hair loss

The Connection Between A Stressful Life And Your Hair Loss

There are many things that are common in our lives but one thing that many of us have in common is that we go through life with stress as a companion. Another thing that children, men and women can have in common is hair loss. Have you ever thought that perhaps there may be a connection?

Have you noticed thinning hair or areas of your scalp that are more scalp than hair? If you suffer from hair loss there may be many reasons for it including poor diet, a side effect of a medication, heredity, a symptom of a condition or illness and stress. Yes, stress can cause hair loss.

We experience stress in a physical manner such as when our bodies are traumatized in an accident or we can experience emotional stress such as when a family member dies. Another stress is mental stress such as when we become stressed out over an out of balance checkbook.

The stress we encounter in our lives can result in two types of hair loss. One is classified as telogen effluvium and the other alopecia areata.

Of the two types of hair loss we can encounter as a result of stress telogen effluvium is the less severe form of hair loss. Telogen effluvium presents as hair that stops growing and remains in the resting stage for 2 to 3 months. This "dormant" hair will then fall out and be replaced by new hair growth within 6 to 9 months. The length of time it takes to have new hair growth will depend upon the condition of your scalp, and what has caused your hair to fall out in the first place.

Alopecia areata occurs when white blood cells attack the hair follicles. Several weeks after the attack of white cells, hair will fall out in patches. Individuals who have alopecia areata can also have hair loss over the entire scalp hair. Alopecia is not limited to the hair on your scalp it can happen with any of your body hair.

You can experience more than one hair loss factor at the same time along with the stress factor.

If you are wondering how to know if your hair loss is caused by stress or not, have a talk with your doctor. In order to determine if your hair loss is caused by stress, your doctor will give you a physical examination and will take a current medical history.

If you are not sure what can cause stress in your life take a look at this list and see if any of these things have happened to you over the last 6 months:

You have experienced one or more major life changes such as a job change, moving, a marriage or a divorce, the birth of a child or the death of a child, the loss of any family member or long-time friend. 

Tags: stress and hair loss, telogen effluvium, hair loss

Medical, Surgical and Cosmetic Treatment for Hair Loss

Hair loss can be embarrassing and seeking treatment is something that concerns most individual who experience hair loss. There are medical, surgical and cosmetic treatments for hair loss.

Medical Hair Loss Remedy

Medical treatment consists of using medication to stop or prevent hair loss from getting worse.

Two medications commonly prescribed for hair loss is finasteride (Propecia and Proscar), and minoxidil (Rogaine, and Loniten). Finasteride is used for male hair loss and not for hair loss in women and Minoxidil is used for both male and female hair loss.

Surgical Hair Loss Remedy

A popular surgical hair loss remedy is a hair transplant. This is where a doctor will take plugs of healthy hair from other areas of your scalp and place them on the areas where you have thinning hair or no hair.

The surgical treatment that is currently replacing hair plugs is follicular transplants.

Scalp rotation is used in cases where children have hair loss but it does not work well in adults.

Cosmetic Hair Loss Remedy

There are many things that individuals can do that are considered to be cosmetic hair loss remedies such as changing hairstyles to one that covers thinning hair, or wearing hair pieces such as hair weaves, toupees, or wigs. Creative people also find ways to make a statement using hats or scarves.

Winding it up

When an individual has hair loss he or she needs to know that there are options for treating the hair loss including a combination of medical, surgical and cosmetic treatments. All of these options can be discussed between the patient and doctor or dermatologist so that the treatment choices can be explored and the individual can choose what fits best in his or her lifestyle. Not everyone is comfortable with surgery, nor does everyone like taking medications. Treatments can be made individualized to fit the needs of the one with the hair loss. This is especially important when the person is young.

The treatment choice will also depend upon the cause or causes for the hair loss as sometimes medication is necessary such as when a disease is the cause. New treatments are always being tested so hair loss patients should periodically check back with their doctor or dermatologist to find out if there are any new medical, surgical or cosmetic treatments that can benefit their hair loss situation.

Whether you choose to use a medical, surgical or cosmetic hair loss treatment or a combination of treatments, know that most hair loss situations are temporary and that should your case turn out to be permanent, you always have options. Seek out current information, get involved in hair loss organizations and support groups and keep in touch with your doctor or dermatologist so that your options will always be known to you. 

Tags: cosmetic treatment for hair loss, surgical hair loss remedy, hair loss, hair loss remedy