By
Ava Alderman
I have a blog that focuses on hair loss. A common question that I get is "can stress or hardship cause hair loss?" Readers commonly tell me that they go to doctors and / or dermatologists reporting hair loss and are told that only physical stress on your body can affect your hair - not mental or psychological stress. But, if you spend any amount of time on hair loss forums, you'll see that countless people disagree with this. Many can find no other cause for their hair loss and shedding and can see a distinct correlation between the two. I'll discuss my take on the stress / hair loss combination in the following article.
Hair Loss Caused By Physical Stress: There's absolutely no question that physical stress and illness can cause hair loss. One hair loss condition that fits into this category is called telogen effluvium or TE. Common causes of this condition are pregnancy, surgery, illness, fluctuations in hormones, or changing your medications.
Another cause of hair loss is androgenic alopecia or thinning caused by DHT, sebum, or excess androgens or build up on your scalp. With this condition, there is stress on the scalp and / or the hair follicles, but there is a problem just the same.
The Mind / Body Connection: Although specialists will tell you that mental or psychological stress doesn't cause hair shedding or loss, I disagree. I've heard too many people tell stories of this to discount it. But, what I believe happens is that the mental stress actually translates to physical changes in your body.
For example, when you are under a great deal of hardship or anxiety, your body pumps out cortisol like mad. This can affect your thyroid and adrenal hormones and can also produce more androgens. So, now what started out as mental is effecting you physically and now you have two potential causes of hair loss - changes in hormones and increased androgens.
So, while good old mental turmoil may not affect your hair directly, it can affect your body, it's hormones, and your scalp - which all could in turn affect your hair.
Treating Stress Induced Hair Loss: Obviously, the first treatment for this is going to be to reduce your stress. This is often easier said than done though. And of course, the more you worry about your loss, the more cortisol you pump out, so that you're contributing to a vicious cycle. It's so important to take care of yourself right now and try to separate yourself from this as much as you can.
Don't count your hairs. Don't constantly look in the mirror. I used to run my fingers along the shaft of my hair to see how many would shed out. This became almost an addictive behavior that only caused more turmoil. Get out of the house. Distract yourself and participate in things you enjoy. Do whatever you have to do to break the cycle of worrying about it.
Another thing that you should address is inflammation. Often, quick or dramatic hair loss goes hand in hand with inflammation of the scalp, because so many hairs are changing and dying off. Using a gentle, yet anti inflammatory shampoo (you can often make these yourself for best results.) And, natural treatments like tea tree oil or emu oil can help with the inflammation and can help to also support healthy, thick regroth.
But, it's important to be careful to rotate your treatments. Often, the essential oils are quite thick and can clog or irritate your follicles if you're not careful. However, if they are diluted and rotated correctly, they can be very effective and healing.
I have a blog that focuses on hair loss. A common question that I get is "can stress or hardship cause hair loss?" Readers commonly tell me that they go to doctors and / or dermatologists reporting hair loss and are told that only physical stress on your body can affect your hair - not mental or psychological stress. But, if you spend any amount of time on hair loss forums, you'll see that countless people disagree with this. Many can find no other cause for their hair loss and shedding and can see a distinct correlation between the two. I'll discuss my take on the stress / hair loss combination in the following article.
Hair Loss Caused By Physical Stress: There's absolutely no question that physical stress and illness can cause hair loss. One hair loss condition that fits into this category is called telogen effluvium or TE. Common causes of this condition are pregnancy, surgery, illness, fluctuations in hormones, or changing your medications.
Another cause of hair loss is androgenic alopecia or thinning caused by DHT, sebum, or excess androgens or build up on your scalp. With this condition, there is stress on the scalp and / or the hair follicles, but there is a problem just the same.
The Mind / Body Connection: Although specialists will tell you that mental or psychological stress doesn't cause hair shedding or loss, I disagree. I've heard too many people tell stories of this to discount it. But, what I believe happens is that the mental stress actually translates to physical changes in your body.
For example, when you are under a great deal of hardship or anxiety, your body pumps out cortisol like mad. This can affect your thyroid and adrenal hormones and can also produce more androgens. So, now what started out as mental is effecting you physically and now you have two potential causes of hair loss - changes in hormones and increased androgens.
So, while good old mental turmoil may not affect your hair directly, it can affect your body, it's hormones, and your scalp - which all could in turn affect your hair.
Treating Stress Induced Hair Loss: Obviously, the first treatment for this is going to be to reduce your stress. This is often easier said than done though. And of course, the more you worry about your loss, the more cortisol you pump out, so that you're contributing to a vicious cycle. It's so important to take care of yourself right now and try to separate yourself from this as much as you can.
Don't count your hairs. Don't constantly look in the mirror. I used to run my fingers along the shaft of my hair to see how many would shed out. This became almost an addictive behavior that only caused more turmoil. Get out of the house. Distract yourself and participate in things you enjoy. Do whatever you have to do to break the cycle of worrying about it.
Another thing that you should address is inflammation. Often, quick or dramatic hair loss goes hand in hand with inflammation of the scalp, because so many hairs are changing and dying off. Using a gentle, yet anti inflammatory shampoo (you can often make these yourself for best results.) And, natural treatments like tea tree oil or emu oil can help with the inflammation and can help to also support healthy, thick regroth.
But, it's important to be careful to rotate your treatments. Often, the essential oils are quite thick and can clog or irritate your follicles if you're not careful. However, if they are diluted and rotated correctly, they can be very effective and healing.
How do I know all of this? Because I lived it. In my quest to end
my hair loss, I looked at my triggers, my iron, my thyroid, my
adrenals, my hormones, and my scalp's health in my quest to end the
nightmare. It was a long, hard, frustrating journey which all but
wrecked my self esteem but I finally found something that helped quite a
bit. You can read my very personal story at http://stop-hair-loss-in-women.com/
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