Is Stress Causing Hair Loss? These days, after the urbanized structure, there are a lot of people who experience stress due to constant density and activity in their lives. With these lifestyle changes, we adapt to a new normal. However, our personal problems, family life, intense work and responsibilities, financial difficulties, and traffic that we spend hours on every day may be the cause of this stress we are exposed to. It is also known that stress might cause and/or worsen certain illnesses.
Is Stress Causing Hair Loss?
Furthermore, stress is considered one of the main causes of hair loss. If you are experiencing a rapid thinning of your hair the cause of your hair loss may be hormonal, genetic, due to seasonal transitions, unhealthy habits, nutrition deficiency, allergies, illness, and specific medications used for treatments and stress. Though, most importantly, you should keep in mind that health issues related to stress are not always physical; your psychological discomfort, such as schizophrenia, depression, panic attacks, is also caused by stress.
Use the stress from the problems and stress is the fastest point we will see according to our daily life. The relationship between skin diseases and stress has been scientifically proven. Our psychological problems reflect themselves as dermatological causes such as hair loss and eczema.
How does Stress Affect Hair Loss?
As it is said before, there are several causes of hair loss. Alopecia, in general, is the scientific way of explaining all types of hair loss. In addition, it is known that even though stress may not be the main reason for some types of alopecia, it might be the second cause or an accelerator to the main cause. If you experience hair loss due to genetic predisposition, disease, medication, malnutrition, or any psychological discomfort, stress might even further trigger these conditions.
First of all, since the hair follicles are weakened, new hair will not grow, especially in the crown and temple areas. This condition is called androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness. Though this condition is generally associated with hormonal and genetic reasons, stress is certainly affecting the speed and amount of hair loss. Stress also causes you to lose the pigment that gives the colour in the hair roots. Weakened hair follicles begin to fall out quickly. Since the new hair does not have coloured hair roots, it comes out as white hair, or it may not even grow again.
Secondly, our bodies are engineered in a way that will fight against any problem, such as stress in various ways. When we are stressed, our bodies release cortisol. When our cortisol level is raised, it also causes our sebaceous glands to be stressed out as well. When our sebaceous glands are stressed, it forces them into an overdrive state resulting in them to create even more sebum. The sebum then clogs our hair follicles and block them from breathing and causing our hair to suffer. Moreover, the excess sebum may also promote the growth of the yeast that is linked to dandruff on scalp, and the excess dandruff is not necessarily creating a healthy environment for your hair to grow either. Also, there are some studies that suggest with excess sebum on the scalp; it is also creating inflammation in the scalp as well.
Another condition that may develop hair loss due to stress is telogen effluvium. Though this condition has a very wide spectrum, it might be summarised briefly as the hair follicles to switch from the anagen phase (growth phase) to the telogen phase, a phase in which hair follicles switch right before the hair falls out normally. Normally, we lose 10% of our hair naturally in this telogen phase. However, under extremely stressful situations, our body pushes more hair follicles into this telogen phase; thus, people might lose a lot more of the hair on their heads.
If you are not treated, chronic stress can cause baldness in the long term. In most cases, when you eliminate the stressful factors, this condition can be reversed, and your hair grows back. However, the longer you stay stressed, the harder it is going to be reversed. Therefore, if you need psychological treatment due to stressed-caused hair loss, you should start professional treatment as soon as possible. You might also want to stay away from the busy work pace, stressful environments as much as possible and protect your sanity, and
start medication if necessary. We will be very happy to help you by giving a consultation on this topic.
How can You Cure Stress-Caused Alopecia?
It may not be easy to stay away from stress, which is one of the most important causes of hair loss. You need to change your lifestyle to prevent stress caused by the problems and responsibilities you face in every field in your daily life. You should stay away from stressful environments as much as possible, approach the events from a positive perspective and stay away from negative environments. You can also learn to control stress with yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises and remove stress from your body.
However, these will not be as effective as a medical treatment. Thus, it is important to consult with your doctor for a better understanding of your condition. Stress and hair loss caused by chronic stress is not spontaneous. For this reason, besides psychological treatment, medical treatment must also be applied.
Hair Transplantation For the Perfect Results!
As we explained in this article, stress might cause your hair loss and furthermore, it might be a catalyzer to your existing problems with hair loss. There are some treatments you can use to decrease it. However, nothing will be effective enough within a short time to actually make you feel satisfied with your looks again. Hair transplantation comes in when there are such concerns and we are always ready to help you to give the most satisfactory results.
You can have the most natural hair after a hair transplant procedure, and you can continue your life without the traces of your past stress effects. In conclusion, we would be pleased to help you with your transition and consultation process for any type of hair transplantation you might be thinking of. Thus, please do not hesitate to contact us and benefit from our consultation!
FAQ
Does stress cause hair loss?
It depends on several factors. However, if your genetical factors have a tendency for hair loss, stress may trigger it, or even increases the effects.
How can I treat hair loss caused by stress?
The first thing you must do is to create a stressless environment for yourself. Another mandatory thing that you must do is to get a consultation for examination of your situation. After the consultation, we can determine your case and needs properly.