De-stressing could save your hair

There are a lot of factors which can cause hair loss, and stress is just one of them. While a little stress is normal, and somewhat healthy for the body, too much can be detrimental.

There’s been a lot of research conducted over the years which has revealed a significant link between stress, anxiety and hair loss. So, if you want to hold on to those precious locks, the secret could be to de-stress.

Stress can lead to numerous types of hair loss

There’s actually three different types of hair loss which can be triggered by stress:

1. Alopecia areata. This condition varies in severity, but it’s typically caused when the immune system starts to attack the hair follicles. It typically results in patchy hair loss, with clumps falling out at a time. However, it can also just cause the hair to thin, without showing any obvious bald spots.
2. This causes you to literally start pulling your own hair out. As you become stressed, you instinctively start tugging at the hair, causing it break and fall out. If not treated early enough, the condition could soon leave you with very noticeable bald spots.
3. Telogen effluvium.This causes more hair than usual to enter the resting phase. Then, after a set amount of time, the hair sheds together at the same time. It’s worth noting however, that this type of hair loss tends to occur after a traumatic event, or after a period of significant stress, rather than gradually.

All three of these conditions are usually only temporary, provided treatment is sought quickly enough.

How to treat stress-related hair loss

Well, the most obvious way to treat stress-related hair loss is to de-stress. If you eliminate the stress from your life, the hair will automatically start returning to normal. However, in the meantime, there are treatments which can help.

Medications and topical treatments are best suited to temporary based hair loss conditions. However, these will only prevent the hair loss getting worse temporarily. If you want to eliminate the problem completely, you’re going to need to reduce your stress levels.