If you lose 50 to 100 hair strands a day, there’s no reason to panic. You’re not yet eligible for scalp micropigmentation here in Las Vegas because that rate is quite normal. However, if you are consistently losing hair for more than six months, it’s probably a case of Telogen effluvium, and you might not be coping well with stress.
Thinning from hair loss
There are100,000 hair strands on your head. That number won’t stand against constant shedding, and you’d be seeing scalp through thinning hair. Now that you’re alerted to the number of hair strands stuck on the shower drain, you probably want to know what’s causing it.
In acute Telogen effluvium, you could lose clumps of hair while running a comb through it. It is not quite the same as gradual loss which occurs in the chronic type, which in turn is similar to hair loss in genetically predisposed people.
Telogen effluvium is more common in women and is associated with hormonal cycles. There are other causes attributed to the condition, including poor diet and stress. Interestingly, people who lose more than 100 strands of hair a day are more stressed than their contemporaries.
What is the basis of this association?
Telogen effluvium and stress
Telogen is one of the three phases of hair growth. Specifically, it is the resting stage for the hair roots. The other stages are growth phase (anagen) and transitional phase (catagen). Telogen effluvium ascribes premature resting to acute or chronic stress.
As much as 70% of your hair strands could be shed two or three months after a stressful event causes a shock to the hair growth cycle. When you have the condition, your hair growth cycle also suffers a slowing down of the growth phase, resulting in more shedding and less growth.
In some instances, the hair loss amounts to as much as 10 ten times than average volume. There is evidence that excessive physical and emotional trauma, causing stress leads to dormant hair growth. The type of hair loss associated with stress is characterized by falling out of hair two months after growth stops.
One can expect regrowth in nine to 12 months. Most of the time, Telogen effluvium is associated with severe stress.
A rise in testosterone levels
The interaction of hormones in the human body is well understood. Hair loss in Telogen effluvium is associated with an increase in the male hormone known as testosterone. People with hair follicles that are sensitive to the hormone react to increased secretion of testosterone.
This results from a cascade resulting from the production of adrenaline and increased levels of cholesterol. Your overall health and wellbeing will have an impact on the health of your scalp and hair follicles. Aside from hormonal changes, poor nutrition plays a factor in hair loss as well.
When stressed people usually forget to take good care of themselves, and may fall short of daily dietary requirements.
Telogen effluvium is temporary and usually resolves on its own. As the body recovers from the initial shock, the hair will grow. However, you must be proactive in recovery and refuse to let stress take hold of your life.
