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Stress Can Take Your Hair Away
Traumatic events can trigger massive, prolonged shedding
By Pat Curry
HealthScoutNews Reporter
SUNDAY, March 17
(HealthScoutNews) -- You get up
one morning, and your pillow is
covered with hair. Not just a few
strands, but dozens. So is the drain
after you take a shower, and the
towel after you dry off.
It could be many things, which is why you should see a doctor.
However, experts say it could also come from a highly stressful
event in your life, such as losing a loved one or a job, having a
baby, or being in a serious accident.
"Medically, patients under stress undergo a lot of changes and
unbalance their bodies," says Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, director of
clinical research in the Department of Dermatology at the
Cleveland Clinic. "Growing hair follicles are the most sensitive
group of cells in your body. Anything that adversely affects your
body affects your hair."
The medical term is telogen effluvium, and it refers to one of the
normal phases of hair growth. The anagen phase is when hair is
growing; the telogen phase is when it dies, becomes loose in the
follicle and falls out.
In the regular pattern of hair growth, another new hair would be
right behind it. People usually lose about 100 strands a day of the
100,000 or so on the average scalp. Normally, about 10 percent
of hair is dying at any time. When telogen effluvium occurs, the
balance shifts, and about 30 percent of hair moves into the telogen
phase.
Any number of physical or emotional situations can cause it,
Bergfeld says. Young children lose hair after high fevers or
prolonged infections. In children older than 10 and in adults, it can
be a sign of a metabolic or genetic condition.
"Shedding is abnormal -- it defines something medical has
happened to you," she says.
It can be a sign of early baldness in males and females, which is
genetic. Nutritional deficiencies, thyroid imbalances or polycystic
ovary syndrome can cause it. In addition, medications such as
lipid-lowering drugs, birth control pills or hormone replacement
therapy and unregulated herbal treatments can trigger it.
Once any underlying physical or pharmacological causes are ruled
out, look at the calendar and see what was happening in your life a
few months ago.
"We're not talking about everyday stress," Bergfeld says. "This is
the stress that sort of wipes you out."
Dr. Oscar Klein, an internist and psychiatrist in New York City,
says stress-related hair loss is similar to what happens with
chemotherapy.
"That's a chemical, but it's the same process," he says. "It's a
shock to the process. A psychological shock isn't just in the mind
-- it's a mind-body duality."
The good news is that unless someone has a genetic predisposition
to disease or baldness, telogenic effluvium should correct itself
within six months to a year.
"You must reassure them their hair won't keep falling out," says
Klein, who is medical director of Physicians Hair Growth. "They
may lose half their hair; it can be very scary."
The shedding can be reduced with topical minoxidil and shampoos
with nizoral and ketoconazole, Bergfeld says. She also
recommends sufferers eat a balanced diet, take a vitamin with iron
and some extra zinc, and be nice to their scalps.
"I always say you should treat your scalp like a cashmere
sweater," she says. "You don't burn it, and don't use heavy
chemicals on it."
Most of all, find a doctor who is interested in treating the
condition. Dermatologists receive the most training in the diagnosis
and treatment of telogen effluvium, Bergfeld says. Even then, she
urges patients to keep looking if a doctor says there's nothing that
can be done.
"Some doctors don't think hair loss is an important-enough disease
for them to take care of," she says. "It is a devastating disease for
people who have it. Like acne, self-esteem goes down the toilet.
Sociability goes down the toilet. Their ability to get a job goes
down the toilet. It can cause serious depression. In some aspects,
it's as important as a major medical problem."
What To Do: For more information on telogen effluvium and
photos of what it looks like, visit the Canadian Hair Research
Foundation. There's an article on its treatment in the American
Medical Association's Archives of Dermatology.
Traumatic events can trigger massive, prolonged shedding
By Pat Curry
HealthScoutNews Reporter
SUNDAY, March 17
(HealthScoutNews) -- You get up
one morning, and your pillow is
covered with hair. Not just a few
strands, but dozens. So is the drain
after you take a shower, and the
towel after you dry off.
It could be many things, which is why you should see a doctor.
However, experts say it could also come from a highly stressful
event in your life, such as losing a loved one or a job, having a
baby, or being in a serious accident.
"Medically, patients under stress undergo a lot of changes and
unbalance their bodies," says Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, director of
clinical research in the Department of Dermatology at the
Cleveland Clinic. "Growing hair follicles are the most sensitive
group of cells in your body. Anything that adversely affects your
body affects your hair."
The medical term is telogen effluvium, and it refers to one of the
normal phases of hair growth. The anagen phase is when hair is
growing; the telogen phase is when it dies, becomes loose in the
follicle and falls out.
In the regular pattern of hair growth, another new hair would be
right behind it. People usually lose about 100 strands a day of the
100,000 or so on the average scalp. Normally, about 10 percent
of hair is dying at any time. When telogen effluvium occurs, the
balance shifts, and about 30 percent of hair moves into the telogen
phase.
Any number of physical or emotional situations can cause it,
Bergfeld says. Young children lose hair after high fevers or
prolonged infections. In children older than 10 and in adults, it can
be a sign of a metabolic or genetic condition.
"Shedding is abnormal -- it defines something medical has
happened to you," she says.
It can be a sign of early baldness in males and females, which is
genetic. Nutritional deficiencies, thyroid imbalances or polycystic
ovary syndrome can cause it. In addition, medications such as
lipid-lowering drugs, birth control pills or hormone replacement
therapy and unregulated herbal treatments can trigger it.
Once any underlying physical or pharmacological causes are ruled
out, look at the calendar and see what was happening in your life a
few months ago.
"We're not talking about everyday stress," Bergfeld says. "This is
the stress that sort of wipes you out."
Dr. Oscar Klein, an internist and psychiatrist in New York City,
says stress-related hair loss is similar to what happens with
chemotherapy.
"That's a chemical, but it's the same process," he says. "It's a
shock to the process. A psychological shock isn't just in the mind
-- it's a mind-body duality."
The good news is that unless someone has a genetic predisposition
to disease or baldness, telogenic effluvium should correct itself
within six months to a year.
"You must reassure them their hair won't keep falling out," says
Klein, who is medical director of Physicians Hair Growth. "They
may lose half their hair; it can be very scary."
The shedding can be reduced with topical minoxidil and shampoos
with nizoral and ketoconazole, Bergfeld says. She also
recommends sufferers eat a balanced diet, take a vitamin with iron
and some extra zinc, and be nice to their scalps.
"I always say you should treat your scalp like a cashmere
sweater," she says. "You don't burn it, and don't use heavy
chemicals on it."
Most of all, find a doctor who is interested in treating the
condition. Dermatologists receive the most training in the diagnosis
and treatment of telogen effluvium, Bergfeld says. Even then, she
urges patients to keep looking if a doctor says there's nothing that
can be done.
"Some doctors don't think hair loss is an important-enough disease
for them to take care of," she says. "It is a devastating disease for
people who have it. Like acne, self-esteem goes down the toilet.
Sociability goes down the toilet. Their ability to get a job goes
down the toilet. It can cause serious depression. In some aspects,
it's as important as a major medical problem."
What To Do: For more information on telogen effluvium and
photos of what it looks like, visit the Canadian Hair Research
Foundation. There's an article on its treatment in the American
Medical Association's Archives of Dermatology.
