How Stress and Hair Loss Go Hand in Hand

I am sure you must have heard, or read several times, about the connection between stress and hair loss. Even what you eat during times of stress can play a role. Let’s investigate how stress and hair loss are associated.

Stress

Stress is the cause of many of today's health related problems. In today’s hectic world, with the hurried lifestyles that most of us lead, there are several situations which cause us to experience stress.

The list is long: emotional stress, physical stress, marital stress, financial stress, job-related stress, the stress of illness, extreme situation, and even everyday situation, can lead you to enough stress to impact your health.

Stress and Hair Loss

Medically, ‘telogen effluvium’ is defined as hair loss induced by the sudden onset of stress. Some people remain unaware that stress is connected to hair loss. It never occurs to them when going through the stressful phase, only long after they have passed it.

Stress causes hair follicles to stop hair production, known as a resting phase. The hair remains in this phase for up to three months during which an unnatural amount of hair will shed. Stress and hair loss go hand in hand.

Another way that stress can affect hair loss is through nutrition. When stressed, many people develop eating disorders; one either eats too much or stops eating altogether. Neither reaction is good for the body as it can create an unbalanced diet with poor nutrition.

When excessive eating takes place, the food items one often picks would normally be chocolate or other such sweets and/or fatty foods. Such food products are known to act as a comfort for the brain during a stressful period. Poor eating habits will cause hair loss and, yet again, stress and hair loss go hand in hand.

Good News

Even if stress and hair loss are clearly associated and we face up to the fact that we will never live a stress-free life, the good news is that such hair loss is temporary and can be easily treated.

The ideal treatment includes a number of vitamins, specific drugs and tonics for your hair. These treatments can be extremely effective and enjoy quick results. So do not stress over your hair loss -- you will have your follicular beauty revived just as soon as you can learn to balance your stress levels and enjoy proper nutrition and exercise.

Related Links:

What is stress?

Stress (roughly the opposite of relaxation) is a medical term for a wide range of strong external stimuli, both physiological and psychological, which can cause a physiological response called the general adaptation syndrome, first described in 1936 by Hans Selye in the journal Nature.
An emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health which can be characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability and depression. Stress does not cause migraine but can be a migraine "trigger".
A condition in which the organism is subjected to unfavourable or unfamiliar environmental conditions, resulting in some alteration in normal physical functioning. Short-term stress can often be overcome. Long-term stress can reduce resistance to disease and parasites, inhibit self-healing processes, and reduce life-span.