How to Combat Extreme Hair Loss Caused by Stress

Hair loss can be an emotionally overwhelming experience, especially when it seems to occur all at once. If you’ve recently noticed more hair in the shower drain or felt that your ponytail is thinner than usual, stress might be a significant factor. In this post, we’ll explore the causes and possible remedies for stress-induced hair loss, commonly known as telogen effluvium.

Understanding Hair Loss and Its Cycles

First and foremost, to grasp how stress affects hair loss, it’s essential to understand the natural hair growth cycle. Your scalp contains approximately 100,000 hair follicles that continuously cycle through three distinct phases:

1. Anagen (Growth Phase): This is the phase where most of your hair is actively growing.
2. Telogen (Resting Phase): After the growth phase, hair follicles enter a resting stage before shedding.
3. Shedding: It’s perfectly normal to lose about 100 hairs a day as part of this natural process.

However, when your body endures extreme physical or emotional stress, many hair follicles can shift prematurely into the telogen phase all at once. As a result, this sudden shedding of hair is known as telogen effluvium.

Triggers of Telogen Effluvium

Next, let’s look at the various triggers of this stress-related hair loss. Several factors can set off telogen effluvium, including:

• Emotional Stress: Major life changes such as a divorce, losing your job, or even global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic can trigger significant hair shedding.
• Physical Stress: Illnesses like viral infections, high fevers, surgeries, or rapid weight loss can shock your system, resulting in hair loss. Even recovering from something as simple as the flu can cause shedding.
• Medications and Surgery: Certain medications, along with the strain of surgery, can also push your hair follicles into the telogen phase.
• Nutritional Deficiencies: Poor nutrition, crash diets, and rapid weight loss may contribute to hair thinning. Your body requires proper nutrients, especially protein, to maintain strong, healthy hair.
• Extreme Physical Activity: In addition, intense activities like marathons or triathlons can shock your body, leading to hair shedding.

Moreover, it’s important to remember that hair loss from telogen effluvium usually occurs around three months after the stressful event.

How to Manage and Prevent Stress-Related Hair Loss

While you may not be able to entirely prevent telogen effluvium if you’ve undergone significant stress, you can take several steps to support your hair’s recovery and minimise additional damage.

1. Prioritise good nutrition

Nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining healthy hair. For instance:

• Adequate Protein Intake: Aim for about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. Since your hair is primarily made of protein, maintaining a steady intake will help support its structure and prevent further weakening.
• Nutritional Supplements: If your diet is inconsistent, consider using supplements like Free Soul Greens. This supplement provides whole-food-sourced vitamins and minerals, along with probiotics and prebiotics. It can help ensure your body gets the nutrients it needs when diet alone falls short.

2. Minimise hair damage

In addition to nutrition, protecting your hair from further damage is key. Here are a few tips:

• Avoid Heat Styling: Heat-styling tools like curling irons and blow dryers weaken hair, leading to breakage. During periods of telogen effluvium, the last thing you want is more hair loss from styling.
• Skip Chemical Treatments: Hair dyes, perms, and other chemical treatments can make your hair brittle. Consider giving your hair a break from these to allow it to regain strength.
• Avoid Tight Hairstyles: Hairstyles that tug on the scalp, such as tight ponytails or buns, can cause traction alopecia, which is hair loss from continuous tension on the follicles. Opt for looser hairstyles to avoid additional thinning.

3. Switch to Gentle Hair Products

Furthermore, it’s important to be mindful of the products you’re using. Hair products like gels and mousses that contain high amounts of alcohol can dry out your hair, especially around the fragile hairline. Instead, choose gentler, moisturising products that won’t strip your hair of essential oils.

4. Address your emotional well-being

Beyond hair care, addressing emotional well-being is crucial for managing stress-related hair loss. Emotional stress can directly influence your hair’s shedding cycle. To reduce stress and promote hair recovery, consider these strategies:

• Seek Professional Help: If you’re overwhelmed by emotional stress, don’t hesitate to seek help from a mental health professional. Therapy or counselling can provide you with coping strategies that not only improve your mental health but also reduce the physical impact of stress on your body, including hair loss.
• Prioritise Sleep: Quality sleep is just as important. Aim for at least eight hours of sleep each night to support your body’s natural recovery processes. If you’re struggling to get enough rest, start by adding one extra hour of sleep each night.