If you’ve been through a stressful time recently and have noticed some hair loss, you may have heard the term telogen effluvium mentioned. If you’re wondering what on earth this is, you’ve come to the right place.
Hair loss, while not particularly dangerous, can be an extremely emotive topic for a lot of people. It can knock your confidence and make a difficult time even trickier. So, our aim is to lift the lid on stress-related hair loss.
Let’s find out what telogen effluvium is, explore what it might look like and discuss the available treatments.
Three key takeaways
Telogen effluvium is caused by chronic stress, as stress hormones can get in the way of hair regrowth.
Hair loss due to telogen effluvium normally resolves within 6-9 months.
Telogen effluvium is normally a temporary condition that resolves on its own if the source of stress is dealt with.
What is telogen effluvium hair loss?
Telogen effluvium is a temporary form of hair loss related to stress.
After stressful situation passes, your stress hormones (e.g. cortisol) usually return to normal. But if a source of stress doesn’t let up for a long period of time, these hormones can stay in your body and cause chronic stress.
But why does this cause hair loss? Well, stress hormones have been found to hamper hair regrowth by keeping you stuck in the telogen, or shedding, phase of the hair cycle.
And by getting stuck in the telogen phase, it means you can’t get back to the anagen, or active growth, phase of your growth cycle.
Acute vs chronic telogen effluvium
Most of the time, telogen effluvium goes away on its own. This occurs if the stresses that caused it have been resolved. In these cases, telogen hair loss tends to occur 2-3 months after the initial stress and lasts for less than six months. This is known as acute telogen effluvium.
On the other hand, chronic telogen effluvium lasts for longer than six months. It also tends to be more severe than acute telogen effluvium. It affects your entire scalp and can cause you to lose your hair in handfuls, though it doesn’t cause total baldness. There is often no clear cause of chronic telogen effluvium.
What causes telogen effluvium?
The main cause of telogen effluvium is chronic stress. However, the following events and illnesses can also contribute to the condition:
certain medications, such as retinoids, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin)
Symptoms of telogen effluvium
Telogen effluvium is quite a distinctive form of hair loss because it can cause all the hair on your head to look thinner than usual. Other forms of hair loss tend to cause bald patches, rather than widespread thinning.
If you have telogen effluvium, you may start to notice your hairs falling out when brushing or washing your hair around 2-3 months after a stressful event.
It takes a while for your hair to fall out because the telogen (shedding) phase takes a few months.
On average, a person with this condition might lose up to 300 hairs each day – the average for healthy hair is around 100.
Other causes of hair loss
Hair loss can have a variety of different causes other than stress. These include:
having a family history of hair loss – hair loss has a genetic component, meaning it tends to be hereditary
tight hairstyles – for example, braids, hair extensions and tight ponytails can all cause hair loss
damaging hair treatments – such as bleaching, perms and heat-based styling (e.g. using straighteners a lot)
chemotherapy – if you have cancer, you may undergo chemotherapy, which is well known for causing hair loss
medications – other drugs used for depression, arthritis and high blood pressure can all cause hair loss
Telogen effluvium treatments
If you have acute telogen effluvium, you should not require any treatment. As long as the cause of your stress is resolved, your hair should start to grow back.
However, you can support the telogen effluvium hair regrowth process in a couple of ways:
Minoxidil: minoxidil is a vasodilator typically used to treat high blood pressure by widening your blood vessels. When it’s applied to your scalp as a solution or foam, it widens the blood vessels underneath the area it’s applied to. This allows more nutrients and oxygen to flow to your follicles and stimulate hair growth.
Supplements: you can try taking vitamin D and iron supplements to support hair growth if you are deficient in either. Vitamin C can help support iron absorption, so if you’re low in iron try combining iron supplements with vitamin C.
“The best way to avoid developing telogen effluvium is to manage your stress levels. We know that can be easier said than done, and that what might work for one person isn’t guaranteed to help another. Try out the following suggestions, and see if they can help you better cope with your daily stresses :
exercise regularly
try and resolve the stressful situation, if possible
accept that you can’t control everything
speak to a therapist or a friend or family member about how you’re feeling
make sure you’re spending time doing activities you enjoy
spend time relaxing when possible
try and do some activities outdoors
avoid relying on unhealthy habits, like smoking or drinking
prioritise getting enough sleep
practice meditation and mindfulness
put some time management techniques in place
write down three things you’re grateful for each day”
Ayesha Bashir, Prescribing Pharmacist at Chemist4U
How Chemist4U can help with telogen effluvium
At Chemist4U, we’re ready to help treat your telogen effluvium, whether you’re looking for topical minoxidil for women and men, to a range of hair-boosting supplements.
Acute telogen effluvium normally resolves within 6-9 months. However, chronic telogen effluvium lasts longer than six months.
Does telogen effluvium cause tingling?
Telogen effluvium usually just causes hair loss, but occasionally it can be accompanied by a tenderness that can feel like tingling, crawling or stinging. This is known as trichodynia. It used to be considered a distinguishing feature of telogen effluvium, but trichodynia is now also known to be common in another type of hair loss called androgenetic alopecia.
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