby.
• Extreme emotional stress: mental illness, the death of a loved one, etc.
• An abnormal thyroid.
• Medications and supplements: blood pressure medicines, gout medicines and high doses of Vitamin A.
• Hormone changes caused by pregnancy, menopause or birth control pills.

What causes FPHL ?

• Genes: Your familys genes can cause thinning of hair along the top of your head.
• Aging: Hormone changes as you age can cause balding.
• Menopause: This type of hair loss often gets worse when estrogen is lost during menopause.

There are also some conditions that affect hair loss:

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What Is The Prognosis/outlook For Women With Hair Loss

Your diagnosis determines the prognosis:

• Anagen and telogen shedding may stop with time.
• Treat any diseases associated with hair loss.
• Disguise or cover your hair loss using a wig or hat.
• Early treatment of alopecia may reduce the speed of thinning and may promote regrowth.

While hair loss is not itself dangerous, women with hair loss tend to be very upset by the changes to their appearance. These negative feelings can affect self-esteem and social lives. Recent studies suggest that FPHL can be associated with conditions that include metabolic syndrome, endocrine disorders and diabetes.

Drug Therapy For Stress

Where stress and anxiety is the cause of hair loss it is appropriate to consider anxiety and stress-related drugs.

There are many types of drug therapy that may be considered when treating stress or anxiety, they are chosen by the doctor according to how the sufferer is experiencing symptoms.

For instance, if you are having difficulties sleeping, the doctor may prescribe sleeping pills and if you are feeling depressed, they may prescribe antidepressants.

This is an area of psychological medicine that requires expert advice and so sufferers must consult a doctor in the first instant.

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Habits And Lifestyle Changes

Changing your lifestyle and habits can often help to reduce stress. If you often feel stressed, try using the techniques below to limit your exposure to sources of stress and manage stress when you experience it:

If your hair loss is caused by chronic stress, understanding and coping with the stress in healthier ways may help you to regrow some or all of the hair that youve lost.

This is something that youll need to discuss with your healthcare provider.

Different Types Of Stress

• telogen effluvium when your body tells more hair than usual to stop growing across your scalp
• alopecia areata when you lose large amounts of hair in patches on your scalp
• trichotillomania when you pick and pull out hairs on your head or around your body without realising youre doing it

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