How To Stop Hair Loss Due To Stress

Introduction

Boss giving a tough time? Relationship troubles? Stress is unavoidable, and it never comes alone – hair loss tags along with it too. Luckily, there are ways to reverse this by removing the source of stress and with a little extra care. Read on to know more about how anxiety affects you and your hair.

How Stress And Anxiety Can Cause Hair Loss?

Anxiety does not directly have an impact on your hair, but it is the stress it induces that causes hair loss. Studies prove that anxiety-induced stress has a direct correlation to hair loss conditions. Stress and anxiety also increase muscle tension, skin sebum production, and cause hormonal imbalance.

Is Your Hair Loss From Anxiety?

Anxiety and hair loss go hand in hand, but the symptoms are hard to examine. It is a persistent stress condition that can influence the way your body functions including the hair shedding cycle. Common anxiety related hair loss symptoms that you notice are –

• Hair thinning
• Hair falling out in clumps
• Bald patches (on head and occasionally other parts of body too)
• Excess amount of hair on your brush or the bathroom floor.

It is also responsible for causing trichotillomania, wherein you pull large quantities of your own hair without realization of doing so.

Causes Of Anxiety Hair Loss

Anxiety has a complicated relationship with hair loss. In strenuous situations, people put themselves under severe pressure, both physically and mentally, which sooner or later leads to hair loss. Different types of hair loss can be caused as a result of this are –

• Alopecia Areata – Large clumps of hair suddenly fall off and causing patches on your head.
• Telogen Effluvium (TE) – It causes a reduction in the number of hair-producing follicles resulting in hair thinning on the top of the scalp.

And, if nothing is done to improve the stress situation, it may further cause bald patches in different parts of your head.

Not All Hair Loss Is Anxiety Related

Hair loss is usually correlated with anxiety, but it is not always that the hair loss is due to anxiety, although the time period they occur in may overlap. Sometimes, hair loss is age-related as well. Additionally hair loss itself can cause anxiety, which in turn causes more hair loss.

Realize That Hair Will Usually Grow Back On Its Own

In both the hair loss conditions that are caused due to stress, the hair follicles are unproductive but not damaged. Therefore, the damage is not permanent, and it is very much possible for you to get your voluminous hair back. It does take a couple of months for the hair re-growth once they fall out.

Stressing and overthinking can only make the problem worse, so, sit back, take a deep breath, and take simple steps one at a time to ease you out of the situation.

Reducing Emotional And Physical Stress

1. Meditate

All you need to do is sit quietly for a few minutes daily and concentrate on your breathing. It improves your resilience to stress and even clears your neural pathways, helping you in thinking clearly.

2. Connect To Your Network

Our problems are our own, but we don’t necessarily have to suffocate ourselves with them and stress ourselves out. You can always talk to a family member or a trusted colleague to vent it all out.

3. Belly Laugh

It is ironical because you may not feel like laughing, but laughter indeed is your best medicine. Laughing deeply lowers cortisol levels in the body and boosts endorphins, which immediately lifts your mood.

4. Play Some Tunes

There is a science behind this – soothing music is proven to not only lower your blood pressure rate and heart rate but also have a positive influence on your anxiety issues. Try listening to melodious music or even sounds of nature – these help you to push all the troubled thoughts away and relax.

5. Get Up And Get Moving

Pick a workout that you like – Dance, Swimming, Zumba, Running, or whatever suits your taste. A good workout releases endorphins and elevates mood, which helps you in dealing with stress.

Other things to do

See A Therapist

If you feel burdened because of physical and emotional stress, which in turn is responsible for your anxiety issues, it is only healthy to seek professional help. You will be surprised to see how talking through your anxiety issues to your therapist positively impacts your mental health and does wonders to relieve stress.

Give Your Body Time To Recover After A Major Physiological Change

It is important to understand that you need to give your body time to recover after a stressful event such as injury, surgery or illness. Panicking and overthinking in these situations will make it worse for your body to do damage control. Instead, we should calm down and follow stress-busting routines to help our body do its job well.

Check Your Meds

There is a possibility that some of the medications that you are prescribed can make your stress-related hair loss condition even worse. Blood thinners and blood pressure tablets (beta-blockers) are the most common kind, while others include methotrexate (for rheumatic conditions), lithium (for bipolar disorder), and some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Consult a doctor and probably alter your dosage or switch to an alternative, if required.

Promoting Healthy Hair Growth

Magic beans only existed in stories and similarly, there is no possible way to stop hair fall overnight. According to the dermatologists at Oliva, including the following in your diet and making some changes to your hair routines will help promote healthy hair growth –

• Eat Enough Protein – Hair is made of up protein and to strengthen it, add enough protein to your diet in the form on lentils, beans, and meat.
• Increase B Vitamins And Decrease A Vitamins – Vitamin B promotes healthy hair growth and some great sources for it include whole grains, liver, egg yolk, soy flour, and yeast. Vitamin A, if in excess in your diet, can negatively impact hair growth. Reduce its intake and see if it helps with your hair shedding cycle.
• Avoid Low-Calorie Diets – Low-calorie diets lack the essential carbohydrates that nourish and hydrate the hair. They are best avoided.
• Take Good Care Of Your Hair – Follow a good hair care routine using products that are suitable for your hair and skin type. Use a gentle and conditioning shampoo to ensure that your hair is well hydrated. It is a healthy habit to oil your hair twice a week, as it improves the blood circulation in the head. Additionally, ensure that you maintain a healthy and clean scalp, thus allowing your hair follicles to breathe.
• Avoid Over-Styling Your Hair – Over-styling can make the hair brittle. Such hair lacks lustre and can break off easily. Try to avoid hot styling tools and styling products as much as possible.

Hair Loss Due To Stress: Healthy Hair Solutions & Stress Relief

Apart from following a healthy routine for hair care, you need to understand how to reduce your anxiety levels. It is recommended to workout daily to reduce stress levels. Take a nice hot water bath and relax with a body massage to alleviate built-up tension. Combine these stress-busting techniques with clinically proven hair growth supplements. With the help of these supplements, you will be providing your hair with the required vitamins and minerals for complete nourishment. Cosmetic dermatology treatments like PRP can also help reverse this kind of hair loss.

Conclusion

It is a stressful life, and no one has been able to escape from the daily dosage of stress. But if your stress is causing hair loss, then it is something you should seriously consider. Stress and hair loss are directly related, and it is highly recommended to seek expertise to properly analyze the condition and recover from it.