Does Excessive Exercise Causes Hair Loss?

Our health is essential to us, and what we need to do to keep healthy can change over time. Changes to our meals, how much we exercise, how much we sleep, and other factors become necessary. We’ve already known about how a lack of sleep can lead to hair loss. Just as how much you sleep affects your hair, so does how much you exercise.

Excessive exercise has been linked to hair loss in several studies. Excessive exercise may imply different things to different people, but in this case, we’re talking about more than three hours of activity per day.

For most people, that amount of exercise generates stress in the body. Doing so on a regular basis can lead to telogen effluvium – excessive hair shedding caused by stress, which can lead to irreversible hair loss. However, this is not the only possible reason for exercise-induced hair loss.

What is Excessive Exercise?

Excessive exercise is considered more than three to four hours each day.

Excessive exercise is defined as exercise that negatively influences your everyday life, causing injuries or tiredness. Excessive exercise has been linked to unpleasant emotions such as despair, guilt, and shame. It can also be a symptom of more serious psychological illnesses, such as orthorexia.

Excessive exercise, however, can be different for everyone.

The amount of exercise that can be considered excessive is opinion. It all depends on your daily routine and how you feel about the amount or intensity of exercise you’re performing.

How Does Excessive Exercise Affect Your Hair?

Take notes as you read the next section because there are numerous ways that excessive activity can harm your hair.

Results in Telogen Effluvium.

Excessive activity can cause telogen effluvium or accelerated hair shedding.

People with telogen effluvium notice more hair in their brushes or shower, a general thinning in their hair volume and density, and eventually, frizziness and flyaways when the hair regrows. Telogen effluvium is usually transient, and once the underlying cause (for example, excessive activity) is treated, the hair usually regrows.

Excessive activity over a long period might lead to chronic stress, and this is because high-intensity exercise increases cortisol production. Telogen effluvium can be caused by chronic stress. When the hair’s regular cycle of development, rest, and shedding is disrupted, hair follicles enter the rest phase and shed prematurely.

A poor diet, chronic sickness, certain drugs, and shock contribute to telogen effluvium. Reduce gym-related stress by not overworking yourself and rest days between workouts.

Increases Hair Loss

Excessive exercise not only causes greater hair shedding but also causes hair loss. This is caused to various things such as sweat, chlorine, tension, and even steroids.

Sweating is one way in which exercise and hair loss are linked. Sweat buildup on the scalp can deplete the viability of hair cells. Hair gets dull and dry, which causes breakage and shedding. It can also increase your chances of getting a bacterial or fungal infection.

You do not need to use shampoo regularly because it might strip your hair of its natural oils and cause additional difficulties. After going to the Gym, simply rinse with warm water and shampoo every other day with a moderate, pH-balanced shampoo. Condition once a week and completely rinse off.

Increases Cortisol Levels

Excessive activity, once again, contributes to excessive stress. And neither your body nor your hair will benefit from this.

Excessive exercise might also raise cortisol levels. Our stress hormone is cortisol, and Cortisol levels are unlikely to affect your hair in the short term. Cortisol levels that are raised for an extended period of time, on the other hand, might produce health problems such as high blood pressure. This can result in telogen effluvium and an increase in testosterone, which can aggravate genetic hair loss.

Causes Lack Of Nutrition

Inadequate nutrition is likely to be connected to the frequent or intensive activity. This is caused by either not eating enough food for the amount of exercise you are performing or by dieting and restricting on purpose. Nutritional inadequacies are a typical cause of excessive hair loss and poor hair shaft conditions, such as brittle and dull hair.

So, what should you consume to ensure that your body gets what it requires?

It’s especially crucial to raise your protein consumption after an exercise. It is also critical to ensure that you consume enough vitamins and minerals to maintain your hair and body healthy.

Although various supplements are available, a balanced diet is the best way to acquire enough of them. Dehydration can also cause hair loss, so drink lots of water before, during, and after your workout.

Causes Traction Alopecia

You’re probably also pulling your hair up if you work out frequently. Regularly wearing your hair in high or tight hairstyles can lead to traction alopecia, a condition in which constant pulling on the hair shaft causes hair breakage and loss.

Choosing a ponytail holder that will not do more harm than necessary.

If you are concerned about putting your hair up regularly, using a soft scrunchie and not pulling your hair too tightly will help prevent traction alopecia.

Book an appointment now to answer all your queries. You can book an appointment with the best Dermatologists through Marham.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can working out cause hair loss?

Moderate to vigorous exercise and everyday routines of movement and activity do not promote or worsen hair loss. Unfortunately, they do not appear to help with hair loss, and they don’t appear to be connected.

2. Does exercise sweat damage hair?

Luckily, sweat itself is not necessarily detrimental to your hair – it’s what you do with your hair before, during, and after your workout that affects your hair health. Sweat can dry on your scalp and may block your hair follicles, as it can combine with microorganisms and irritate or harm your scalp.

3. Is Gym good for hair growth?

Regular exercise not only keeps your body healthy but also encourages healthy hair development. When we exercise, our blood circulation improves, allowing more nutrients and oxygen to reach the scalp.