What Causes Stress Hair Loss? – Symptoms And Treatment
Stress is one of the problems of hair loss for both men and women. Hair loss due to stress comes when you have a stress kind of experience. The stress makes your body react, thus, generating hormones called cortisol and adrenaline. The hormones will then help you in dealing with your emotion and mood.
Chronic stress can make your hair turn gray and can also cause breathing issues. Many people are always not sure whether stress can cause hair loss or not. Are we here today to answer the question such as does stress cause hair loss?
Of course, stress can make you lose hair extremely. Three types of hair loss come as a result of stress. They include;
Telogen effluvium
It is a type of stress loss where stress makes most of your hair follicles on a resting phase. It may further lead to sudden falling of your hair after some months, especially when washing or combing your hair.
Alopecia areata
Alopecia areata comes as a result of severe stress. In most cases, your body’s immune system will attack the hair follicles, making them weak, thus falling out of hair.
Trichotillomania
It is a type of stress-related hair loss where you have an irresistible urge to pull off your hair from various parts of the body. It may occur when you feel uncomfortable due to tension, boredom, loneliness, frustration, etc.
The effect of hair loss as a result of stress is usually temporary. Meaning, you can easily grow your hair back after controlling your stress level. It may also be a result of anxiety and mixed reactions like severe stress.
Symptoms of hair loss due to stress
The major symptom of hair loss due to stress is an extreme shedding off of hair. You may notice that you are losing more hair than usual, especially when washing or brushing your hair. You will be losing 80 to 100 strands in a day. If you start experiencing some bald patches, then that will be a sign of alopecia areata.
The urge to pull your hair is a sign of trichotillomania, which is stress-related hair loss. If you have signed other than the ones we’ve mentioned above, you may contact your doctor to know what exactly is causing your hair loss.
Treatment of hair loss due to stress
Eating a well-balanced diet.
Eating a lot of lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables can be a perfect way of controlling stress-related hair loss. You need to try and avoid all kinds of foods, which usually contribute to stress, thus causing hair loss. Your doctor will help you know the right diet that is more suitable.
Use of minoxidil
Minoxidil is an FDA-approved drug that was used to treat high blood. However, the patients recorded some growth of hair as a side effect. It is why it has been effective for promoting hair growth, especially for hair loss due to stress. The drug helps enhance the blood flow and the supply of oxygen, thus improving the growth of hair follicles.
Massaging the scalp
Massaging of the scalp using essential oils is always a treatment of hair loss due to stress. The best oils for massage are tree oil, lavender oil, rosemary, castor oil, etc.
Exercising
Exercising can help in reducing the growth of hair growth. You need to perform daily stretching or even walking to keep your body in the mood and promote the heart rate beating.
Summing up
If you have had the question, does stress cause hair loss? Then I’m sure you’ve now found relief. Losing hair because of stress is always common, and you should not worry about it. You may or may not treat it since the hairs are likely to regrow back to normal after some time. However, before using the treatments, ensure that you contact your doctor to see whether you deserve to use them.