Effects of stress on the hair

Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tightness. It can come from any accident or thought that makes you feel thwart or nervous, Stress in the right time and positively reaction of body may be beneficial for some situations and protecting body’s against some dangerous.

But long term stresses will be harmful to your health.

We have three types of stresses:

1 – Acute stress : most common one, body immediately react to a event or challenge , by fight-or-flight response ( sympathetic response and affect Secretary organs and release of hormones) ,Sometimes will positively effect. 2- Episodic acute stress: frequently happening of acutely stresses,negatively health effect.

3-Chronic stress: remaining of acute stress for long period without resolving, most Dangerous type and lead to chronic disease and heart disease.

Causes of stress

There are many different stress triggers.according to surveys work stress tops the list, life changes , study or university, Relationship difficulties ,Financial problems .

Effects of stress on hair

There are different reasons for losing hair:

• Illness
• Pregnancy
• Underlying health conditions (like an underactive thyroid)
• Medical treatment (for example chemotherapy)
• Stress or psychology conditions

There are studies from Harvard University that say (stress causes gray hair) , also many studies accepted stress will cause hair loss and weakness of hair bulbs.

Three types of hair loss that can be related to high stress levels :

1-Telogen effluvium: stress pushes large numbers of hair follicles into a resting phase. Within a short period , affected hairs might fall out when simply groom or washing your hair.

2-Trichotillomania :is an irresistible urge to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body.

3-Alopecia areata : the body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss.

If stress causing hair loss , If you get your stress relief , your hair might grow back.

Treat stress related hair loss Human hair growth occurs in a cycle of four phases. The average human scalp has about 100,000 hair follicles. At any given time, each of your hair follicles is in a different phase of this cycle:

• Anagen phase. This is the growing phase of hair. It lasts two to seven years
• Catagen phase. This is a short, two-week phase that occurs when the hair follicle begins to shrink.
• Telogen phase. This is a three-month resting phase.
• Exogen phase. This phase occurs when the follicle sheds the hair and begins new growth.

If you’re losing hair because you’re stressed , then the first thing to do is to get your stress levels under control. Try to have patience, your hair should grow back in a few months.

Some tips for dealing with stress:

• Get plenty of sleep (aim for 7-8 hours a day)
• Drink lots of water and try to eat healthily food.
• Take least sugar or caffeine
• Exercise regularly
• Get to doctor.

Topical treatments

• Topical Minoxidil (Rogaine)
• Topical corticosteroids.
• Castor oil