Stress and Hair Loss

We all know and heard that a lot of physical ailments are due to stress. How about hair loss? Can you get hair loss via stress? The answer is yes indeed.

How Can You Tell if You Have Hair Loss?

When you take a shower, take a look at the bathtub and see if you have more strands of hair. Whether or not you are feeling like your is not full, this can be a sign of hair loss due to stress. 
 

Some hair loss signs can appear on a receding hair line. Another way to see if What impact can hair loss have on your psychology?you have hair loss is to try running your hand through your hair. Take a look if you see any hair coming or any clumps fall out. 

It can hurt your self-confidence or have a mental impact.

How does stress cause hair loss? 

When looking at it in a scientific way, we can say that having stress in your body raises the cortisol level. Cortisol is a hormone. When you are stressed out, the cortisol triggers the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. 

What are Cytokines?

Cytokines are proteins that act as messengers between cells. Cytokines are a large group of proteins, peptides or glycoproteins that are secreted by specific cells of immune system. They are a category of signaling molecules that mediate and regulate immunity, inflammation and hematopoiesis. Some cytokines act to make disease worse (proinflammatory cytokines), whereas others serve to reduce inflammation and promote healing (anti-inflammatory cytokines). Basically, they can cause inflammation or vice versa. 

 What Happens When Cytokins Fight Inflammation?

 Hair Growth is hindered. 

How Does Increased Cortisol Production Wreck Havoc on Hair?

Although generally thought of as the ‘stress hormone’, cortisol is vital to life under non-stressful conditions, it becomes elevated during times of stress. Increased cortisol production can also trigger your body to produce more sebum. Sebum is your skin’s natural moisturizer. Even though sebum is vital for healthy hair growth, it might hinder healthy hair. 

What Else Causes Hair Loss?

Stress is caused by many factors. Telogen Effluvim is a scalp disorder characterized by the thinning or shedding of hair resulting from the early entry of hair in the telogen phase (the resting phase of the hair follicle). It is in this phase that telogen hairs begin to shed at an increased rate, where normally the approximate rate of hair loss (having no effect on one’s appearance) is 125 hairs per day.

Below are some other factors that leads to hair loss due to stress. These could include:

Lack of Exercise

Consuming Junk Food and Sugar

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Covid Life

Some Remedies to Reduce Stress

Reduce Screen Time

Take Care of Your Being

Enjoy the great outdoors

Drink more water. 

Exercise

Self-Care

Meditate

Eat a Healthy Diet

Sleep well

Sources:

1.  Marks, James G; Miller, Jeffery (2006). Lookingbill and Marks’ Principles of Dermatology (4th ed.). Elsevier Inc. Page 263. ISBN 1-4160-3185-5.
2. ^ James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). Andrews’ Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. (10th ed.). Saunders. ISBN 0-7216-2921-0.
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Khan Mohammad Beigi, Pooya (2018). “Introduction”. In Khan Mohammad Beigi, Pooya (ed.). Alopecia Areata: A Clinician’s Guide. Springer International Publishing. pp. 3–5. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-72134-7_1. ISBN 9783319721347.
4. Stress-linked cortisol concentrations in hair: what we know and what we need to know (nih.gov)