Stress And Hair Loss

Stress can cause a variety of health issues, and unfortunately, baldness is one of them. If you live a stressful life— and who doesn’t— you may experience a wide range of physical ailments like headaches, TMD, or even hair loss. So, how exactly does stress affect your hairline?

Let’s Take A Closer Look And See.

• Telogen effluvium - In patients who have Telogen effluvium, we notice that the significant amount of stress that they are suffering from puts a lot of hair follicles in a resting phase. After they have been in this phase for a few months, they tend to fall out when you are combing or washing your hair.
• Trichotillomania - When people are stressed, they can contract a variety of different impulses like biting their nails, picking at their skin, or pulling out their hair. Patients who have trichotillomania pull the hair out of their eyebrows, scalp, or from other parts of their body. The great news about this type of stress-induced hair loss is that as long as the compulsion is treated, the hair loss can be as well.
• Alopecia areata - Alopecia areata is one of the most common causes of baldness; especially in women; this disease occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles which cause the hair to fall out. Sometimes, though, patients also experience a flare up when they are suffering from severe stress. Although stress isn’t the number one cause, it definitely is an influencer.

Depending on the cause of your hair loss, we may be able to treat it with a hair implant, or we may recommend that you see another specialist for something else. If stress alone is the cause, we may or may not recommend a hair transplant. To learn a little bit more, contact our Salt Lake City office and call 801-513-FACE.